Tom Buchanan’s affair with Myrtle Wilson is one of the most visceral and revealing dynamics in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. It is a relationship built not on romance, but on power, class performance, and the raw assertion of dominance. To understand why is Tom attracted to Myrtle, one must look past the surface-level lust and examine the layered web of 1920s social hierarchies, Tom’s fragile masculinity, and the specific psychological utility Myrtle provides him. She is not a partner; she is a prop in the theater of his superiority Surprisingly effective..
The Allure of Vitality and "Life Force"
The most immediate answer to why is Tom attracted to Myrtle lies in her sheer, unfiltered physical vitality. Still, when Nick Carraway first describes her in Chapter 2, he notes that she is in her mid-thirties, "faintly stout," but carries her "surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. " She possesses a "smouldering" energy that Daisy, for all her ethereal charm, fundamentally lacks.
Daisy represents "old money" refinement—cool, detached, and voice "full of money." She is insulated by wealth, floating through life in white dresses. Myrtle, conversely, is earthy, sweaty, and loud. She lives above a garage in the Valley of Ashes, a desolate wasteland of industrial waste. In real terms, for Tom, a former football player whose "acute limited excellence" peaked at Yale, Myrtle offers a return to the physicality of his youth. She is a body that responds, fights, and desires openly. In a world where Tom is bored by the "long, white, cold" days of the elite, Myrtle’s heat is a narcotic. She makes him feel alive, potent, and virile in a way his polite, cynical marriage never could Took long enough..
Class Tourism and the Thrill of Slumming
A critical component of why is Tom attracted to Myrtle is the class dynamic. Practically speaking, tom is a racist, classist aristocrat who believes firmly in the "dominant race" theory he espouses in Chapter 1. Consider this: he does not view Myrtle as an equal; he views her as accessible. The affair allows him to engage in a form of slumming—a fashionable pastime for the 1920s elite where the wealthy visited lower-class neighborhoods for titillation But it adds up..
Myrtle’s apartment in New York, paid for by Tom, becomes a stage where he can play the role of the generous benefactor, the lord of the manor. But the attraction is rooted in the safety of the transgression. That's why with Daisy, he must negotiate; with Myrtle, he commands. He can pretend to be a "regular fellow" in the city while retaining the safety net of his East Egg mansion. This dynamic feeds his ego. He buys her a dog, he buys her magazines, he dictates the terms of their meetings. He enjoys the power imbalance. Still, he risks nothing of his social standing because the chasm between them is so wide that Myrtle can never truly threaten his position. She is a vacation from his class, not a bridge to another one.
The Performance of Masculinity and Possession
Tom Buchanan is a man deeply insecure about his masculinity, despite his aggressive posturing. Worth adding: his "cruel body" is a weapon he wields to maintain control. Understanding why is Tom attracted to Myrtle requires recognizing that Myrtle allows him to perform the role of the paterfamilias—the provider, the protector, the master—without the emotional complexity Daisy demands Easy to understand, harder to ignore..
Myrtle treats him with a deference that Daisy refuses to offer. Day to day, daisy challenges him, mocks him ("You look so cool"), and ultimately chooses Gatsby (however briefly). Myrtle, however, worships the ground he walks on. Now, she mimics the manners of the upper class, changing dresses and affecting an "impressive hauteur," trying to become the image of the woman she thinks Tom wants. Even so, this mirroring validates Tom. She becomes a reflection of his power. When he breaks her nose in Chapter 2 for chanting "Daisy! On the flip side, daisy! Even so, daisy! So naturally, ", it is the ultimate assertion of ownership. Still, he is attracted to her because she is breakable. Her vulnerability makes his strength visible.
The Contrast with Daisy: The "Other Woman" Archetype
Literarily, Myrtle functions as the foil to Daisy. If Daisy is the "golden girl," the unattainable grail, Myrtle is the earthly, attainable reality. Tom’s attraction to Myrtle is parasitic on his marriage to Daisy. He needs Myrtle because he has Daisy Simple, but easy to overlook..
- Daisy is voice and illusion; Myrtle is body and appetite.
- Daisy is careless; Myrtle is desperate.
- Daisy is protected by money; Myrtle is destroyed by the lack of it.
Tom uses Myrtle to vent the frustrations Daisy inspires. In a twisted way, the affair preserves his marriage. But he doesn't have to maintain the façade of the "gentleman" with her. In real terms, he can be rough with Myrtle, crude with Myrtle, and honest about his baser instincts with Myrtle. By offloading his id—his lust, his aggression, his need for domination—onto Myrtle, he can maintain the sterile, socially acceptable veneer of his life with Daisy. The attraction is functional: Myrtle is the pressure valve for the boiler of his privilege It's one of those things that adds up. Worth knowing..
