"It's really his wife that's keeping them apart. She's a Catholic and they don't believe in divorce"
Daisy was not a Catholic and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of this lie" (Fitzgerald 38).
I think these lines are important for a few reasons.
First, it gives the reader a new perspective of Tom Buchanan's personality. Obviously there is something that is making Tom aprehensive about leaving Daisy.This reminds me of the whole idea of reserving judgement that Tom brought up in the first chapter. It makes me wonder whether the reader sees Tom as he really is while the narrator's vision isskewed or if the readers perception of Tom will change throughout the book.
Second, it brings up the idea of lies and trustworthiness. It has already been hinted at that this elitist world is not all that it seems, especially when in chapter one the irony is obvious in the line "I think the home influence will be good for her" when we already see the dsicontent of their home in Tom's mistress and an attitude towards Daisy that seems only tolerant. This reminds me of The Age of Innocence , I am intersted in seeing how much of this world will fall apart.
1 comment:
I also thought about this passage and wondered why Tom would make such a lie. Personally, I think Tom tells Myrtle he is unable to marry her in order to preserve his image in society. Tom is comfortable with having a mistress, a fact that is accepted and posed as typical by his wife and friends. When Nick asked about the phone call received at dinner, Miss Baker was "honestly surprised" (19) that Nick was unaware of Tom's affair. She tells him, "I thought everybody knew" (19). While Tom's mistress is openly discussed and known about, he still takes effort to maintain secrecy, sitting far from her on the train and ignoring the fact that they share more than an acquaintance in public. Tom's image would be risked because of Myrtle's low rank in society; she cannot compare to the beauty and wealth of Daisy. Should he be seen with her, he would not be judged so much for the fact that he has a mistress, but for who she is. She is not exquisite and beautifully wealthy, but a woman of low class: "Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty" (30). Myrtle cannot compare to the high-society women that Tom is typically associated with, purchasing "Town Tattle" magazines and buying her perfume in a drug store, and having "parties" in a small, dingy apartment (31). Should Tom leave his wife for someone like Myrtle, his image in society would be ruined. High class men are supposed to marry only high class women; anything else would be defined as abnormal and unacceptable.
Leaving Daisy for Myrtle is undesirable due to Tom's need to preserve his image in society. Tom may only be tolerant of his wife, but as we begin to see in the novel, society is a dominating factor in the lives of the characters. Tom breaks Myrtle's nose when she ridicules him about Daisy and repeats her name mockingly. Tom is dependent on his marriage to Daisy to maintain his image in society, and therefore cannot allow this image to be soiled, even by his mistress. Furthermore, Tom allows himself to remain in his marriage for the need to be respected by the public.
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