The Relationship between the Major and Minor Character in The Great Gatsby Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Coursework Example

Lecturer: The relationship between the major and minor character and how the relationship illuminates on the themes The Great Gatsby novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the themes related to American dream, money and wealth, love and betrayal, violence, marriage and dissatisfaction as well as social class and religion. The characters include Myrle, Tom Buchanans and Daisy, Jay Gatsby, and Jordan and each of these characters seem to be indulged with the urge of attaining a lot of wealth and power. However Gatsby‘s experience reveals that the American dream is corrupted by characters such as Tom and Daisy. Introduction The minor characters in the novel include Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan’s secret mistress, George Wilson and Jordan Baker. They are essential to the progression of the plot because it is through minor characters where foils are aroused. This can be seen through Myrtles character and George Wilsons awareness of her relationship with another man. After the incident of Myrtles death, George believed that her lover was also her murderer. "It was the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he wouldnt stop" (Fitzgerald 129). This misconception of his was very significant in understanding of the main character. The major theme in the novel is based on the American dream and is portrayed by the fact that a man must work hard to achieve the ultimate goal of wealth. Daisy and Tom live their American dream because Tom has a lot of money and again he never had to work for the money since it belonged to his parents. Daisy on the other hand does not find the sole purpose to work since Tom has all the money that she needs. Wilson on the other hand yearns for money to live the American dream far away. The one thing that Wilson does not realize is that Tom is not his real friend as he does not want to help him. Daisy in this case brings out the character of Tom that he is an individual who is reliant on money and wealth and considers work as not an option. Wilson as the other minor character also portrays Tom as a selfish person who does not like to help others. Deception, social class distinction, marriage and lies are portrayed with the American dream where Myrtle has a dream to become the girl from the upper class social class and her key to that dream is Tom. Deception and Marriage are portrayed when she despises Daisy for preventing her from achieving her goals and most importantly, her marriage with Tom. Myrtle brings out the character of Tom as a deceitful person who is not faithful. This is because he has all the money a woman could want and as a result he also wants to have many affairs with many women. As a result, this becomes the main reason why Myrtle has the idea in her mind of becoming a mistress to Tom regardless of him having Daisy around. The next theme is based on the past being the past and it cannot be changed. Gatsby yearns to make everything better by fixing all the issues that were happening in his life. This becomes quite hard for Gatsby. Nick came into the picture by telling his that some things that had already happened in the past are worth being forgotten as they cannot be undone. Later on, the car accident became a bad tragedy that Gatsby could not handle. Therefore Nick recommended him to leave town. On the other hand Gatsby chose not to by waiting around to see whether Daisy would make contact with him. Nick remembered Jay Gatsby‘s final moments whereby he waited for Daisy but she did not make contact with him. Nick on this instance brings out the character of Gatsby that reveals he does not give up easily and is a person who would fight for what he wants until the end. This was shown when he was not ready to leave until Daisy came around. The theme of honesty is portrayed when Nick states, “I am one of the few honest people I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 59). Nick views himself as very trustworthy and in that case, views other characters as untrustworthy. In this instance, Nick views himself as the honest person when compared to all the other characters. In his opinion he views Daisy and Tom as careless and dishonest people and in addition to that Nick reveals the character related to Tom that he is a very violent person. Gatsby is viewed as a person who is egocentric as he likes to do things his way. Despite the friendship between Nick and Gatsby, Nick still views him as someone who is not as honest as he is. Violence is portrayed when Tom intimidates those around him because of his physique. This is evident when he strikes Myrtle because of mentioning his wife’s name. Another instance of violence is when Gatsby gets killed because of his love affair. When Tom realized that his lover Daisy was having a hidden affair with Gatsby he confronted him about the situation. The final outcome was not good as Jay Gatsby was no more in the hands of George Wilson. Myrtle in this instance reveals that Tom is a very violent person when he strikes her. This can also be related to Tom being a person who gets angry very fast. Wealth and material possessions are evidenced by the fact that Daisy has been raised around money and her key aim is to have what she wants. In addition to that she finds no purpose in life. Tom on the other hand has less purpose in his life as he has money to spend and drives flashy cars and fails to find the reason why he should work and he never has any solid relationship with any woman. Nick views the Buchanans as people who are extremely indulged in wealth and possessions and they are more about wealth than anything else in their lives. He explains, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made" (Fitzgerald 188). In addition to the violence theme, after realizing that Tom was having a relationship on the side with Myrtle, Daisy terms Tom as a disgusting man. This was the point when Daisy accidentally kills Myrtle and both Tom and Daisy run away because of the crime that was committed. In this instance, Daisy reveals that Tom is someone who loves money and women despite them being in love with each other. Daisy on the other hand is viewed and a violent individual when she commits murder and Tom can be viewed as an irresponsible person because he does not own up to the crime committed, instead they escaped after the crime. Conclusion While major characters lead the story, minor characters supports it and also add to the key elements of the story. The main theme in the novel is the American dream as well as wealth and possessions. This is evidenced by characters like the Buchanans who love wealth. It tends to portray the fact that the American dream can be deadly when most people view money as their ultimate achievement and the money can do and buy anything that they want. The minor characters support the theme development of the main characters. Work cited Fitzgerald, F. S. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print Read More