a letter of introduction
p. 37:
‘Ask Myrtle,’ said Tom breaking into a short shout of laughter as Mrs. Wilson entered with a tray. ‘She’ll give you a letter of introduction, won’t you, Myrtle?’
A capsule study of the extraordinary cruelty of Tom Buchanan. He mocks the slightly desperate Mr. McKee, whose sad artistic ambitions as a photographer cause him to ask the wrong man for a favor. Much worse and more directly, he mocks his own mistress with a careless puncture to her fantasy of upper class status.
