The scene opens with Nick and Tom on a train ride to the Yale Club. The train suddenly comes to a halt, and Tom calls out “Come on”. Nick questions Tom, and Tom reassures, “Just trust me”. They make their way off the train and through the Valley of Ashes, which is the part of town where the working class live. The air is hazy, the sky is a mundane gray, and everything is covered in a thick layer of dust. Nick and Tom enter a car repair shop, and Tom says “hello” to a man named Wilson. Their relationship is clearly transactional, and a power differential becomes apparent early on in their interaction. Tom, dressed head to foot in a tailored pinstripe navy blue suit, asks Wilson how his business is going. Wilson, draped in a tank top that was once white but is now the color of the gray sky, responds, “I can’t complain. So when are you gonna sell me that car?”. Tom explains that he still has a man working on it, and Wilson retorts that the guy works slowly. Tom then threatens to sell it elsewhere. Tom is aware of the power that he holds as an elite, upper class man in comparison to Wilson who is a part of the working class. Tom helps Wilson out on occasion by supporting his business. It is possible that he does this out of generosity, but more probable that Tom helps him out to support Tom’s mistress and Wilson’s wife, Myrtle.
We meet Myrtle in the next moment. While the men are arguing, she walks down the stairs, adorned in a cherry red dress with a red lip and jewelry to match. Her outfit is striking and gaudy. She quips back at the men who have been arguing, cleverly redirecting the conversation. She lovingly looks into Tom’s eyes and gives him a shy smile. He nods at her, and fixes his suit in response. Wilson exits the scene in search of some chairs for his guests, and Myrtle playfully touches Tom’s chest. It is clear that Myrtle and Tom are having an affair; however, it is unclear if Wilson is aware of it. Even if he was, there is little he could do about it given his lack of wealth and social status in comparison to Tom’s.
Tom treats Myrtle similarly to the way he does Wilson, using his power to control both of them. Myrtle asks Tom if they can get the dog for the apartment, and Tom responds, “Whatever you want”. It becomes evident that Myrtle financially depends on Tom, using him as a way to escape poverty, and in return she gives him sexual favors and love. It is obvious that Tom does not take Myrtle seriously, and rather sees her as “a good time”. He may love her as she does him; however, he would never divorce his wife Daisy to marry her. Daisy represents the “golden girl” of the era. She is young, beautiful, and comes from money. She is what we would now refer to as a “trophy wife”. Myrtle, represented as working class, gaudy, and loud, will never be that “golden girl” or “trophy wife”. Instead, she is a toy for Tom to mess around with and dispose of when she no longer serves his interests. In this way, it becomes apparent that working class individuals are seen as less than human by the elite who believe they can be used and disposed of when no longer beneficial.
