Skip to main content

How does Myrtle react to Tom's arrival in The Great Gatsby?

The first time Tom arrives at Wilson's garage, when he has Nick along with him, Myrtle is quite happy to see Tom, and she does whatever he tells her.  She "walk[s] through her husband as if he were a ghost," going right up to Tom, licking her lips and looking right into his eyes.  She seems very sexually suggestive in all her lush vitality and boldness.  Tom tells her to "get on the next train," and she acquiesces immediately.  She acts as though she is his to command.


The second time we see Tom arrive at Wilson's, he's in the car with Nick and Jordan Baker (Gatsby and Daisy are in another car).  Tom pulls up to get some gas, and Nick sees Myrtle watching them from an upstairs window.  Her "eyes were wide with jealous terror" and fixed on Jordan; Nick realizes that Myrtle believes that Jordan is Tom's wife, and she is burning with envy of her.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more