Best Character Analysis: George Wilson - The Great Gatsby (2023)

if you think about itThe Great Gatsby's main character, George Wilson is often the last one that comes to mind. Compared to his voluptuous wife, Myrtle, Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and of course the titular Gatsby himself, George, with his pale face, shrinking and passive, may almost escape your memory — and perhaps he would entirely if he didn't come out one to be one of the most important characters in the novel.

George has the least "side time" of the seven main characters, but is important because of the pivotal role he playsthe end of the novel. Because of this, we don't know as much about George's personality, motivations, or traits as we do about other characters.

This guide goes over what we know about George and explains why he's so important. Read on to learn more about the man under the ashes.

Article Roadmap

• George as a character
  • physical description
  • George's backstory
  • actions in the novel
• character analysis
  • Quotes about and from George
  • Tips for writing about George
  • Common discussion topics and essay ideas

A brief note on our quotes

Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We use this system because there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book.

To find a citation that we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either locate it by eye (paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; from 100: end of chapter) or use the search function if you are using an online or eReader version of the text.

George's physical description

The important things first. What does George look like? Here is Nick's brief description:

He was a blond despondent man, anemic and a little handsome. When he saw us, a wet glimmer of hope jumped into his light blue eyes. (2.8)

Myrtle and George, despite being married for twelve years, are strikingly different people. WhileMyrtle is outgoing and lively,George is shy and boring– In fact, his physical description only lasts a few sentences, while Myrtle has a paragraph-long introduction. Though there's a hint of what drew Myrtle to him all those years ago, a "faint" attractiveness, Nick emphasizes George's depressed, dank, "mindless" effect. As a matter of fact,He is explicitly associated with the Valley of Ash, the bleak industrial part of Queens where he and Myrtle live. (See oursArticle about the Valley of Ashfor further analysis on this point.)

This initial description makes the reader realize that George is a much less active, ambitious person than his wife, which accounts for his resentment and the power struggle that leads to his extreme violence at the end of the novel.

George's backstory

Twelve years before the novel begins, George married Myrtle in a borrowed suit (2.116, 8.69). They have lived above his garage in Queens for 11 years. Perhaps Myrtle was attracted to him because he owned (or would soon own) his own business, or he somehow convinced her "that he was a gentleman... [who] knew about discipline," but that facade quickly collapses , andGeorge appears to have come to terms with his working-class life. While Myrtle claims to no longer care about George, he still appears to be in love with her, as shown in him "hurriedly" following her suggestions (2.17).

Tom Buchanan makes deals with George Wilson's garage a few months before the novel begins, even promising to sell him a car. But unbeknownst to George, Tom Buchanan patronizes the garage as he is having an affair with Myrtle. The affair is Myrtle's first (2.117). Perhaps that's why George Wilson remains in the dark until the novel's suspenseful climax.

To see how George's background blends into the background of the other characters, watch thisour Great Gatsby timeline.

George's actions in the novel

We meet George in firstChapter 2, when Tom stops by his garage. Tom has some sort of car deal with George, but it's not exactly clear what that transaction is. None of this is advertised, but I think here's what happens: George tries to buy Tom's car to resell, and Tom bugs George by pretending to consider George's lowball offer because Tom is actually there to look after himself set up a liaison with Myrtle.

We'll see George again firstChapter 7, when Tom pulls up at the garage in Gatsby's yellow car to fill up on the way to Manhattan. George tells Tom that he needs money because he wants to move west with his wife. Meanwhile, he has begun to suspect his wife's affair. George actually locked Myrtle upstairs and plans to keep her there until they have the money to move (7.311).

Later that day, George and Myrtle fight. We don't get any details of the fight, save for a snippet that Michaelis, a nearby cafe owner, hears as she runs out of the house: "Throw me down and hit me, you dirty little coward!" (7.314). At that moment, Daisy and Gatsby speed by in the yellow car. Myrtle, assuming Tom is driving, rushes out into the street, "waving her hands and shouting" (3.15). Daisy runs her over without stopping, leaving Myrtle dead.

InChapter 8, George, devastated by the violent death of his wife, loses all faith in God and resolves to find the owner of the yellow car. Police assume he went garage to garage asking about the yellow car until he found Jay Gatsby's name and address (8.107). With this information, George goes the rest of the way to Gatsby's Mansion (8.107). He shoots Gatsby swimming in his pool for the first time all season. Then he shoots himself, and "the Holocaust was complete" (8.113).

InChapter 9, the mystery of how George Gatsby found it is solved. Tom confesses that George was at Tom's house for the first time that night. There, Tom told him that the yellow car was Gatsby's, implying that Gatsby was the one who killed Myrtle and the one who slept with her (9.143).

George Wilson proves the old action movie adage: never take your eyes off the guy with the gun.

Quotations from George Wilson

In general, he was one of those exhausted men: when he wasn't working, he sat on a chair in the doorway and stared at the people and cars driving down the street. Whenever anyone spoke to him, he always laughed in a pleasant, colorless way. He was his wife's husband and not his own. (7,312)

After our first introduction to George,Nick emphasizes George's gentleness and deference to his wife and comments very bluntly that he is not his own man. While this comment reveals a bit of Nick's misogyny - his comment seems to think George is his wife's "man" as opposed to his own being his main weakness - it also continues to underscore George's devotion to Myrtle.

