Compare and Contrast in The Great GatsbyThe success of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is partly due to his successful characterization of the main characters through the comparison and contrast of Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan and George B. Wilson, Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. Contrast is achieved through two primary means: contrasting the opposing qualities possessed by characters, and contrasting the positive or negative qualities of one character with the lack of the same in another. Conflict is generated when characters sometimes present themselves as allegorical opposites. On the other hand, the comparison between two characters is quite simple. This compare and contrast is prevalent in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. To begin with, Daisy and Myrtle have similarities and differences. The similarities revolve around the characters' marriages. First, both are in a relationship at some point in the novel. Myrtle's sister Catherine whispers to Nick, "Neither of them can stand the person they're married to" (33). Partly as a result of this intolerance, they both begin an affair. Daisy says she loves both her husband, Tom, and her illegitimate fiancé, Gatsby: "I love you [Gatsby] now – isn't that enough? ... I loved him [Tom] once, but I loved you too" (133). Daisy says she loves both Tom and Gatsby. Daisy's character must be taken into account here. Daisy may love Gatsby's shirts, house, or other status symbols as much as she loves Gatsby as a person. Likewise, she might just love Tom's status symbols. Myrtle sure just loves Tom's status symbols. She tells Nick, "He wore a sharp suit and leather shoes, and I couldn't take my eyes off him..." (36). That's the point... half of the article... Works Cited Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Critique of America." Mizener 125-41.Eagleton, Terry. The function of criticism. London: Verso, 1984. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Collier edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1925. "Fitzgerald, F. Scott." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 97. Redmond, WA: Microsoft, 1996. CD-ROM. 1997.Posnock, Ross. “‘A new world, material without being real’: Fitzgerald's critique of capitalism in The Great Gatsby.” Critical essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby". Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 201-13. Spindler, Michael. American literature and social change. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1983.Trilling, Lionel. “F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Critical essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby". Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.