IYO: What if Myrtle never died?

[thomsonn]

I was wondering what you think would happen if Myrtle never died, and Gatsby was never murdered?

I think Scott Fitzgerald scripted Gatsby to die, because I believe Daisy most likely would have rejected him and death is a easier way out of the misery, I guess.


I think that Gatsby would have committed suicide if Daisy didn't want him OR he would keep trying. Although the attempts would eventually get exhausting, he built everything for her, everything.

What do you think?

[mal4mac]

I think he would have become a recluse, existing in a jazz age time warp, as his mansion decayed around him, like a male Miss Havisham.

[Emil Miller]

An interesting question but Gatsby had to die because he represented the impossible dream between Wilson's world and that of the Buchanan's. He came from Wilson's milieu but reached for that of Daisy's whom he saw as the epitome of everything rich and glamorous, but both worlds lived contiguous to each other and Gatsby fell between both. The more one reads this book, the more one understands the US. It's a masterpiece of approximately 140 pp. that say's more about America than any amount of social comment.

[thomsonn]

Hmm. Both are plausible, I guess the only way to know would be to ask the author... But you obviously cannot. Ohwell.

[Jacob_N99]

I Myrtle never died then Toms affair would have ended and he would have began to take a new interest in Daisy. She would probably end the affair with Gatsby if Tom stated that he loved and Gatsby may have even killed himself because of this or just moved away. However Myrtle's death was planned to show the reality that Gatsby would never be with Daisy as she was perhaps using him to get back at Tom.

[Ett_Jess]

I think that Myrtle's death personified the harsh differences between the lives that the Buchanan's and Gatsby led verses the lives that George and Myrtle led. It was basically the rich poor divide that stood out the most and if Myrtle never died then Myrtle would have carried on living this fake life pretending to be a part of Tom's circle until Tom got bored of her and moved on.
If Myrtle also never died then the death of Gatsby would never have happened and George wouldn't have died either. Myrtle dying triggered a set of events that are so important to the story and defines the story into what we know it as. Without the deaths of both the Wilson's and of Gatsby then the recognition of how much their lives changed over the course of the entire book wouldn't be as prominent as it is. If Myrtle and Tom didn't have their affair then Myrtle would most likely still be alive and in a progressively more unhappy relationship with George and consequently George would never have locked Myrtle in their room which led to her death.

But the whole novel is infused with ifs and buts and if we question all of them then we'll have a whole new book emerging on our hands.

[Cam3r0n]

If Myrtle had never died, then the relationship between Tom and Daisy would have been broken at best. Both Myrtle and Gatsby's death symbolise the death of the American Dream. Myrtle was a working class woman who lived in the Valley of Ashes. She tried to raise her social status by having an affair with Tom - an upper class man, and dressing and acting above her status. Gatsby was a man who started off as a poverty stricked boy, who worked himself out of the ground and became a very rich man. They both die brutal deaths with symbolise the destruction of the hopes of the American Dream - and how it is just a fantasy. Gatsby and Myrtle's deaths are pivotal plot points in the book, and without them the book would lose its' meaning.

[Jack1]

If Myrtle had never died, Gatsby wouldn’t have been killed by Wilson as the only reason he killed Gatsby was due to Tom telling him that he owned the yellow car. Therefore if Gatsby was still alive he wouldn’t have had a funeral. Therefore he would still be trying to persuade Daisy into leaving Tom to be with him. But I believe she would have still chosen Tom just as she did in tbe Hotel

[AWWesome]

I agree, I believe that Fitzgerald not only arranged Gatsby's death from the begining but Myrtles as well. I think he did this as it allowed the comparison between Gatsby's and Myrtle's death to be made. But mostly because their death supports Fitzgerald's idea of the destructive nature of the american dream, both Myrtle and Gatsby's american dream focused around this fantasy of unobtainable love. For Gatsby and Myrtle, dying for love was better than living without it

