Oh the Places You'll Go. The Adultery Edition: Pages 25-36 (The Great Gatsby)

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

In this disgusting display of infidelity section of the novel, the setting provides ample symbolism and parallels that hint at Fitzgerald's themes.  Since I focused on time in the last novel, I'll focus on place now: specifically, the automobile shop and Myrtle's apartment in New York.

It seemed only fitting that Myrtle Wilson, Tom's mistress, should be introduced to the reader in a run-down, ash-filled auto shop.  Nick describes the area as almost built entirely on ash.  Myrtle and her husband George live modestly (if modestly is an accurate reflection) above the auto shop where George works.  Myrtle's surroundings seem to parallel her position in life.  The ever-present ashes make the area seem like a disaster zone.  It is as if Myrtle's privileged life came crashing down after she married George and she is hoping to rise again like a phoenix with Tom's worthy companionship.  However, the reader later can see that the ash symbolizes Myrtle's deception of her husband as she tries to find her way back into high society. As Myrtle and Tom get rid of George in order to plan their next get together, Nick notes that, "A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity-except his wife, who moved close to Tom" (Fitzgerald, 26).  The ash and run down setting of Myrtle's life are not indicators of George's shortcomings that drag her down, but of Myrtle's and Tom's obfuscations and infidelities that will crush her husband who has given her everything he could.

Another setting that seems to reflect the overall rancor of the affair of Tom and Myrtle is Myrtle's apartment in New York.  While the setting of her home above the auto shop is a dismal scene filled with destitution and ash, her apartment in New York is a scene of class, fashion, and sociability.  However, to Nick's observant eye, the apartment seems to parallel her real drawbacks.  Even though the apartment is fairly small, it is almost filled with furniture.  Moreover, Nick notes that the one painting is distorted based on perspective; it either presents a hen or an old lady.  Like the apartment, Myrtle has very little to offer.  However, she still tries to convince everyone in the upper classes that she is not lost to the world of ash by piling on the pretentiousness with her undermining compliments and suffocating everyone around.  In addition, like the painting, she can be viewed in different ways from different perspectives; some view her as a victim of a poor decision of husband while others view her as a home-wrecker.

I couldn't think of a GIF that fits into this section so here's the Dalai Lama:

Take that, adulterers!