About half-way through chapter 2 of The Great
Gatsby, Catherine and Myrtle have a conversation about
George:
"Well, I married him,." said Myrtle,
ambiguously.
"And that's the difference between your case
and mine.." "Why did you, Myrtle?." demanded
Catherine.
"Nobody forced you to.." Myrtle
considered.
"I married him because I thought he was a
gentleman,." she said finally.
"I thought he knew something
about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe.." "You
were crazy about him for a while,." said Catherine.
"Crazy
about him!." cried Myrtle incredulously.
"Who said I was
crazy about him? I never was any more crazy about him than I was about that man there.."
She pointed suddenly at me, and every one looked at me accusingly. I tried to show by my
expression that I had played no part in her
past.
"The only crazy I was was when I
married
him.
Myrtle's
affair with Tom has spoiled her. It's afforded her a New York apartment, mint julips,
and a fancy collar for her dog. Myrtle thinks she's has gone from the bottom of the
social ladder to the top.
Myrtle has also bought into Tom's
racist and class-warrior ideas. As such, she views George as a poorly bred mongrel.
She has bought into Tom's social-Darwinian view that whites are better than blacks,
white collar is better than blue collar, East Eggers are better than West Eggers, and
that a Valley of Ashes mistresses can become a posh New York
socialite.
This is all before Tom slaps some sense into
her.
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