Monday, June 23, 2014

What is ironic about Myrtle saying "You can't live forever"?

In chapter two of The Great Gatsby,
Tom, Myrtle, and Nick are the primary guests at a party Myrtle is hosting for her
neighbors.  The apartment in the city is where Tom and Myrtle conduct their illicit
affair, and on this day everyone gets a little out of line--in fact, Tom actually hits
Myrtle, hard, in the nose when she taunts him about his wife Daisy.  In the course of
this evening, Myrtle makes this
statement:



You can't live
forever.



The irony of this
line is that, not so very long from this time, Myrtle will be dead.  She makes the
statement in a rather flippant way, no doubt; however, she clearly has an intent when
she breaks out of her house and runs into the path of the car she thinks Tom is
driving--an act that costs her everything. 

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