Through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway, the reader saw that the wealthy characters in this novel lived in a superficial society surrounded by their own lies and deception. Many of the residents of East and West Egg used one another in order to get what they wanted, with little care as to how it would affect the people around them, and perhaps, even themselves. To others, their lives seemed perfect; they had everything that money could buy. Deceit almost always leads to unhappiness as Daisy, Tom and Gatsby himself illustrated in the course of the novel; they deceived one another and used those around them in order to get what they wanted.
The inconsiderate actions displayed by the businessmen and orchard owners show their selfishness and inhumanity, and exemplify their carelessness and indifference towards suffering humans. Steinbeck portrays the wealthy men of the era as heartless and egotistical people who only care for themselves. His message through the portrayal of these wicked men is one of simplicity, egotism, greed, selfishness, and heartlessness are all traits which a man shouldn?
The themes which run throughout the novel are as valuable today as they were in the mid ? His depiction of the selfishness of man serves to teach about human nature, and by acknowledging the harmfulness of the greedy and corrupt businessmen, one can learn how to act morally and ethnically responsible.
Elizabeth soon meets Mr. Wickham, who lies to portray Mr. In ad Bennet married for the same reason she pushes Mr. Collins on Elizabeth, for business. We also see Tom grossly underreporting his bad behavior we have seen one of his "sprees" and it involved violently breaking Myrtle's nose after sleeping with her while Nick was in the next room and either not realizing or ignoring how damaging his actions can be to others.
He is explicit about his misbehavior and doesn't seem sorry at all—he feels like his "sprees" don't matter as long as he comes back to Daisy after they're over. In short, this quote captures how the reader comes to understand Tom late in the novel—as a selfish rich man who breaks things and leaves others to clean up his mess. That's one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong. Again, Tom's jealousy and anxiety about class are revealed.
Though e immediately pegs Gatsby for a bootlegger rather than someone who inherited his money, Tom still makes a point of doing an investigation to figure out exactly where the money came from.
This shows that he does feel a bit threatened by Gatsby, and wants to be sure he thoroughly knocks him down. But at the same time, he's the only one in the room who sees Gatsby for who he actually is. This is also a moment where you, as a reader, can really see how clouded Nick's judgment of Gatsby has become. He won't annoy you. I think he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over. A common question students have after reading Gatsby for the first time is this: why does Tom let Daisy and Gatsby ride back together?
If he's so protective and jealous of Daisy, wouldn't he insist she come with him? The answer is that he is demonstrating his power over both Daisy and Gatsby—he's no longer scared that Daisy will leave him for Gatsby, and he's basically rubbing that in Gatsby's face. He's saying that he doesn't even fear leaving them alone together, because he knows that nothing Gatsby says or does would convince Daisy to leave him. It's a subtle but crucial show of power—and of course ends up being a fatal choice.
That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy's but he was a tough one. He ran over Myrtle like you'd run over a dog and never even stopped his car. One of Tom's last lines in the novel, he coldly tells Nick that Gatsby was fooling both him and Daisy. Of course, since we know that Gatsby didn't actually run over Daisy, we can read this line in one of three ways:.
Depending on your interpretation, you can use this line as evidence if you're arguing for a darker, more selfish version of Gatsby's character. What level of bad guy is Tom, exactly? Depends on how you read his last confession to Nick. Since Tom himself isn't a hero or, on the flip side, a straightforward antagonist of the novel, most essays about Tom involve comparing him to other characters—often Gatsby but sometimes George. Sometimes you have to do this from a higher level, and sometimes you have to do more in-depth character analysis.
Either way, make sure to read Chapters 1 , 2 , 6 , and 7 for Tom's most important moments, and don't neglect your analysis of the other characters. Read on for the most common discussion topics about Tom! In this prompt, you would first find examples in the text that clearly illustrate Tom and Daisy as old money and Gatsby as new money. Yes, the Buchanans and Gatsby both live in mansions, they all have vast amounts of money at their disposal, and they all variously engage in bad behavior affairs, drinking, crime , but their differences end up looming much larger than these similarities.
Taste and Appearance. One place to start is to examine their dress, homes, and parties. Tom and Daisy dress luxuriously but without indulging in the very latest fashions or wild styles note Tom's riding clothes and Daisy's white dress , while Gatsby wears a pink suit during the crucial scene in the Plaza Hotel in Chapter 7.
And while Tom and Daisy have a mansion, it's described as fashionable and white, with muted wine-colored carpet and white curtains, while Gatsby's is a copy of a palace in France, and seen as over-large and garish.
Finally, while Tom and Daisy host quiet dinner parties, Gatsby is notorious for his packed, lavish, and raucous blow-out bashes. Perception by Others. Also in Chapter 6 , it's notable that Tom is immediately suspicious of Gatsby and doesn't see him as worthy of their crowd during the encounter with the Sloanes, while Daisy is horrified by Gatsby's vulgar parties.
Not only do their class differences become apparent to the reader through their dress, homes, and parties, but also Tom and Daisy are very aware of these differences in status, while Gatsby consistently misreads social clues.
Displays of Power. Finally, the pecking order becomes painfully clear during the encounter in the hotel. Gatsby puts everything on the line and asks Daisy to confess that she never loved Tom.
But not only can she not do that, she ends up admitting she did in fact once love Tom very much, so that Tom leaves the encounter secure in his marriage. Once you've fleshed out examples of how Tom and Daisy exemplify old money while Gatsby exemplifies new money, you could make a larger argument about one of the book's major themes: the rigidity of society and class in s America or the hollowness of the American Dream. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.
Tom, on the other hand, has something you can't buy. You might call it "breeding," but that sounds weird and a little racist, or even eugenicist. So, we're going to call it "arrogance": the absolute conviction that, thanks to money and family, he was born to inhabit a certain world; to marry a certain type of woman; and to receive homage from, well, pretty much every other man he encounters. Although, come to think of it, eugenics is a good touch point here: Tom has been doing some light reading, and he's obsessed with the idea that the "lesser races" are going to come knock the Aryans —excuse us, "Nordic" people—off their white privilege pedestal.
But why is Tom obsessed with the idea that his "race" is on the verge of being submerged? He certainly doesn't seem like he's going anywhere, because money isn't the only thing that makes him loom larger than life.
He's also physically powerful, a college football star for Yale , and someone whom Daisy calls a "brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen" 1. Problem is, Tom doesn't like being called "hulking. He's better than everyone else because of his family, his "blood," his station in life.
In fact, Daisy suggests, he comes by his power in the oldest, least classy way: he's just bigger and stronger than anyone else. And maybe, this passage seems to suggest, that's the root of all power. It has nothing to do with naturally superior races, or naturally superior families: it just has to do with whether or not you're big enough to steal someone else's woman. Or money. How are West Egg and East Egg different?
What is the importance of the character Owl Eyes? Does Daisy love Gatsby or Tom? Why does Tom insist on switching cars with Gatsby when they go to the city? Why is Nick the narrator of the story?
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