Chapter Two

Character: Myrtle Wilson
Character quote: "'Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!' shouted Mrs. Wilson. 'I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-'" (37) This quote clearly shows the personality of myrtle. Although in the beginning Tom thinks that she is attractive, when she gets drunk, her true colors come out. She rudely insists on mentioning Tom's wife, Daisy. When he tells her that she should never mention his wife's name, she makes a mockery of him and begins to tease him with the name. She seems to be self centered and likes the attention but at the same time, she is a bit rude to others and clearly can't control herself when she gets drunk.
Character qualities: Myrtle really doesn't have many good qualities. I suppose you could argue that she is honest (by continuously talking about Daisy she is reminding Tom what he is doing) but I don't really think that that is the reason for her obnoxiousness. She does, on the otherhand, have many bad qualities. She seems very self centered and wants the attention that Tom is giving her, but then turns around and is rude to him. She is also a very bad drunk. She seems obnoxious and loud, very social, yet not someone that I would necessarily want to associate with.
Characters role: In chapter 2, I think that Myrtle's main purpose is to cause disturbance and to demonstrate first hand about how real the affairs that these men are having are. She is a loud, needy person and I think Tom begins to realize that. I think that the reason that she is such a big part in this chapter is that this is the first time when we see that maybe Tom has a little bit of regret for what he is doing. Because he gets so defensive about his wife's name being mentioned, this may mean that he actually realizes that what he is doing is wrong and Myrtle's presence in constantly reminding him of that guilt he may be feeling.
Significant quote: "'I married him because I thought he was a gentlemen,' she said finally. 'I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe.'" -Myrtle (34) I think that this quote is important because to me, it seems to stand for how everyone is feeling about their lives right now. Many of them have entered into commitments and now are no longer happy with their choices. This is a main theme in this book because it seems that no one is actually happy with their lives and with what they have, even though they may pretend that they are. Because this quote brings of one of the main themes so far in this book, I think that this is one of the most important quotes.
Sightings: "The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene," (24). This talks about the ash heap and how it represents someone foul and is associated with death which is most commonly linked to sadness and unhappiness.
"One lavender-colored with gray upholstery." (27) This is being used to describe a taxi cab. The gray in this chapter is referring to something in between, sort of indecisive and kind of out of place. It is a dismal color and pretty bland and boring. Gray was the main color theme that I found was mentioned in this chapter.