The first exchange is between Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. These two characters are similar in several ways. These similarities seem to revolve around their marriages. Both have an affair at some point in the novel, and this is because, “Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to” (The Great Gatsby, p.33) As a result of the intolerance towards their spouses, both begin affairs. Both say that they love their husband and their lover. Daisy loves Tom and Gatsby, while Myrtle loves George and Tom. Daisy’s love for Gatsby is purely materialistic; she loves his shirts, his house, and his money, while her love for T

Just as Daisy and Myrtle have their similarities and differences, so do their love interests. Jay Gatsby, Daisy’s new love interest, and Tom Buchanan, Myrtle’s love interest, have several similarities and contrasts. Tom possesses a certain aggressiveness, which is best described when he is first introduced in the book, “Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. … It was a body capable of enormous leverage-a cruel body.” (The Great Gatsby, p.7) After hurting her finger, Daisy also says to Tom, “That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a--” (The Great Gatsby, p.12) On the other hand, when Gatsby is introduced in the novel, Nick describes him as an, “…elegant young roughneck…” (The Great Gatsby, p.48) When Nick sees him standing on the steps at his party, he begins to fully describe Gatsby: “His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed everyday. I could see nothing sinister about him.” (The Great Gatsby, p.50) However, towards the end of the novel, Tom and Gatsby seem to switch personalities, Gatsby becomes assertive and aggressive when speaking to Tom at the Plaza Hotel, Nick turns to Gatsby, “ …and was startled at his expression. He looked –and this is said in all contempt for all the babbled slander in his garden—as if he had “killed a man”.” (The Great Gatsby, p.135) In the meantime, Tom becomes more affectionate when he realizes he might lose Daisy to Gatsby, he is trying to search for a time when Daisy loved him, “ ‘Not that day when I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep your shoes dry?’ There was a husky tenderness in his tone…. ‘Daisy?’” (The Great Gatsby, p.133) That is the only time in the whole of the novel that Gatsby and Tom exchange roles.

The Great Gatsby portrayed several different characters who exchange roles in order to enhance the themes, and plot of the novel. Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson exchange roles while George Wilson and Jay Gatsby also exchange roles as well as Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, who switch roles at some point in the novel. This goes to show how easily a person can change their personality, over a simple thing like a dress, or something more complex, like a dream, or a loved one.

om is also materialistic. Simila

Some topics in this essay:
Jay Gatsby, Tom” Gatsby, Daisy Tom, Myrtle York, Symbols Motifs, Gatsby Tom, Analysis Myrtle, Myrtle Wilson, Buchanan Myrtle’s, George Wilson, jay gatsby, exchange roles, george wilson, spark notes, spark notes gatsby, notes gatsby, notes gatsby character, gatsby character, wilson jay gatsby, wilson jay, tom buchanan, buchanan myrtle, gatsby character analysis, george wilson jay, daisy buchanan,