The Apartment Scene: A Microcosm of the Attraction
The party in the New York apartment (Chapter 2) crystallizes why is Tom attracted to Myrtle. Watch the way he behaves there. Which means he drinks heavily, he mocks the other guests (the McKees), he asserts his knowledge of cars and mechanics (talking down to George Wilson earlier), and he physically manhandles Myrtle. He is the center of gravity in that room.
Myrtle’s transformation in that scene—changing from a housedress to a cream chiffon dress, then to a "muslin" dress—shows her desperate attempt to climb into his world. He is attracted to the gap between her reality and her aspiration. It reinforces his belief that "civilization's going to pieces" and that people like him are meant to stay on top. Also, he likes that she tries so hard and fails so visibly. That's why tom watches this performance with amusement. Her failure to pass as a lady is his triumph That's the whole idea..
The Illusion of Intimacy Without Vulnerability
There is a profound emotional cowardice at the heart of Tom’s attraction. Real intimacy requires vulnerability—something Tom is constitutionally incapable of offering Daisy, who knows him too well. Practically speaking, with Myrtle, he can simulate intimacy without the risk. He shares a secret life, a hidden apartment, a routine of lies. It feels like a bond, but it is actually a transaction: *I give you money and access; you give me admiration and sex.
This is why he can so easily pivot back to Daisy after Myrtle’s death. Also, when the car hits Myrtle in Chapter 7, Tom’s immediate instinct is self-preservation and the protection of his class interests. He manipulates George Wilson into killing Gatsby. Here's the thing — he feels no grief for Myrtle; he feels annoyance that his arrangement was disrupted. So this proves the attraction was never about her—her soul, her dreams, her fear. It was about him The details matter here..
The Role of George Wilson: The Cuckold as Foil
George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, is the "spiritless man, anaemic and faintly handsome." He is everything Tom fears becoming: powerless, poor, and ignored
The Role of George Wilson: The Cuckold as Foil (Continued)
George Wilson is Tom Buchanan’s living nightmare made flesh. He embodies the powerless, economically trapped existence Tom desperately avoids confronting. Now, tom’s interaction with George – condescending, dismissive, and ultimately lethal – isn’t just cruelty; it’s a ritualistic reaffirmation of his own superiority. That's why by treating George as less than human, Tom fortifies the illusion that his own privilege is permanent and deserved. Think about it: myrtle’s attraction to Tom is, in part, fueled by this shared disdain for her husband’s impotence. Tom provides the validation she craves, the escape from the suffocating reality George represents. Their affair thrives on the mutual, unspoken understanding that George is the obstacle, the symbol of the life they both reject – Tom by escaping into it, Myrtle by escaping from it. Tom’s attraction to Myrtle is amplified by his ability to dominate her and her husband, proving his control over the very class anxieties George personifies Less friction, more output..
The Fragile Facade and the Inevitable Collapse
Tom’s attraction to Myrtle is fundamentally unsustainable precisely because it relies on maintaining the sterile illusion with Daisy while indulging the raw id with Myrtle. This duality creates immense pressure. The apartment party, while seemingly a release, is actually a performance of power that strains under the weight of its own artificiality. Day to day, myrtle’s desperate attempts to belong highlight the gulf Tom exploits, making the arrangement inherently unstable. In practice, the moment Myrtle dares to challenge Daisy’s name – the ultimate symbol of Tom's "legitimate" world – Tom reacts with brutal violence, shattering her face. This isn't just anger; it's the explosive reaction of the fragile facade. He cannot tolerate the blurring of the lines between the two worlds he meticulously keeps separate. His attraction requires Myrtle to know her place, and her transgression proves the dangerous volatility beneath his control Nothing fancy..
Conclusion: The Emptiness of the Power Play
When all is said and done, Tom Buchanan’s attraction to Myrtle Wilson reveals the profound emptiness at the heart of his privileged existence. Day to day, it is not a connection built on mutual respect, shared dreams, or genuine affection. Still, instead, it is a functional, transactional arrangement serving as a pressure valve for his repressed aggression and a validation of his belief in his own superiority over the "lesser" classes. Myrtle becomes a canvas upon which Tom projects his id, his disdain for weakness, and his fear of the downward mobility George Wilson symbolizes. On the flip side, the affair allows him to simulate intimacy without vulnerability, to dominate without consequence, and to temporarily escape the suffocating constraints of his marriage to Daisy. On the flip side, this power play is inherently destructive. Practically speaking, it preys on Myrtle’s insecurity and desperation, reinforces Tom’s toxic masculinity and class arrogance, and ultimately contributes to the novel’s tragic denouement. Tom’s attraction to Myrtle is less about her and more about what she represents: a disposable outlet for his baser impulses and a convenient tool for asserting his dominance over a world he secretly fears. It is a stark illustration of how privilege, when untethered from empathy and self-awareness, curdles into something hollow and corrosive, leaving behind only shattered lives and the cold, sterile reality of the Buchanans' gilded cage. The attraction never offered Tom redemption; it only deepened the void at the core of his character And that's really what it comes down to..
