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A Freudian Analysis of Tom Buchanan Tom Buchanan is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most infantile character his novel The Great Gatsby. He is driven by his animalistic impulses and is incapable of maintaining any level of commitment to his wife, Daisy—especially when thwarted with other viable options on whom to, quite literally, thrust his desires. In this paper, I will use a Freudian psychoanalysis to examine Tom’s behavior and actions and assess how his childhood and collegiate background may have impacted his inability to uphold a culturally appropriate level of self-control. The first insight readers get into Tom Buchanan is in Nick’s explanation of Tom’s childhood in which he describes Tom’s family as “enormously wealthy”, but that he seemed to drift about in his adult life search a sort of “dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable …show more content…
This is his supposed first instance of cheating on his wife, though numerous other infidelities have followed (Fitzgerald, 1995, p. 82).
In just these few instances, readers begin to piece together Tom’s lack of impulse control. His desire for attention overtakes his other traits, and this only becomes clearer when Tom begins to lose those who give him the attention. Towards the end of the novel, Tom begins to lose Daisy to Gatsby and Myrtle to her husband, Wilson. These shifts in their attention leave Tom feeling redundant. As described by Nick, Tom was feeling “hot whips of panic” upon losing the control, of his “secure and inviolate” wife and mistress (Fitzgerald, 1995, p. 131). Without these women to maintain what little grounding in moral behavior Tom has, he becomes frantic and delusional causing an even more thoughtless outburst in the Plaza hotel scene in which he confronts Gatsby for stealing his wife. When asked to uphold a “little self-control” by Daisy, he refutes
There was a sense of sadness in Tom’s eyes as he said those words. Although Myrtle was killed, Tom was still very concerned about Daisy and Gatsby’s affair. “Daisy, do you want to tell me what has been going on with you and Gatsby all this time?” Tom asked her. Daisy suddenly turned sharply at Tom, “speak for yourself Tom.
His adultery, but more so his dishonesty creates a pathway for their failing marriage. Their marriage has already failed because of Tom's inability to live up to the honesty expectation of marriage. Communication...
Tom’s education, money and upbringing certainly represents Fitzgerald’s idea of the upper class. He is described as “a sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face, and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward … you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat.
At the hotel gathering, Gatsby struggles to persuade Daisy to confront her husband and she responds with “Oh, you want too much! . . . I did love him once--but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 132). Daisy desperately tries to satisfy Gatsby but his imagination blocks his mind to such a degree that it eliminates his chances of learning how to comprehend reality. After Myrtle’s murder, Nick advises Gatsby to leave town but instead he realizes that “[Gatsby] wouldn’t consider it. He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free” (Fitzgerald 148). No matter how hard Nick attempts to help him make the better choice, Gatsby continues to skew his priorities like a juvenile. Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy stays with Tom, a more secure and experienced adult, leaving Gatsby alone. As Gatsby’s life loses his vitality, he obviously needs learn how to act like an adult and survive in the world; but unable to accomplish this, Wilson kills him soon
She became used to him being unfaithful to her that she suggests to him after leaving him during Gatsby wild party “ and if you want to take down any addresses here’s my little gold pencil” (105). Tom and Myrtle relationship caused problems more in Myrtle life rather than Tom’s because unlike Tom’s wide, Wilson was unaware about her unfaithfulness and reacted way differently by becoming sick. In Nick’s perspective, he explains, “He had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world, and the shock had made him physically sick” (124). Wilson behaves in way by having her locked in a room until he gets the car to move away but soon enough for jealousy to strike among Myrtle about Tom and his wife which later causes her death. Her death occurred because of the greatly amount of envy she has towards Daisy and her lifestyle with Tom. The feelings that she felt showed upon her by having “…one emotion after another crept into her face like objects into a slowly developing picture” (124). This single small affair between Tom and Myrtle became something bigger than expected by a heart broken husband, dishonesty, and death among a mistress. This crime is much relatable to many affairs in the world that ends really bad divorces and trust issues from the dishonesty from their significant
Tom functions under the illusion that Daisy not only loves him now, but has always loved him and been completely devoted to him. Daisy does admit that she once loved him, but he was not her first choice; Gatsby was. Tom is also under the illusion that Daisy will never leave him. He has an ongoing, almost public affair with Myrtle but still wants to be devoted to Daisy and demands her devotion to him. Tom feels as if he will never lose anything: his money, Daisy, or his social status.
