Alondra Escobar P.2
Character Analysis
George Wilson- What’s there to say really about Wilson? He’s Myrtle’s husband and,
well, Gatsby’s murderer. Wilson is straightforward a flat character; only mentioned a
few times in the novel until Myrtle’s killed, but that’s just about it. He’s a frail man
who is too ignorant to notice that Tom Buchannon and his wife, Myrtle, are cheating
on him behind his back. We first hear of Wilson in Chapter 2, Nick describes, “He
was a blonde, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome. When he saw us a
damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes,” – Page 28 (PDF version). As
you can see Wilson doesn’t seem too important to the novel, aside from the fact
that he’s just Myrtle’s husband. It’s until Chapter 7 that we hear a lot more of him.
In this Chapter Wilson tells Tom, “I’ve been here too long. I want to get away. My
wife and I want to go west,” – Page 131 (PDF version). Wilson wants to move away
so Myrtle can’t be with her lover. Tom’s reaction to this is, “Your wife does!”– Page
131 (PDF version). Also in this Chapter we find out that Wilson knows Myrtle’s
cheating on him, but he doesn’t know with whom. Nick states, “He had discovered
that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world and the shock had
made him physically sick,” – Chapter 7, Page 132 (PDF version). All this comes
shortly before Myrtle’s death. Myrtle died instantly when she got run over by a car, a
yellow one to be specific; the same yellow car that Tom, Nick, and Jordan showed
up in when Wilson told Tom that he planned to move out west. Later in Chapter 8
we’re given insight on how Wilson handles Myrtle’s death. From what Nick
describes, Wilson didn’t take it too well, for he spends a lot of time just rocking
himself and mumbling. Towards the end of the Chapter Wilson realizes something
and tells Michaelis, a man who has been keeping an eye on him, “I know I’m one of
these trusting fellas and I don’t think any harm to NObody, but when I get to know a
thing I know it. It was the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he
wouldn’t stop,” – Page 169 (PDF version). Wilson guessed right for in Chapter 7
Gatsby tells Nick, “this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car
coming the other way. It all happened in a minute but it seemed to me that she
wanted to speak to us, thought we were somebody she knew. Well, first Daisy
turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and
turned back. The second my hand reached the wheel I felt the shock—it must have
killed her instantly,” – Page 154 (PDF version). In Chapter 8 Wilson seeks revenge
on the person who killed Myrtle. Eventually he finds out that Gatsby is the owner of
the car and shoots him, then killing himself. As you can see from this, Wilson is a
dynamic character. When he was first introduced, he could be described as a weak
and unaware individual. After Myrtle’s death, though, he goes through a dramatic
change; from a pathetic character that can’t even stand up for himself to being able
to kill a man and himself.