Lets look at Myrtle first. Fitzgerald never names her but
describes her for a few pages. In fact his choice of words
to introduce Myrtle Wilson were: "Tom Buchanan's mistress". He paints Tom
as a little "tanked" that day and then Tom calls her "my girl" as if she is a
possession. When Myrtle actually makes her entrance, as narrator, Nick uses these
beautifully vivid adjectives to describe her: "thickish figure", "faintly stout", "she
carried her surplus flesh sensuously", and "an immediately perceptible vitality about
her". These descriptions serve as the sensory details of
sight or at least imagery. They also give us the idea that
she is a sexual being for Tom, but not the most petite cute little thing
either.
Tom is painted as a forceful individual through
character actions and
dialogue. Nick describes Tom as having a "determination to
have my company that bordered on violence." Later, Tom demands that Wilson hurry up and
get the car ready that Tom wants to buy from him - this set of dialogue between the two
demonstrates Tom's ability to assert himself to anyone. Finally, Tom says to
Myrtle,
"I
want to see you... Get on the next
train."
That's a pretty
demanding command from a man who isn't Myrtle's husband within feet of Myrtle's
husband.
These vivid details help portray the physical
nature of their relationship and they rely on language used figuratively in order to
develop such great characters.
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