Buchanan is constantly behaving contrary to his thoughts in this novel. Tom is very insecure and scrambles for control as he hides his self-confidence. He shows his distress with himself when Daisy comments on his new habit of reading “profound books” about white supremacy. Even though he was born into incredible money and privilege, he has a fear it could be taken away by social climbers. That insecurity only translates into even more obvious corruption of his power - flaunting his relationship with Myrtle, revealing Gatsby as a bootlegger, and manipulating George to kill Gatsby. Tom will face some consequences for his actions but in the end of the novel he is still able to sweep Daisy away with him. He will first be met with a brief moment of anguish when he finds out of Daisy and Jay's long rooted relationship and on top of that, he learned of his mistress moving out West. Tom will react to his uncomfortability by pleading and yelling and will eventually get his way, but probably not for much
Wilson shows this attribute by telling Michaelis the man who runs the coffee shop adjacent to Wilsons business that he had his wife locked up and, “she’s going to stay there till the day after to-morrow, and then we’re going to move away” (Fitzgerald pg136). This statement shows that Wilson will do what he believes is best when Myrtles involved, and her opinion has no weight in his decision making process. Tom also shows his dominant mentality in chapter 7 when Tom and Gatsby are arguing over Daisy and Tom ejects, “She’s not leaving me!” (Fitzgerald pg133). This statement shows that Tom has a sense as if he has ownership of Daisy and makes her decisions for
“When our bodies are in disrepair, our personalities suffer along with it” (Healthyplace.com)”. In their relationship Tom has a lot of control over Daisy and their relationship. He does not allow Daisy to have a say in things.Tom seems to keep Daisy in the dark and keep her out of some of the things going on in his life. When Tom starts seeing Myrtle he thinks that it is okay and he doesn't seem to feel at all bad about it. Tom thinks that it it okay for him to do this but if Daisy ever did something like this it would not be okay.Tom becomes furious at the idea that Daisy and Gatsby could be having an affair but doesn't think twice about him and Myrtle. One very important thing that Daisy lacks is the ability to care about her daughter. This is show when Daisy says “ I hope she’ll be a fool. That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool (Fitzgerald 17). This shows how Daisy think that women have no place in this world and that they should only be thought of as an object and not as a person. These thoughts come from the relationship that Daisy has with
Daisy can be seen as a symbol for the prosperous future for women while Tom is a symbol for what is keeping women grounded. Daisy is known to be more independent than other women in the novel. She speaks her mind and does not care about the consequences as long as she is doing what is right. Daisy takes her life into her own hands by proclaiming her love to Gatsby; “She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded” (pg.125). Without prior knowledge of Daisy and Tom as characters, some may believe that Daisy is being rude and unapologetic towards Tom, her husband, but as the reader knows, this is not true. Since Tom has been abusing Daisy throughout their entire relationship, it is admirable that Daisy feels confident enough in herself to express her true feelings no matter how it will affect Tom. Daisy does not do what is expected of her. For example, after she proclaims her love for Gatsby, it is expected that she would choose him over Tom, but that is not what she does. Instead she chooses to be with Tom. Although, this is a questionable decision, it is still impressive that she takes her own matters into her own hands and does not let the men around her determine her future. Tom, on the other hand, has proven to be a sort of villain in the novel as he is unfaithful, aggressive and abusive to Daisy as well as to his mistress, Myrtle. The fact that Tom is unfaithful is introduced when Jordan Baker says “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (pg.16, line 17-18). Tom is, also, very controlling over Daisy, for example while Daisy starts going around more often with Gatsby he says “By God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me.” This is a prime example of male arrogance. He makes it seem as if women, or specifically Daisy, only go around doing things to please men when this is utterly false.
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
Tom Buchanan epitomizes the advent of moral uncertainty of the Modernist Era. Upon Tom’s introduction in the novel, Fitzgerald makes his lack of morals very evident. When Nick goes to have dinner with the Buchanans and Jordan, he learns something new about Tom. Jordan tells Nick something she believed everyone knew.
Myrtle is, as Daisy, impressed with Tom's wealth and appearance, but, like Jay Gatsby, is stuck in a fantastic, idealized perception of her object of affection. Even when abused and trampled over by Tom, Myrtle continues to adore him, just as Gatsby continues to dote upon Daisy after being obviously rejected by her. As far as ethical considerations, Gatsby tends to prove himself a sincere and caring person, while Daisy and Tom just destroy the lives of two people and then leave town to escape the consequences of their actions.
Although he claims that he is happy with his wife Daisy, he still is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson, a married woman from one of the poorest parts of New York. Because of Myrtle’s low class, Tom orders her to get the drinks for the guests in their New York apartment (32). Later in the night, he breaks her nose when she starts screaming Daisy’s name, which shows that Tom does not really love Myrtle as he is more devoted to protecting his wife’s image. Instead, he uses her to supply mutual satisfaction for himself and Myrtle, but refuses to love her any more than he needs to for the
Daisy will never leave Tom as he represents the social class she wants. Tom comes from old money similar to Daisy; if Daisy left Tom she would lose her social class and automatically be disowned from the old money class of New York. Likewise, irony is used to effectively illustrate Tom Buchanan’s hypocritical nature. After Tom finds out that Daisy and Gatsby are romantically involved, he insults Gatsby left and right. He goes as far to say that, “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife” (130). His statement here is deemed ironic. He is enraged and offended that someone else is having an affair with his wife, yet he is doing the same thing to another man’s wife, Myrtle Winston. It as if Tom can cheat on Daisy, but when Daisy does it all hell breaks loose. Irony is also well utilized to show how two faced a character Tom is. When Myrtle dies, Tom immediately becomes Mr. Wilson’s right hand man. He told the policeman “I’m his friend (140)” while he had “his hands firm on Mr. Wilson’s body”.(140) This situation is ironic as Tom is putting a front that he is a good person and that Mr. Wilson can lean on him when