I am certain that we all have a best friend. Lily Bart’s best friend however is in love with the same man as her. In The House of Mirth, the author, Edith Wharton, shows a tough relationship between best friends. The night Gerty Farish realized she hated her best friend, was a dark night for her. I am shocked when I read Gerty “…lay face to face with the fact that she hated Lily Bart” (Wharton 132). It shocks me to see that a man could make her hate her best friend.

 I don’t know what I would do in this situation. I would like to think that nothing could tear me apart from my best of friends, but what we want isn’t always what happens. I definitely don’t think I would go so far as to hate her, though.

 The icing on the cake is when Lily comes to Gerty’s late at night needing help after suffering a mini nervous breakdown. I love how Gerty puts her own torments with Lily aside and helps her even though moments before the doorbell rang, her hate for Lily was brewing inside of her. The fact that she warms her, gives her tea and stays awake and holds her until she falls asleep, just shows how good of a best friend Gerty really was. It is a shame that Lily doesn’t realize what is going on and can’t help keep what they had alive.