In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan’s actions are completely driven by their mental state of self-interest. According to modern cognitive psychology, each living person has a different mental state that properly explains his or her thoughts, feelings, and actions. Although both Gatsby and Tom are immensely determined to satisfy only their own needs, they go through very different means of doing so. In the novel, Gatsby’s self-driven actions usually lead him to behaving positivity to himself and to those around him, Tom’s self-interested actions are the cause of his vulgar social attitude in which Gatsby does not share. Whether it is the way they treat their shared love, Daisy, they way they …show more content…
Shortly after the beginning of the novel, Tom introduces Nick to his mistress, Myrtle. Tom and Myrtle spend time together in town to keep their relationship a secret, but Tom also distorts the truth of why he cannot end his marriage with Daisy “”It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce.” Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie” (Page 33, The Great Gatsby). This proves Tom’s dishonesty towards other’s about his own wife, Daisy. Furthermore, Tom is also dishonest directly to Daisy about his double life; Tom’s extramarital affair ultimately proves that he does not treat his spouse, Daisy, well. Tom does not respect his own wife as he constantly deceits her so he can be content “Tom is the sort of man who can exercise is potency only if he is with a certain kind of woman. Myrtle Wilson is such a woman; Tom’s chambermaid in Santa Barbara is another” (Page 79, Oral Aggression and Splitting, A.B. Paulson). Tom’s poor behavior and disloyalty towards Daisy is merely to satisfy his own needs and he does not care to consider the feelings of those around him. Though he is unfair to Daisy, he still demands for her to live up to the moral standards that he conclusively lacks “Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy’s running around alone, for on the following Saturday night he came …show more content…
Tom is a racist, sexist, and an overall cruel character that is under the belief that his scholarly and wealthy reputation should prove him to be superior over others- ultimately a key example of Tom’s mental-state of self-interest. Tom does not care about the way he acts, as he ultimately knows that he is apart of the “old wealth” community. Unlike Gatsby, Tom came from multiple generations of wealth, so he has not experienced honest work throughout this life. This lack of understanding hard work leads to his absolute arrogance. Tom’s arrogance is ultimately ignorant as he often talks about the idea of racial
His duplicity continues, as he meets Tom’s mistress, and later arranges Daisy and Gatsby’s meeting, even going as far as to say “don’t bring Tom” (85). These are clear deceptions and violations of trust, which both reveal that Nick is not the honest and forthright man he wants the reader to believe his is; on the contrary, in many ways he is the opposite of honest and forthright. However, Nick’s most clearly professed lie is in protection of Daisy, when Tom insists that Gatsby had killed Myrtle, and Nick remains silent, forgoing telling Tom about the “one unutterable fact,” - that it had not been Gatsby who was driving the car when it had hit Myrtle, but Daisy - in favor of protecting Daisy (178). This obvious deception shows that despite Nick’s conviction in his honest character he does not neglect others, who depend on him. Once again, Nick mischaracterizes his traits and even fails to recognize his deceptions and violations of trust as being dishonest, failing to evaluate his own
Tom tries to show to the Nick his mistress with the proud. Myrtle appears as the total opposite character to the Daisy. She is ‘thicklish, faintly stout” (Fitzgerald 29), but “sensuously” and “immediately perceptible vitality about her” (Fitzgerald 29). She is the woman from “the bottom” who wants to be acceptable as a lady from upper class. She is terribly vulgar, but she is more alive and natural than Daisy is. The unpleasant scene in their apartments, where Carraway appeared because of Myrtle’s invitation, is full of the philistine contentment and boasting. It is finished with even more disgusting event: Tom broke Myrtle’s nose because she dared to mention many time his wife’s name. Tom lets himself to be brutal and free from conventionalities of the upper class; thus, he behaves also more natural, but he does not want to lose Daisy and all what she
In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both text creators use their main character to display how to attempt to overcome the inevitable adversity that comes with the pursuit of self-fulfillment. The quote “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” by John F Kennedy greatly resembles the ideas proposed by the text creators through Gatsby and Willy Loman. Throughout the sources, both Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby pursue the American Dream relentlessly to the brink, where they ultimately drown in the relaxing pool of self-fulfillment that is death. However, in their attempt to secure the satisfaction of self-fulfillment, the main characters are used by the
Gatsby and Greed In this day and age, money is a very important asset to have. One needs to have at least enough to live on, though great amounts are preferable. In The Great Gatsby, by Thomas F. Fitzgerald, having a large amount of money is not enough. It is also the way you acquire the money that matters.
