The Great Gatsby Myrtle Character Analysis

Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, develops as Tom leads Nick into the heart of New York. Coincidentally, the area the two are driving through is home to Tom’s notorious mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle is also cheating on her husband, George Wilson, the mechanic in town. Myrtle’s key trait throughout the chapter is immense vanity and conceitedness. The way Myrtle acts and lives overly contradicts the area she is inhabiting, however shows her true character. The way she interacts with people can also be an indication of her persona, especially her interaction with her husband and Tom.
Myrtle Wilson inhabits an apartment above her husband’s garage, located where the two eggs (East and West) diverge. In The Great Gatsby, the city is known as

For instance, when the Tom purchases a dog for Myrtle, the elevator boy throws himself out there to help the “dog” by bringing: a cardboard box, milk, and dog biscuits (Fitzgerald 29). One could speculate this act of kindness as an attempt to show his “short-term” affection for Myrtle and the affect she brings to those around her. Myrtle, however does not pay any mind to him, as he is “below her standards” like most people she comes into contact with. When the trio enters the apartment, Myrtle walks in haughtily as if she owns the place and tells Nick that she will call up her sister. As Myrtle describes her sister to Nick she says, “She’s said to be very beautiful by people who ought to know” (Fitzgerald 28). This implies that Myrtle does not know her sister well, even though she claims to visit her often, and that her own vanity and personal needs come before her family. Continuing with Myrtle’s sister, Catherine, she is described as a woman who “plucks her brows and paints them on at a rakish angle” (Fitzgerald 30). This shows a sense of vanity and conceitedness that lurks within Myrtle; representing that Myrtle’s vanity may be due to her family. It is stated after the McKees arrive and Myrtle, once again changes her attire, that there is a dim enlargement of Mrs. Wilson’s mother on the wall of the apartment, sticking like ectoplasm (Fitzgerald 30). This furthers the point that Myrtle’s