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While Tom and Daisy have a toxic love and Daisy and Gatsby have an unrequited/delusional love, Tom and Myrtle have a temporary love. Tom and Daisy seem to be in love to some extent. They remain married for more than just show. Daisy and Gatsby were merely a fling of sorts as Gatsby was much more involved than Daisy. But Tom and Myrtle barely have love at all. In fact, it might be better to call it a convenient infatuation of sorts.
Tom meets Myrtle on the train and somehow that causes a relationship to form. However, it does not appear to be this easy as they are both married. Tom invites Nick to meet Myrtle and Myrtle’s friends in the city where it appears that Tom has an apartment just for his affair.
Nick’s impression of Myrtle is not great and he appears to be a little revolted by her and her strong body. Mrs. Wilson is what Nick calls her and she is everything that Daisy is not. Nick indicates that she and Tom make a great pair because of this.
“Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crêpe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering.”
The Great Gatsby Chapter 2
His description of her does not come across as flattering or even paint her to be very beautiful. In fact, it does quite the opposite, she seems almost masculine like Tom likes her just because she has a body. She does seem to be much more lively than Daisy which must be why Tom was fine with having an affair with her.
The relationship between Tom and Myrtle is not great though. Later in Chapter 2 an incident occurs between them. Nick describes it as “Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name” (Chapter 2). Tom obviously does not wish for his worlds to collide and does not like Myrtle mentioning Daisy. Tom is too controlling for that and sees that Myrtle mentioning Daisy goes out of his control. It is like his dirty secret is being openly aired and mocked.
This idea of Tom being controlling shows up again in Chapter 7 when Nick says Tom “had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world, and the shock had made him physically sick.” Tom believes that Myrtle is a nobody without him. He does not see her as a person.
It is a wonder that Myrtle likes Tom back. Nick does not really give insight into how Myrtle feels as she is mentioned in only 3 chapters throughout the whole book, 2 of which only describe her as dead not alive. Tom is aggressive and controlling but he must be everything that Wilson is not. Wilson appears to be meek and mild and Myrtle must like that Tom does not remind her of him. They both seek what they do not currently have in a partner in each other.
This relationship is one of convenience. There will be no development after this initial stage of the affair not just because Myrtle dies but because they cannot pursue it further. Tom still has some loyalty to Daisy and will not leave her.
Two songs seem to capture the dual nature of this predicament in their relationship. The first song is by Blackpink called Really and talks about how the girl is waiting for the guy to say something. She wonders why he is hesitant to take the relationship further. The first line of the song is “If you really, really love me, then tell me” which indicates Myrtle’s feelings toward Tom. She wants him to say something. A little later in that same verse the songs says, “Say you’ll never look at anyone else, really, really” which also represents Myrtle as she wants Tom but he has Daisy.
The second song is Sour Grapes by Le Sserafim which talks about a relationship that will never exist because the singer is too hesitant to try love. The best lyric that showcases the relationship between Tom and Myrtle is at the end of the chorus, “I don’t wanna taste, I just feel afraid/Love is sour, love is sour grapes.” The singer remains hesitant because they believe they will be hurt. Tom remains hesitant because he does not want to try love with Myrtle. She is his mistress and that is all.
All in all, Tom and Myrtle’s relationship is certainly not the most toxic but it does not seem healthy either. Their relationship is born out of cheating. Neither of them are great people and they do not seem repentant of cheating on their spouses. They seek comfort in each other but Tom will not allow their relationship to develop any further.
