Look! she complained. I hurt it. We all looked, the knuckle was black and blue. You did it, Tom, she said accusingly. I know you didn't mean to, but you did do it. That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen

Before I could answer her eyes fastened with an awed expression on her little finger.
‘Look!’ she complained. ‘I hurt it.’
We all looked – the knuckle was black and blue.
‘You did it, Tom,’ she said accusingly. ‘I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a – ‘
‘I hate that word hulking,’ objected Tom crossly, ‘even in kidding.’
‘Hulking,’ insisted Daisy.

– F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby. Chapter 1, Daisy’s bruised finger is a symbol of the marriage between her and Tom. Their relationship, like the conversation, is full of tension and immaturity, is not built on concrete foundations and will easily fall apart. The marriage is an illusion and they both go on to have affairs and continue to live together as if they were happily married.

The Great Gatsby Quotes