WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT THE CHARACTER MYRTLE IN CHAPTER 2 AND WHAT TECHNIQUES DOES FITZGERALD USE TO TELL THE STORY?

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Look again at chapter two of the novel. Then answer the questions.

  1. What do we learn about the character Myrtle in this chapter?

The description of Myrtle in chapter two reveals a lot about he personality and appearance. Myrtle seems to be very sensuous and full of vitality, ‘she carried her flesh sensuously’. This implies that she has a kind of sexiness about her. The fact that Nick describes it means that it was prominent enough for him to notice how she was walking across the room. At the same time the word ‘flesh’ creates an image of Myrtle that she has excessive weight. This could be interpreted unconventionally as slim and slender women are normally associated with sexiness and sensuality. Because of this stereotype, it could imply that Myrtle has confident quality about her, to be able to feel sexy enough to carry her ‘flesh sensuously’ and not feel ashamed or embarrassed as some women would.

Myrtle also shows a little bit of aggressiveness throughout the chapter towards her husband, Wilson, the mechanic, and Tom, friend to Nick and Daisy’s husband. The aggressiveness and assertiveness is not shown through her actions but her idiolect. When Nick and Tom go to visit Myrtle in the Garage, Myrtle directs Wilson, her husband to ‘Get some chairs, why don’t you,’ she made no effort to use polite mannerisms to her husband or to get the chairs herself. Later in the chapter we see another episode of Myrtle’s temper when she is provoking Tom into an argument. Myrtle travels to New York with Tom and Nick and she has a party at her sister, Catherine’s flat. Towards the end of the chapter and the end of the party, Myrtle and Tom end in an argument where Myrtle is repeatedly shouting ‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ Tom and Myrtle had been ‘discussing in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson’ (Myrtle) ‘had any right to mention Daisy’s name’ This again shows that Myrtle can be rather aggressive and uncivilized towards others. In each of the situations Myrtle receives a different reaction from both Tom and Wilson, showing that she has different effects on each of the characters. Wilson quickly attends to her command where as she receives a violent response from Tom as he breaks her nose ‘making a short deft movement’.

Myrtle appears to be pretentious through the way she acts. An example of one of Myrtle’s affectations is when she is waiting for a taxi cab and lets four pass her before she selects ‘a new one, lavender – coloured with grey upholstery’, one worthy of her. As she continues to spend time with Nick and Tom she continues to put on a front. Her attitude towards people changes, and she feels in this different environment and company more important opposed to that of her husband and home, in the ‘Valley of Ashes’. ‘The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage  was converted into impressive hauteur’, She changes the way acts and portrays herself when she is in higher class company.

This leads on to the fact that she aspires to be part of the higher class, there are several indications within the chapter that signalise this aspiration. One of these indications is when Tom, Nick and Myrtle are on their way to New York and she insists on Tom buying her a dog, she says whilst persuading Tom ‘They’re nice to have a dog’ However she wants a dog for the apartment in New York and not in the garage, her home with Wilson. She feels more important when in New York and with Tom. When they arrive at the apartment and once people have started to arrive to her party, she changes her attire twice. In the garage her clothing is described by Nick as a ‘spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine’, this sounds like a cheap version of an elegant and genuinely beautiful dress, a dress worn by Daisy. This again shows that Myrtle wants to be part of the higher class, but deep down she is a member of the lower society. However when she is at the apartment her ‘costume’ changes to an ‘elaborate afternoon dress of cream-coloured chiffon’. Again this sounds like a cheaper version of an expensive silk and fine fabric. The word ‘costume’ also implies that she is dressed up as something she isn’t suggesting that she lacks authenticity, yet still showing she aspires to be a higher class member. Not only does Myrtle’s appearance change when she is in New York but so does her attitude, her confidence seems to amplify along with her self indulgence. She rejects compliments as though she is already aware of her elegance and  ‘adorable’ dress. Myrtle raises her ‘eyebrow in disdain’ when Mrs McKee compliments her outfit. This could suggest that Myrtle considers herself of a higher class and above Mrs McKee. Even though she appears to want to avoid attention at the same time she is seeking the very attention she is rejecting. ‘I just slip it on when I don’t care what I look like’. Through the description of Myrtle’s dress, it is quite apparent that she has made an effort. Her actions and around the apartment also support the idea that she aspires to be a higher class. She ‘flounces’ over to the dog and kisses it with ‘ecstasy’ and sweeps to the kitchen, ‘implying that a dozen chiefs awaited her orders’. Myrtle interprets herself to be more involved in a higher class role than she actually is.

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As Myrtle aspires to be a higher class, she is critical of her life in the ‘Valley of Ashes’, including her husband. When she is describing her husband she is verbally abusive and cruel towards him. ‘The only crazy I was when I married him’. Her sister stated that she was crazy about her husband for a while and Myrtle shrugs the suggestion off and replies callously that she knew she had made a mistake the minute she married him. Her reasoning for marrying was that she presumed Wilson was a gentleman and he turned out other wise in ...

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