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Myrtle In The Great Gatsby

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In Chapter two the reader meets Myrtle, Tom's mistress, she explains how she married George Wilson and how it was a mistake because he “borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in” (35). Myrtle is a very classy lady who wants the riches in life and wants somebody who can supply her with these wants and needs. Tom is the guy that can do this for her and more, compared to Wilson he is more put together and wealthier and therefore Myrtle is attracted to him. George seems happy to have Myrtle as a wife and so he appears somewhat as a pushover when Myrtle orders him around he gladly obliges. Tom, however, is glad to have Myrtle as his mistress because she is of the lower-class, he likes to have someone that looks up to him and that can take care of him, not the other way around. Myrtle also hints that Tom is more intelligent than Wilson, which provides another reason for her forbidden attraction. When Nick first meets Wilson, he …show more content…

Unlike Daisy, Myrtle is Tom’s desire. She is what Tom yearns for and what keeps Tom up at night. Myrtle has a sex appeal that Daisy lacks and she carries herself with elegance and a richness that attracts Tom. He is proud to have her on the side because she carries this aura with her and worships him in a way that Daisy doesn’t. When Nick first meets Myrtle, he describes her as “carr[ying] her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can” (25). Since Myrtle is of the lower-class, Tom feels as if he is a king to her and this makes him especially attracted to her because he can receive this kind of attention that he normally doesn’t get. His attraction is based on his feeling of superiority over Myrtle and how he can express that with her, but not with Daisy due to her upper-class nature as well. Myrtle, however, is attracted to Tom because she wants to use him to achieve more in life, with her social class and living in general. These two are attracted to one another because they share similar motives and are both selfish and vain

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