Shannon L. Alder once said, “If you want to discover the true character of a person, you have only to observe what they are passionate about.” There are many ways to see the truth about a person whether it is through what they do or how they act. True colors often show when people least expect it and many would be surprised. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby”, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby may seem like very similar people, but there is more than meets the eye. Jay Gatsby is very different from Tom Buchanan, even with the smallest things. They may both be wealthy, but the difference with that being is Gatsby worked for his money, he worked to get all the things he has. For instance, in the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, Gatsby says, “It took me just three years to earn the money that bought it (pg 90).” He is selfless and caring, he would rather give than take. For example, in the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, Gatsby proves my point, by sending a girl who had torn her dress at the party, a new dress that was over a hundred …show more content…
A man who thought he could have anything he'd want. For example, in the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, he told George Wilson that it was Gatsby who Myrtle Wilson had the affair with and that he was the one who killed Myrtle(pg 178). Tom is not only careless and selfish, he's abusive and has no respect for a woman. An example would be in the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, when he slapped Myrtle for repeating Daisy’s name(pg 37). He has never shown Daisy love, he continuously cheated on her. For instance, in the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, Tom and Nick went to see the woman that Tom was having an affair with, which was Myrtle Wilson(pg 24). Tom never cared about anyone else's well being instead of his, not even his daughter. He never worked for his money, it was passed down to him. He was just some wealthy man who did not really care what he did
In the Great Gatsby, the character Tom Buchanan is the ‘loving’ husband of Daisy Buchanan. His character is an extremely wealthy man who only really cares about himself. Sound familiar? I believe that Tom Buchanan is a living resemblance of Donald Trump for many reasons other than wealth. Both Tom and Donald have had a history treating many wives/mistresses badly. Interview after interview, Trump is now known for his unkind words towards women. They are both huge white supremacists which means they both believe that white people are superior to those of all other races. It’s a little scary to think that the modern-day Tom Buchanan is now president, and really makes you think how much has really changed since the 1920’s.
can see this from a quote in the novel, “well, there I was, ‘way off
The character of Jay Gatsby was a wealthy business man, who the author developed as arrogant and tasteless. Gatsby's love interest, Daisy Buchanan, was a subdued socialite who was married to the dim witted Tom Buchanan. She is the perfect example of how women of her level of society were supposed to act in her day. The circumstances surrounding Gatsby and Daisy's relationship kept them eternally apart. For Daisy to have been with Gatsby would have been forbidden, due to the fact that she was married. That very concept of their love being forbidden, also made it all the more intense, for the idea of having a prohibited love, like William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, made it all the more desirable. Gatsby was remembering back five years to when Daisy was not married and they were together:
Nothing is more important, to most people, than friendships and family, thus, by breaking those bonds, it draws an emotional response from the readers. Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan had a relationship before he went off to fight in the war. When he returned home, he finds her with Tom Buchanan, which seems to make him jealous since he still has feelings for Daisy. He wanted Daisy “to go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you” (Fitzgerald 118) Gatsby eventually tells Tom that his “wife doesn’t love [him]” and that she only loves Gatsby (Fitzgerald 121). But the unpleasant truth is that Daisy never loved anyone, but she loved something: money. Daisy “wanted her life shaped and the decision made by some force of of money, of unquestionable practicality” (Fitzgerald 161). The Roaring Twenties were a time where economic growth swept the nation and Daisy was looking to capitalize on that opportunity. Her greed for material goods put her in a bind between two wealthy men, yet they are still foolish enough to believe that she loved them. Jay Gatsby is a man who has no relationships other than one with Nick Caraway, so he is trying to use his wealth to lure in a greedy individual to have love mend his
“If you love two people at the same time, choose the second one, because if you really loved the first one you wouldn 't have fallen for the second” (Johnny Depp). F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby emphasizes the similarities of the characters Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby despite their different backgrounds. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Tom and Gatsby are alike because of their extreme wealth, mutual desire for Daisy’s love, and lack of morals.
In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main characters Tom and Gatsby are both similar and different in their attitudes and their status. Both Tom and Gatsby have attained great wealth and live in very lavish conditions. They differ greatly, on the other hand, in the way that they acquired this wealth, and the way in which they treat other people. Even though both characters have great amounts of wealth, they are almost complete opposites due the way in which they acquired their wealth.
