For most Americans, the automobile was simply a means of transportation, but for the upper crust of society that wasn?t concerned about commuting to a factory, the car was a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby both own extravagant cars in order to project their high class and wealthy image.

It?s pretty isn?t it old sport? Haven?t you ever seen it before? I?d seen it. Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monst

rous length with triumphant hatboxes and supper-boxes and toolboxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen sons. (Page: 68)

The American Dream and the automobile was what led Myrtle Wilson to her death. Myrtle was fed up with her husband not being able to provide her with everything that symbolized success. She left the man she loved because she fell in love with the American Dream, and thought she could attain it through Tom Buchanan. Ms. Wilson did not love Tom Buchanan; she loved the wealth and status that he brought to her. When Wilson said that he wanted to move west with her, she couldn?t face the idea of having to leave all of the material possessions that she had been given by Tom. Myrtle tells a friend how she feels about him, ?I knew right away I had made a mistake (in marrying Wilson). He borrowed somebody?s best suit to get married in? and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon.? (Page: 39) Myrtle loved her husband, but she couldn?t live with the small amount of money he made. When she ran away from her husband into the road where Tom was driving by, Tom didn?t see her, and he killed her instantly. Myrtle was killed by the two important things in her life: cars, and her love for the life of the rich. The car symbolizes the glitzy, prosperous life she loved so much. When she ran towards it, leaving her old life behind her, it killed her instantly

Some topics in this essay:
American Dream, Jay Gatsby, Tom Myrtle, Tom Buchanan, Scott Fitzgerald, Jazz Age, Week Ive, Myrtle Wilson, Tom Wilson, Wilson Toms, american dream, tom buchanan, killed instantly, scott fitzgerald, luxury car, tom gatsby, gatsbys car, purchase car, wealth status, upper class,