Myrtle
is saying that line as a way of convincing herself that her actions are justified. The
repetition of it is why I think that. It's Myrtle's version of "I think I can. I think I
can."
At that point in the story, Myrtle is tellinghow she came to
meet and begin seeing . She was on her way to visit her sister, when she saw Tom. She was very
attracted to him, and Tom noticed.
He had on a dress suit
and patent leather shoes and I couldnt keep my eyes off him but every time he looked at me I had
to pretend to be looking at the advertisement over his head.
Myrtle doesn't narrate what the two of them said to each other, but she says that the
two of them left together in a taxi. That's when she told herself "You can't live
forever."
The attitude is illustrating the concept of carpe diem.
Mrytle is very unhappy with her current lot in life. She is poor, lives in the Valley of
Ashes, and is married to a man that she no longer loves. Tom comes into her life and offers her
a chance at the lifestyles of the rich and the famous. Myrtle knows that she might only get one
chance with a man like Tom and the life that he offers, so she jumps at the opportunity, because
she knows she can't live forever and get another chance.
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