Gatsby Chapter 2, Commentary pt. 2
So last time we discussed the first major location of Chapter two, Wilson’s garage and the Valley of the Ashes. Now we turn to the second location:
Myrtle’s Manhattan flat. It’s way up on the Upper West Side—really Washington Heights—which is quite a drive. The flat is crowded with furniture that doesn’t fit, littered with books and magazines of the basest sort, and frequented by ill-mannered gossips and vapid neighbors. But Myrtle feels as if she’s a queen here, between her “regal” homecoming and “hauteur” costuming. People who barely know one another speak to each other on a first name basis (a grave faux pas in more refined times), but it’s appropriate for how superficial everyone is.
My favorite person in this section is Catherine, Myrtle’s sister. She loves to gossip, much like Daisy, and here she pulls Nick aside to intimate that the only reason Tom doesn’t marry Myrtle is because Daisy’s Catholic. Wow! There’s no limit for our ability to deceive ourselves. Just like Tom in chapter 1, every time Catherine opens her mouth, she inserts foot. Fist of all she seems so excited that she just returned from Monte Carlo—and I mean, who wouldn’t. It is home to the most fashionable casinos, car races, and minor royalty in the world. But she just hated it. Apparently things were sooo expensive (duh!). It’s the way she says it, though: “We were gypped…” Gypped is a slang derogatory word for having gypsies rob you. Then she disparages a former suitor of hers by calling him a “little kyke.” Kyke (or kike, depending on your version) may have gone out of style, but it is a mean-spirited word for a Jew—on level with the infamous “n” word. She starts off seeming very friendly and social and ends up, through her own words, to be quite an ugly and stupid person.
Myrtle exposes her values, too, when she describes the key parts of her early marriage. We can see what she values from her words, too. What can you get out of it? It’s on p. 34-5. I’ll also leave it up to you to characterize the McKees. Post a comment (or two) and let’s discuss.
In my next post I will try to conclude this with a discussion on the unity of chapter 2.
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Filed under: Summer Reading, The Great Gatsby and
Right away I disliked Myrtle (I know, reserve judgement) but everything about her disgusts me. From the very act of cheating on her husband to her pompous and self-absorbed behavior, Fitzgerald creates a very stuck-up character. (Fitzgerald is very good at making us judge quickly when we should be restraining ourselves).
Myrtle is obviously very self-absorbed, for she is continually talking and even cuts into Mrs. McKee, saying “Yes, but listen” truly meaning “it’s all about me” She then goes into her poor poor story of her marrying a man not “fit to lick my shoe.” Not only is she attempting to obtain pity and thus more attention, but she is also revealing her feelings of superiority. She thought he was a ‘gentleman’ but boy was her judgement wrong. All she really got was ‘filth.’
In a sense, it’s just another case of projection. Myrtle is putting her husband down by saying she was crazy to marry him, when truly she is just expressing her own insecurities. She married him, so it’s her fault she’s with someone with inferior status.
All in all, Myrtle is a very interesting character that Fitzgerald puts a lot of emphasis on. She truly represents the vile nature and belief of many of these ‘high class’ people.
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Yeah, she’s pretty vile, huh? When Tom smashes her nose, I kinda feel like she deserves it. I don’t feel sorry for her, although it is a little shocking.
To make a bizarre connection, it’s like in Jurassic Park 3, where I want the dinosaurs to eat the humans b/c the humans are so damn annoying!
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