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30 November 2007
Myrtle and Fitzgerald's Wasteland

Myrtle Wilson is Fitzgerald's vessel for illustrating the modern wasteland. His conception of the wasteland as an unavoidable, vulgar part of the 1920s society is parallel to his characterization of Myrtle as an unavoidable, vulgar character that refuses to be ignored. He uses her to point out what he sees as the faults of modern society. Myrtle is materialistic, superficial, and stuck living in the physical wasteland referred to as "the valley of ashes." Fitzgerald uses her to portray the social wasteland, particulaly the growing materialism and superficiality of modern society. He makes a huge statement about the repression of the impoverished by the upper-class in the modern wasteland through Myrtle. She not only lives in the geographical wasteland, but she also embodies the moral and social wasteland that Fitzgerald is condemning.
Myrtle is the only vivacious creature in "the valley of ashes," Fitzgerald's geographical......

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Approximate Word Count: 1534
Approximate Pages: 7 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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