The Valley of Ashes (and affairs): Gatsby Chapter 2

Chapter 2 revolved mainly around the relationship between Tom and his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Upon first introduction of Myrtle, I knew that I didn’t like her. She seemed arrogant and ungrateful, and she treated her husband coldly. I think part of the reason why I do not like her so much is that her husband is a humble man who truly loves Myrtle, but she wants nothing to do with him. Nick’s first glance at Myrtle made me laugh, when he described that “She was in her middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smoldering” (Fitzgerald 29-30).  Nick, in a somewhat elegant description, describes Myrtle as an ugly woman, with an ugly personality. I liked Nick’s further description of Myrtle and her personality because upon first reading, I thought that she had an ugly personality too. To me, however, it’s no surprise that she has an affair with Tom, as Tom is equally arrogant and ugly in my opinion. Speaking on the affair, I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal for Tom and Myrtle to keep their relationship a secret when almost everyone knows the details of their affair. On their way to Myrtle’s secret apartment in New York City, Nick explains that “Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up to New York--or not quite together, for Mrs. Wilson sat discreetly in another car. Tom deferred that much to the sensibilities of those East Eggers who might be on the train” (Fitzgerald 31) While I understand that obviously no one would want to admit to an affair, I think that Tom and Myrtle should just make their lives easier and go public with their affair. That way, Tom and Daisy can live without worry of their spouses, Daisy can feel free to find another man, and Mr. Wilson won’t have to live with a woman who doesn’t have the same feelings that he does. But, of course, this is a fictional book set in the 1920’s, so obviously the solution can’t be as simple as that.