Questionable Decisions

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
Book II

As the novel is coming to a close, I find myself frustrated by Lily's current situation but still hopeful that she can resolve her problems within the last section of the book. Lily, finally in a moment of determination, decided to approach Bertha Dorset in an attempt to clear her name. The novel states well that Lily's will "had finally benumbed her finer sensibilities" (Wharton, 246). Lily, after months of possessing letters, written by Bertha and addressed to Selden, finally decided to use this leverage against Bertha to regain her social standing. This act displays the desperate situation Lily faced and Lily's determination to overcome it. However, Lily stopped by Selden's apartment after unexpectedly passing it on her way to visit Bertha. In her conversation with Selden, she resolved to leave the old Lily Bart behind in his care. To me, this seemed like the end of Lily's sense of dignity and pride. At that moment, Lily felt confident in her plan to blackmail Bertha. As the conversation continued, Selden professed to Lily that she would never go out of his life (Wharton, 252). This statement revived in Lily her previous set of morals and self-dignity. I say this because Lily dropped the pack of letters into the fire. Without the letters, Lily would not hold leverage over Bertha and thus would remain in her current position of poverty. 


Lily's act of burning the letters reminds me of a scene in the book The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. In The Uglies, the main character Tally finds herself in a makeshift society. However, she was sent there to act as a spy and disclose the location of said society to the government. Although this book seems completely different from The House of Mirth, Tally performed an act similar to Lily's. Tally wore a locket that contained a tracking device. Upon a statement similar to Selden's, Tally threw the locket into the fire destroying an item that could ruin her relationship. Lily and Tally both gave up their chances of higher society because of feelings of affection. Unfortunately for Tally, destroying the locket triggered the tracking device thus disclosing her location and ultimately bringing about the exact result which she wished to avoid. I hope that Lily's choice to burn the package will not come back to haunt her.