Initially, while Tom Buchanan may seem like a wealthy, educated individual through his comments about racial hierarchy and social supremacy, it is gradually revealed that Tom is a victim of the carelessness that wealth can breed. His wealth provides him with an excuse for the poor decisions he makes and so, Tom is able to live life without a single thought about consequences. For instance,
For example, Tom reveals himself to be racist through his belief that the white race is superior: “It is up to us who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things” (17). Tom’s arrogance also manifests itself through his elitist attitude. This is evident by the way he believes his education and class have given him a deeper understanding of the world, making his opinion indisputable: “‘Well these books are all scientific’ insisted Tom” (17). One could infer that his elitist and racist views are, in part, due to the fact he was born into money and has very little appreciation for hard work and honesty. This lack of honesty is revealed during dinner, as he leaves the table to answer a phone call from his mistress: “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (19). Tom represents men from old and established families, thus revealing the author’s perception of his class to be immoral and often
“"I found out what your drug-stores were." [Tom] turned to us and spoke rapidly. "[Gatsby] and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. 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"” (Fitzgerald 133). This proves how Tom is quick to pass judgment and how Tom thinks he is the only perfect person. Tom can drink alcohol during the prohibition, but it is wrong for Gatsby to produce liquor. It is obvious to infer that Tom has to put people down to feel good about himself. “"You're crazy!" [Tom] exploded. "I can't speak about what happened five years ago, because I didn't know Daisy then—and I'll be damned if I see how you got within a mile of her unless you brought the groceries to the back door. But all the rest of that's a God damned lie. Daisy loved me when she married me and she loves me now"” (Fitzgerald 131). Tom sees Daisy’s love as a possession; Tom sees marriage as a system of ownership, and he wants to be the only who can Daisy. Tom will let Daisy ride around with Gatsby, but not much else. In “The Great Gatsby”, Tom has shown his true personality, narcissistic, through these
Daisy knows very well that tom is cheating on her, but doesn’t care because it's more convenient to stay in her unhappy marriage. Even though she wants to be with Gatsby, she wants to keep her social status and being with Tom makes this all the easier. Now, this is quite the opposite of Myrtle. She has a loving husband who would do anything for her, but her social status is all she cares about. Myrtle is willing to hurt George and ruin their marriage in order to climb up the social ladder. Neither of these women have respect for themselves. Both Daisy and Myrtle allow Tom to treat them
Selfishness is a disease of the soul that every person experiences several times throughout their life. To say that it has never been experienced would be hypocrisy. To say that it is a “good thing”, would be erroneous. Although as humans we like to lie to ourselves, it is no question that selfishness can make any person act like a fool. It consumes us and makes us into someone we are not. Whether it leads to getting people killed, falling in love, or buying alcohol, selfishness always leads to destruction.
Throughout the novel, one of Tom 's biggest careless acts was when he cheated on Daisy. Tom is a cocky, confident man shown many times throughout the novel like when Nick arrived at his house and "Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch" (Fitzgerald 6). His stance showed his arrogance, and how highly he thought of himself because of his wealth. Tom was a man who often acted without thinking things through, like having an affair with Myrtle. Despite both Tom and Myrtle being married, they both had affairs. Tom doesn 't hide his affair from Nick and introduces him to his mistress Myrtle at Wilson 's garage. Tom doesn 't seem to care if anyone finds out because he feels as though nothing would change due to his wealth. While at Myrtle 's husbands garage, Tom tells Myrtle to meet him at the train station. They end up going to their apartment in New York City that they keep for their affair. While at the Morningside Height 's apartment Myrtle starts to talk about Tom 's wife Daisy, ""Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I 'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-"" (Fitzgerald 37). Tom didn 't like Myrtle overstepping her boundaries and to show
Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom lie to themselves and others through their words and actions. Gatsby and Myrtle attempt to be social climbers; Gatsby loves the idea of Daisy and Myrtle loves the idea of Tom and what he can provide for her. They both try to appear as someone they are not: Gatsby tries to appear as a successful man who comes from a wealthy family while Myrtle longs to appear as an upper class woman. Their lies have tragic results since Myrtle, Gatsby and Mr. Wilson all die needlessly. However, Tom, who seems to be successful, lies because he is selfish and thinks only about fulfilling his personal needs. Clearly, The Great Gatsby demonstrates that deceiving others, for any reason, inevitably leads to tragedy for the individual and others who touch their lives.
Tom wanted the "possession" of Myrtle, Myrtle wanted Tom's "luxuries and wealth," and Daisy wanted Gatsby simply for his wealth. Both Tom and Daisy know each other's affairs, but neither one truly cares. As the story progresses, it seems as though each of them is trying to make the other jealous. Honesty and Love, two words known only by the faithful, George Wilson. George certainly had his flaws, but he loved his wife dearly and couldn't live without her. "He was his wife's man and not his own." When he became aware of Tom and Myrtle's affair, he was "really sick, pale as his own pale hair and shaking all over." He locked her up in fear that she would run away with Tom forever.
Nick is astonished at this information. He finds it hard to believe that Tom, with a beautiful wife and child, would be having an affair with some woman in the city. Miss Baker thinks “everybody knew” about the affair, yet Daisy is still with Tom. Being too ignorant to make herself believe it’s true, Daisy is willing to stay in the marriage, even when she is presented with an opportunity from Gatsby to escape. Daisy is willing to stay with Tom just because he has “old money,” and that shows how important it is to her. Everyone else’s morals are just as bad as Tom’s because they know about what’s going on and know that it’s wrong, but they don’t say anything about it. Later in the story, when Wilson is looking for the driver of the yellow car that killed Myrtle, he also suspects that person of having an affair with...
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.
Tom believes that, “it’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things” (Fitzgerald 13). Tom suggests that the “dominant race” is not only white men, but also white men who have “old money.” The thought of “other races… having control” is terrifying to Tom. His elite status would be challenged if other races successfully demanded more rights and more equality. He wants the “dominant race” to stay in power, and will do everything he can to prevent “other” people from achieving the status quo. The Handicapper General is also frightened by the abilities of “other” people. She put stronger handicaps on people who are different or individual because she is conscious of their potential. Tom is also extremely angry with Gatsby for trying to take his wife away from him. He says, “certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger” (Fitzgerald 133). Tom considers Gatsby to be in a group of people called “new money,” which Tom looks down on. He also knows that Gatsby earned his money in a shady way, which is one reason that he dislikes people who are not in the so-called “dominant race.” Tom implies that if Gatsby marries Daisy, the “ring” he buys her will be “stolen,” which suggests getting acquired by doing something illegal. The fact that someone is stealing his wife enrages him, but how he is losing her to a “common swindler” really infuriates him. This shows why Tom feels threatened by “common