How Does Myrtle Criticize In The Great Gatsby

The Phenomenon of Criticizing a Force that has Shaped You
IB Paper Two Topic It is easy to look through a window and criticize those that walk by, yet even easier to forget that the window partially reflects you as well. When writers use literature to critique how society functions, as F. Scott Fitzgerald does in The Great Gatsby, they also reflect those societal values because belonging to society means a purely objective perspective is unattainable. The question is to what extent can writers criticize society despite being a part of it? In The Great Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle’s relationship is trapped; however, Fitzgerald explores the motives behind the affair to both critique the superficiality and defend the ideals of the social institution

Tom and Daisy have been married for years and have a daughter, yet Tom does not respect the marriage. While he is enjoying Myrtle’s company, he likes to ignore his commitment to Daisy, even breaking Myrtle’s nose when she screams Daisy’s name. This brutality is to forget Daisy when he is with Myrtle. Evidently, Tom and Daisy’s relationship is a facade and this is what enables Tom to associate with Myrtle and even Daisy to meet with Gatsby. Moreover, Mr. McKee’s marriage supports this claim because, despite being a married man, he is “clad in his underwear”(Fitzgerald 32) in a bed with Nick when Chapter II ends. Interestingly, homosexuality is never overtly mentioned but constantly hinted, a testament to society’s stigma at the time. By referencing homosexuality, Fitzgerald still critiques superficiality of marriage, albeit less directly. If two homosexuals, whose behaviour is shunned by society, can engage in sexual activity despite one being married 1, it reinforces that marriage has no quality that renders is pure. The essence of this is paralleled in reality, most clearly through Fitzgerald’s own experiences with Zelda, “the expensive girl of his anguished dreams” (Pierpont 77), when she was involved in an affair with a French aviator. This demonstrates that the

Partially. The motives for the affair also validate the ideal marital view because it proves that Tom’s marriage cannot be held to the same standard as the social ideal. If Tom regularly associates with Myrtle, is his marriage truly valid? Seeing how Daisy and Tom both participated in some form of infidelity, and how Daisy’s main reason to marry Tom was she could not wait for Gatsby, this marriage cannot represent of the concept of marriage as a whole. In this regard, Fitzgerald reflects the societal view of marriage as the holy bond. By creating this unfaithful matrix with Tom, Gatsby, Myrtle and Daisy, he preserves the pristine marital example by discrediting Tom’s marriage. This “No True Scotsman” defense of marriage seems to be an unfair tactic, yet in this situation, it holds truth. Had Tom and Daisy truly fell in love and followed the tropes of marriage, they might not have indulged themselves with personal lovers, and this is enough to suggest that we reserve judgement on the situation and accept that this is no normal marriage to begin with. Considering Fitzgerald’s personal history, it is difficult to imagine why he would defend marriage; nonetheless, we must recognize that although he is a brilliant writer and storyteller, he is also human, molded by social values just as much as you or I. After his crisis in marriage, he might have hated the very idea