Wharton vs. Fitzgerald: Round II

While the writing styles of Fitzgerald and Wharton differ drastically, there are similarities between The House of Mirth and The Great Gatsby.  The character development of the two novelists are nearly the same in that there is none.  No one truly changes.  Nick's life changes for three months, but he never changes as a person.  Gatsby continues to chase Daisy until the bitter end.  If any character develops drastically in The Great Gatsby, I would say it was Tom Buchanan.  His losing Myrtle and nearly losing Daisy showed him how he was barely hanging on a thread.  If he did not change for his wife, then he would be left bitter and alone.  I think Fitzgerald intended to convey this change in Tom in his last scene with Daisy.  "He was talking intently across the table at her, and in his earnestness his hand had fallen upon and covered her own" (Fitzgerald, 145).  Overall, the protagonists in both novels never change.  In the end, I believe they end up causing their own demise.