George's apparent weakness may make him an unlikely choice for Gatsby's killer, until you consider how much pent-up fear and anger he harbors at Myrtle, culminating in his last two acts of violence: Gatsby's murder and his own suicide.

His description continues to ground him in thevalley of ash. Unlike all of the other main characters, who roam freely between Long Island and Manhattan (or, in Myrtle's case, between Queens and Manhattan),George remains in Queens, contributing to its entrenched, passive image. This makes his final trip to Long Island on foot feel particularly eerie and desperate.

George is completely devastated by the death of his wife, to the point where he is heartbroken and unaware of the reality.Although we hear that shortly before he treated her roughly, locked her up and insisted on taking her out of town, he is completely devastated by her loss. This sharp break with his earlier passive personality suggests his turn to violence towards the end of the book.

George seeks comfort, redemption and order where there is nothing but advertising.This speaks to the moral decline of New York City, the East Coast, and even America in general during the 1920's. It also speaks to how alone and powerless George is and how violence becomes his only means of revenge.

At that moment, the reader has to wonder if there is any kind of morality that the characters adhere to, or if the world is truly cruel and utterly without justice - and with no god but thatempty eyes from dr. TJ Eckleburg.

Common Essay Topics / Discussion Areas

First, we have some advice for writing about poor Mr. Wilson.

Given that George has very little side time compared to the other main characters, you will most likely need to write about him in relation to Tom Buchanan, or in an essay that features the aspirants (George, Myrtle, Gatsby) with old money (Tom and Daisy and even Nick and Jordan). You're less likely to just have to write about George. Explorehow to write a great comparison and contrast essayabout these or other characters by reading our article!

George's most important scenes are in Chapters 7 and 8, during Myrtle's murder and its aftermath, so be sure to read and comment on these chapters carefully when writing about George.

Take a close look at his interactions with Tom and Myrtle, and also consider how George interacts with one of the novel's most iconic symbols: theEyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg(He sees them as the eyes of God while Michaelis tries to remind him it's just an advertisement). This particular scene could go well with an essay on god and/or morality in the novel as George seems to be the only one looking for some kind of god or higher power.

Why do the characters in the book who strive to increase their social status (Gatsby, Myrtle, George) end up losing while the old money (Tom, Daisy, and Jordan) get off relatively unscathed?

The fates of Gatsby, Myrtle and George reconnect with the theme on thebroken promise of the american dream, as well as a criticism of theClass system in America in the 1920s. How come?

Tom and Daisy have to hide behind their money while Gatsby, Myrtle and George end up dead. Specifically, Myrtle is run over by Daisy, Gatsby is killed by George (who is being manipulated by Tom), and then George kills himself. SoDespite Tom and Daisy's direct complicity in both murders, neither of them faces consequencesfor her bad behavior.

This is a sharp indictment of the class system of 1920s America, where the rich literally play by different rules than the poor (or the up-and-coming).The fates of George, Myrtle and Gatsby also shatter any illusions about the possibility of social advancement in this world, or even in the promise of the American Dream itself. Whether you manage to amass a fortune like Gatsby, or simply strive for a better life like George, you are still powerless in the face of old money, privilege, and classicism in the United States .

This intense pessimism is supported by Nick's return to the Midwest at the end of the novelgloomy mood of the end.

Why doesn't George notice Myrtle and Tom's affair?

You may be wondering, "How on earth does George not realize his wife is cheating on him"? After all, we know that Tom doesn't go to great lengths to hide Myrtle from his friends, taking her to popular restaurants and even dragging Nick into the apartment he rented for her in New York. Also, Tom visits the garage and he and Myrtle barely hide their relationship.

So it might seem strange that George really has no idea. However, if you think about itGeorge has no access to Tom's social circles, and that he rarely leaves his garage, George has no way of knowing what his wife is doing in New York and who she is meeting (remember, this is an era long before cell phones and Facebook!).

Aside from that,George is also very interested in doing business with Tom, so that's an incentive to subconsciously overlook what's going on.

George's failure to take notice of the affair for so long speaks to George's complete isolation from the world of old money and, more broadly, from the vast class divisions in America in the 1920s. Tom and Daisy's world is so separate from George's that they can live whole lives he doesn't know about. This stark disconnect is evident in George's strange, sad walk to Long Island, where he kills Gatsby and ends his life. It was impossible for George to safely cross the class lines in society.

What's next?

Still a little confused about how the novel's climax plays out?Read our summaries ofChapter 7AndChapter 8for a clear play-by-play of what exactly is happening on the street between Manhattan and West Egg.

Why is Myrtle cheating on George?What does she see in the tyrant Tom Buchanan? Read oursAnalyse von Myrtle Wilsonto fully understand the complicated marriage between the Wilsons!

Write an essay on George Wilson?Then you should definitely read our analysis of thevalley of ashand theEyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. George is closely related to these two symbols, so make sure you understand them!