When looking at Jay Gatsby, one sees many different personalities and ideals. There is the gracious host, the ruthless bootlegger, the hopeless romantic, and beneath it all, there is James Gatz of North Dakota. The many faces of Gatsby make a reader question whether they truly know Gatsby as a person. Many people question what exactly made Jay Gatsby so “great.” These different personas, when viewed separately, are quite unremarkable in their own ways. When you take them together, however, you discover the complicated and unique individual that is Jay Gatsby.
There are many different types of people in this world. Apart from physical features, it is the characteristics of a person that makes him/her original. Nick Carraway the narrator of The Great Gatsby, has qualities which are the complete opposite of those of Tom Buchanan, his cousin-in-law. In the novel, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the comparison between two cousins to show how their differing characteristics reflects the themes of morality and reality versus illusion.
Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are described as opposites in almost every way. Tom Buchanan is a brute of a man with an often overbearing temper. He has never known what it is like to struggle for money and it is not uncommon for him to spend money on pointless things. Because of Tom's materialistic views, he can easily be described as self absorbed, rude, or even cruel. Like Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby also has a great deal of money, a nice house, and many other materialistic things.
“"Self-control!" Repeated Tom incredulously. "I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that's the idea you can count me out"” (Fitzgerald 130). Tom does not see Gatsby as an equal, even though they both have wealth; the only differences about the wealth are as follows: Gatsby started out impoverished and earned his wealth; whereas, Tom had his wealth handed down. This quote is an example of irony; Tom wants to go on a tangent about self-control; he needs some self-control! Tom will make love with any woman he pleases and shower them with money. “His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked—and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts” (Fitzgerald 7). Wealth makes Tom "paternal," as though it gives him the right to tell the entire world how to behave. A realization is that Tom did not earn his wealth. Tom has literally done nothing to deserve this thought process. So why does he get to be boss to everyone? Tom thinks since he has money that he can do anything he wants; however, this thought process is unacceptable for Jay Gatsby to have, at least in the eyes of Tom
he conveyed.” He is also a big man but not in a nice way. “You could
This is something that is evident particularly on page 66 in the novel when Gatsby tells his story to Nick Carraway, the novel's narrator, and Nick describes Gatsby's phrases as so threadbare they lack credibility. No matter how much money Gatsby makes, he is never going to be good enough for either Daisy or the other characters. Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan are the three main male characters. These men hang out a lot in the novel, even though they are not from the same social class. Tom Buchanan comes from a socially solid old family and is very wealthy.
Gatsby believes in the aforementioned "American Dream." Thus, Gatsby believes that money alone will allow him to enter the upper class. However, the unspoken truth of the "American Dream" is that class mobility requires money and the culture typical of the upper class. Gatsby becomes wealthy, but his lack of this culture prevents him from fulfilling his goal of social mobility. Writer Andrew B. Trigg discusses Gatsby 's inability to climb the social ladder: "culture provides a barrier to entering the top echelons of the leisure class" (Trigg.) Throughout The Great Gatsby, Gatsby 's lack of taste is evident, which leads to the upper class 's rejection of him. Gatsby repeatedly displays his wealth in excessive ways. Gatsby throws extravagant parties, buys flamboyant clothes, and purchases an opulent car and mansion. Throughout the novel, these displays of wealth are met by criticism from those that Gatsby is trying to impress. Tom Buchanan, Daisy 's husband, and a man of inherited wealth, detests Gatsby. In Chapter seven, Tom frequently criticizes Gatsby for his gaudy displays of wealth. First, Tom criticizes Gatsby 's car: " 'Come on, Daisy, ' said
In The Great Gatsby, many individuals are involved in a struggle to find themselves and who they want to be. Personal identity is a very challenging thing to define. Everyone has an image in their mind of who they want to be. These images are usually very different from the actual identity of a person. In this novel, Jay Gatsby’s search or struggle for a new identity for himself is an ongoing journey. He has dedicated his entire life creating an image to impress Daisy Buchanan and to set himself into her society. This image does not necessarily depict who he is in reality.
Throughout Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, there is a broad spectrum of moral and social views demonstrated by various characters. At one end, is Tom, a man who attacks Gatsby's sense of propriety and legitimacy, while thinking nothing of running roughshod over the lives of those around him. A direct opposite of Tom's nature is Gatsby, who displays great generosity and caring, yet will stop at nothing to achieve his dream of running off with Daisy. The moral and emotional characteristics of Gastby and Tom are juxtaposed, Tom, the immoral character and Gastby, the moral character while the other characters' moral and emotional developments appear between these two.