Allison Frost 0104.07 English GG1 The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scoot Fitzgerald explores the relationships between several couples. Three of these couples are Nick and Jordan, Tom and Daisy, and Tom and Myrtle. Nick and Jordan are a strange couple, in my opinon. There's a different quality to their relationship reminiscent of two people just passing time together before they find something better. There is affection there, and Nick professes to love her, but different parts of the book seem to contradict that, such as the scene in the Buchanan mansion, where Daisy kisses Gatsby and tells Jordan to do the same to Nick. She replies with disdain. After Gatsby's death, too, there seems to be nothing between them except the past summer; Jordan wants to move on, it seems, and Nick wants nothing to do with her because she is too painful a reminder of how careless people can be. Tom and Daisy's relationship is easier described. It's of a convenient marriage between two people who never held any real, deep seated affection for each other until after they were united in holy matrimony. Because of this, Tom feels free enough to cheat on his wife many times, even during their honeymoon and the birth of their first child. When Gatsby comes along, however, and he realises Daisy might be lost forever to him, he gets his act together and becomes jealous -- typical male. It's all right for him to sleep around, but it's not acceptable that his wife have a tryst with the man she loved before him. Despite Daisy and Gatsby's relationship, it's more likely that Tom comes to his senses about his marriage when Myrtle, his mistress, becomes accidental roadkill. The third relationship between characters is Tom's and Myrtle's. Myrtle believes Tom truly loves her and would divorce Daisy to be with her. However, this is unlikely, because he's had mistresses before and never left Daisy to be with one of them. Myrtle is disenchanted with her life and her husband, George, and the relationship between her and Tom is probably a means of escape for her. They carry on only in the city, where they have an apartment and a puppy. They throw lavish parties, and she's able to act richer with Tom than she is with George. It is perhaps the enticement of money and the affluent lifestyle that Tom Buchanan can offer that draws her to love him, as it would seem that he doesn't offer much else emotionally -- they have many arguments and he does not hesitate to hurt her. It is my opinion that all of these relationships could be considered dysfunctional. Of them all, Daisy's and Tom's seem to be the best -- there at least does seem to be love there, moments when they don't mask any real emotion with games like Nick and Jordan do, or use each other for escape from the real world like Myrtle and Tom. Their relationship is most likely the most sturdy of all three, and while it's doubtful that Tom will not cheat on his wife again, at least there is something real between them.