MeganRitter

So Tom is married to Daisy and keeping Myrtle Wilson as a mistress. Clearly it angers him past the bounds of sanity to so much as hear Daisy's name spoken aloud. Meanwhile, isn't Myrtle, the woman who would like to have Daisy's place and can't, the one who should really hate to hear Daisy's name? She's certainly comfortable with it, or at least she puts up an effective front of being comfortable with it. Why does it bother Tom so much to hear Daisy's name? Is it guilt? Having read the book previously (it's one of my favorites) I know that Tom has already had several women on the side, including one only months after his wedding. He and Daisy have had a rough marriage. I can't see where it would bother his conscience to have one more fling. Toward the end of the book his jealousy of Gatsby's relationship with Daisy rips him apart inside, but in light of Tom's character I've always interpreted this as Tom's greedy childlike need to own the whole world. Why can't Tom stand to hear Daisy's name from Myrtle? And why does Myrtle take such pleasure in saying Daisy's name? Is it the thrill of triumph, the thrill of knowing that she and not Daisy has Tom's love? Is it the rare thrill of defying a man? How did the roles of the philandering husband and the insecure mistress get flipped here?