As part of his satire of the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald points to the
worship of affluence that all classes of people in the time illustrated. In the New York
apartment with the association of the wealthy Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson somehow feels herself
elevated. Additionally, her sister,too, and the others carry on this same charade of social
place. Myrtles's sister, for example, a slender "worldly" girl who, after being called over to
the apartment, enters with what Nick calls "such a proprietary haste" and looks around at the
furniture "so possessively" that he wonders if she does not live there. When he asks her if she
does, Catherine laughs "immoderately" and repeats the question aloud to mock Nick.
In fact, Catherine finds value in being the sister of Myrtle who
has been elevated by being the mistress of such a wealthy man. In a falsely intimate manner, she
leans over to Nick and whispers in his ear about her sister and Tom, "Neither of them can stand
the person they're married to." Then, as though she is part of the society of the Buchanans and
knows them, she tells Nick,
"It's really his wife tha's keeping them apart. She's a
Catholic and they don't believe in divorce....When they do get married...they're going west to
live for a while until it blows
over."
Nick narrates that Daisy is not
a Catholic and he is shocked at the "elaborateness of the lie." This atmosphere of falsity is
perpetuated by Mrs. McKee, too, as she develops Catherine's declaration that she and another
"girl" traveled to Monte Carlo, saying that she almost married someone else until Chester McKee
rescued her. The entire atmosphere of the party is
artificial:
People disappeared, reappeared, made plans to
go somewhere, and then lost each other, searched for each other, found each other a few feet
away.
No comments:
Post a Comment