The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story, and the death of Myrtle Wilson is one of the most tragic events in the book.
Myrtle was the wife of Tom Buchanan, who was driving when she was hit by another car. Tom and Daisy had a relationship with Gatsby that was complicated, and Myrtle’s death is partially because of her husband’s jealousy over what he perceived as an affair between Daisy and Gatsby.
The accident that killed Myrtle was not an accident at all: it was murder. The driver who hit Myrtle, George Wilson, did so intentionally because he suspected his wife had been having an affair with Tom Buchanan.
Because Myrtle died so suddenly, her death affected several characters in different ways. For example, it caused George Wilson to commit suicide because he couldn’t live without his wife; it also resulted in Daisy becoming more distant from Gatsby and Tom; and it led to a falling out between Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker because she blamed him for what happened to Myrtle.
Myrtle’s death played a very important role in the plot of The Great Gatsby because it led to several significant consequences for other characters.
