rk Gatsby practically begged Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him “…Just tell him the truth- that you never loved him-and it’s all wiped out forever (Fitzgerald, 139).” Gatsby’s reality, after his initial encounter with Daisy, was to work hard and become wealthy so that he could win her heart. The reality was that Daisy was now married and too comfortable in her lifestyle to leave Tom and move on with Gatsby.Mrs. Myrtle Wilson’s reality was that she was a lower class, somewhat undesirable woman who dreamed that she could somehow elevate her status. The fantasy world that she created when she was with Tom lasted only momentarily and reality hit her mercilessly. Her desire to be a part of the elite class compromised her integrity; she was so desperate to fit in that accepted whatever treatment Tom was giving her. Chasing a painful dream and allowing herself to be abused, reality still had not sunk in for Myrtle when Tom broke her nose when she said what he did not want to hear (Fitzgerald, 41). She was married to a gas attendant, whom she did not appreciate, who was nothing like Tom and could not provide her with the lifestyle she yearned for. She blatantly disrespected him in conversation with her sister and Nick, saying, “I thought he knew something about breeding but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe (Fitzgerald, 39).” Each time Tom picked her up to go to New York, she crossed the boundary, or the “thin line,” of her reality and her dreams. She was able to spend hours in her fantasy, believing that only religion kept she and Tom from being together. She was able to get a “taste” of what her life could be, if her dreams could come true. Mrs. Wilson’s struggle with her dreams and reality led to her death. In search of her dream and the dismissal of reality, she ran to her fate and was killed by Tom’s wife. Her death was an ironic conc...