[Amysnowdon]

If Myrtle had never died then Gatsby wouldn’t have been dead! As his death was due to Tom telling Wilson that Gatsbys car was the yellow one that had killed Myrtle so he must have killed her. This was due to Tom hating Gatsby has he was having an affair with Daisy. Fitzgerald did this to make a comparison between Gatsby and Myrtle and their deaths. As Myrtle death was described shocking and very descriptive! Where as Gatsby death was very peaceful and it was almost as if you didn’t know he was dying! This supports Fitzgerald idea of the destructive natives of the American Dream. Both of their Americans Dream focused on the fantasy of unobtainable love - this could show that for Myrtle and Gatsby, dying was easier than both of them living without the love they wanted from people they couldn’t get it from.

[Ho11y.R]

Well if Gatsby was intended to be killed off there would need to be something else to start off that chain reaction like George killing Gatsby because of revenge as he thought because of the Information Tom gave of the yellow car, of which Gatsby owned, that he had drove his car into Myrtle. It wouldn’t had been fair if only Gatsby died, not Myrtle as well, as it’s ending the affairs between Gatsby and Daisy, and Tom and Myrtle. If only Gatsby died, Tom would have been favoured probably due to being a aristocratic male of the 1920s of which aristocratic men would have been as they was seen to be more superior than women who was usually seen to be important just for breeding and doing what a male shouldn’t which is house chores.

Readers of the 1920s wouldn’t feel any negativity towards Gatsby or Tom or even Myrtle since she was lower class, where as they would towards Daisy as she is upper class and is meant to represent innocent women in the 1920s which are common. While modern readers would feel negativity towards Tom as he doesn’t particularly care of what he thinks of what all because what he does of having an affair was acceptable to men. Also mondern readers could be confused on what to feel for Gatsby as he’s a delusional character wanting to relive the past with Daisy.

[B3th]

If Myrtle had never been killed, then George would not have been the one to kill Gatsby. Gatsby might have survived that, but the way things were with him, Daisy and Tom, something surely would have happened. I do not think that in any alternative ending Gatsby would have been alive. If George did not kill him, then I think Tom would have or his pursuit of Daisy would have made him ill or perhaps he may have killed himself. However, I find Gatsby killing himself highly unlikely as he was a determined man who never gave up. Gatsby not being killed would just have meant that his pursuit of Daisy would carry on as it was until another tragedy happened.

[HarryJRushworth]

If Myrtle had never died, it would have to be due to Daisy not being jealous enough to kill her. Therefore, I think that if Myrtle never died, Tom and Daisy's relationship would have been more stable or trusting, and as a result of this it would be more likely Gatsby would die- due to the rejection from Daisy which would probably be harsher

[Ho11y.R]

I believe for it to be the only way for Gatsby to be killed, other than any past associates from past jobs to murder him for to keeps secrets of it. It wouldn’t have been fair for Gatsby to be killed off at the end without Myrtle setting off the chain reaction. In a way it wouldn’t make sense if no characters had died in the end, for everything to be how it was. Also it’s a way of bringing everything back to normal before any influence from Myrtle and Gatsby interfering with relationships.

Even though Daisy is a woman of the 1920s it would be incredibly unfair for Gatsby to die, of which Daisy had a taboo afair with, and Myrtle, who had the affair with Tom, to not.

Readers on the 1920s would be in favour of Gatsby and Tom to have their affairs, not with one another, as this was consider to be a norm for men, while reader would think negatively of Daisy as she is upper class an a woman, and Myrtle however not as much as she is lower class and doesn’t need to live up to as much expectations.

Minded readers however would think more negatively of Tom and Myrtle as Myrtle is getting in between of Toms and Daisy’s relationship, and also for Tom to lie about his wife being catholic. Gatsby is a confusing character to either be or not to be in favour as he is obviously delusional wanting to relive the past he had with Daisy.