George Wilson - Characters Sketch, The Great Gatsby | The Great Gatsby - Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

Poor George. He really gets the short end of the stick in this one. And, seeing as he's one of the few characters without staggering flaws, he doesn't even deserve it. From what we can tell, Wilson is hard-working and not cheating on his spouse. He's in a marriage with a woman who doesn't love or respect him, who walks through him as though he's a ghost; and meanwhile he just does what she says: "'Oh, sure,' agreed Wilson hurriedly" (2.15)—and we think not for the first time.

After Myrtle's death, Wilson is in serious emotional pain. He cries out "Oh, my God" over and over—but because his wife is dead? Because he just found out she was having an affair? Or because he feels guilty for making her run out into the street?

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" (8.105). His comment reminds us that, unlike the rich careless classes, the lower classes can't just retreat "back into […] money" (9.136). Wilson and his class actually have to take responsibility for their actions, and they don't have trips to Paris to make it all more palatable.

No wonder Wilson decides that he doesn't want to live with the consequences.

George's Timeline

• George is introduced as the ignorant husband of Tom’s mistress.
• When Nick and Tom fill up with gas on the way to the city, they chat with George and he asks Tom if he will sell his car to him so he can fix it up and sell it for more money.
• George realizes his wife is having an affair.
• Tom and Nick and Jordan stop by again on their way into the city one day (the day Tom confronts Daisy and Gatsby) and he looks like a sick, broken man.
• After Myrtle is hit and killed, George sinks into a severe depression and grief.
• He reveals to Michaelis that, before his wife died, he warned her that God was always watching.
• According to Michaelis, Wilson fixated on the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg for a long time after.
• George Wilson seeks the name and identity of the person driving the car that struck and killed his wife, thinking that it is also the man with whom she was having an affair.
• Finding his way to West Egg, he kills Gatsby and then himself.
• We find out later that it was Tom who gave Wilson Gatsby’s name.