George Wilson

He is married to Myrtle, but he is unhappy in his marriage, because his spouse doesn’t love and respect him. Despite all of this, Wilson still blames himself for his wife’s death. The conversations between him and Michaelis (later revealed to us through Nick) are simply agonizing to hear; George is clearly in terrible emotional pain. Not only has his wife been killed, but he also found out just before her death that she’d been having an affair. The repetitions "Oh, my God, OMG, OMG, OMG" could have to do with the fact that his wife has died, but they could also be his astonishment at her infidelity. Then again, they could be guilty cries as well; if Wilson hadn’t called her out on the affair, she might not have run out into the street, and she might not have been killed. This "George feels guilty" theory gains some credibility when he commits suicide after shooting Gatsby. The other thing to note about Wilson is that he’s the only character who talks about God. He tells Myrtle that she "can’t fool God," that "God sees everything." Again, he means for this to refer to her actions, but they implicitly comment on his own, and may speak once again to his reasons for committing suicide and shooting Gatsby.

The tonality of the Great Gatsby is kind of cynical, ironic. The author manages to implicitly criticize through his narrator's tone. For instance, how ludicrous Myrtle seems when, although she isn't upper class, she still tries to look down on her husband. The characters are sometimes slighted by the ironic tone, and we are forced to read with the same cynicism that Fitzgerald writes. It full of symbolism: the huge eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, which can be referred to the eyes of God, the green light of Gatsby’s dreams and hopes for happiness, West and East Eggs which help to convey the differences between high and lower classes.

The idea of the Great Gatsby is the false and fake values of the American dream and the pursuit of wealth which is "merely" material and can’t lead to the real happiness.