Gatsby Ch.2 (Part II)

Now things start to get interesting in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The end of Nick's time with Tom and company ends poorly as everybody's flaws are exposed. More specifically, Tom is really shown as a man of poor character. This is first shown during Nick's discussion with Catherine who says the reason that  Tom and Daisy are not divorced is because Daisy is Catholic. Nick reveals, "Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie (33)." I believe the true reason Tom and Daisy are not divorced is because Tom still loves Daisy but he feels like Myrtle is more fun.

Tom even defends Daisy in a sort of strange manner when he tells Myrtle that she should not bring up Daisy. Of course, this ends with Tom breaking Myrtle's nose. This violent turn of events shows that Tom is very susceptible to giving into his emotions which would explain why he keeps a mistress as well. Nick makes the smart choice and follows the only sane person out of the room who is Mr. McKee. Mckee appears to ignore the whole situation with his suggestion of Nick joining them for lunch some time. I think this suggests that events like this are a common occurrence between Tom and Myrtle.