"The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody's best suit to get married in, and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out."
Chapter 2 · Myrtle Wilson
Context
Myrtle continues explaining her disillusionment with George Wilson, revealing the moment she realized his poverty and deception.
Analysis
The borrowed suit becomes a powerful symbol of the gap between appearance and reality that pervades the novel—Wilson's attempt to appear wealthier than he is mirrors, on a smaller scale, Gatsby's own self-invention. Myrtle's horror is not at deception itself but at poverty being revealed; the suit's return strips away the illusion of class that made Wilson acceptable to her. This anecdote functions as a miniature version of the novel's central theme: the constructed nature of identity and the devastating consequences of its exposure.
How to Use in Essay
Effective in essays on appearance versus reality, the borrowed/constructed nature of identity, parallels between Wilson and Gatsby, or the significance of clothing as a class marker.