Violence and Instability in The Talented Mr. Ripley
Imagine a world in which there is no morality, no sense of empathy or concern of the well-being of loved ones, and no feelings of remorse, no matter what actions one takes. This is the world of an unstable and violent individual. This is the world of Tom Ripley, in Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Due to the ramifications of Tom Ripley’s troubled past of his parents dying and the neglect of his Aunt, the reader is better able to understand the forces that guide Ripley’s cruel actions and the inevitable consequences he must face. It is clear that the unpredictable and instinctive tendencies of Tom Ripley’s constantly changing identity throughout the novel contribute to his
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Other characters such as Marge and Dickie are used to emphasize Tom’s strange nature by questioning his sexuality and weird behavior. Marge believes that Tom’s actions are unusual because of the peculiar way he would act when she and Dickie were together, leading her to believe he is homosexual and she even expresses his oddity to Dickie. For example, after Tom sees the two of them kiss, he rushes to Dickie’s room, “wanting to scream… his mind stunned and blank,” (176) throwing Dickie’s art materials out of the window, and this shows how he is mentally disturbed and behaving bizarre as a result of his struggles with both his identity and sexuality. In addition, when Tom is caught wearing Dickie’s clothes, it exhibits his odd actions, craziness, and how mentally disturbed he really has become due to his lack of identity. When it is said, “This was his room, and what was Tom doing in it? Tom stood petrified with fear. ‘I wish you'd get out of my clothes,’ Dickie said’” (78), this emphasizes Tom’s struggle of how overly obsessed he has become over taking on someone else’s personality, and how it causes him to take on the qualities and makings of a mentally unstable …show more content…
When Tom realizes he can just fully take on Dickie’s personality to get what he wants, this is when it becomes clear that he is a product of his past. His fruition of taking ones identity points back to his belief earlier on in the novel of being an animal to get what you want in life when it is said, “He could become Dickie Greenleaf himself. He could do everything that Dickie did. He could go back to Mongibello first and collect Dickie's things, tell Marge any damned story, set up an apartment in Rome or Paris, receive Dickie's check every month and forge Dickie's signature on it” (98). This criminal mindset was first developed since his struggle in the beginning of the novel due to his aunt, and it is strengthened when Tom sees how easily he can manipulate others around him to get whatever he
In the true crime/sociology story, “Best Intentions: The Education and Killing of Edmund Perry” the author, Robert Sam Anson had provided an immense amount of information from reportings about Edmund Perry’s death and life before he died. Anson has developed Edmund’s character and experiences through reporting that I have related and connected to. Information reported by Anson has helped me find a deep connection towards Edmund Perry’s home environment, junior high experiences, and personality at Philips Exeter. Themes such as hopes and dreams, loyalty and betrayal, journey, and family ties are intertwined in the story and becomes blatant. The congruences between our lives have better my understanding of the story and Edmund’s life.
At the beginning, Tom is very self-centered and preoccupied with his work. He finds what he wants to do more important than what his wife wants to do that night. Once faced with the reality of death, he realizes how important his wife is to him. This forces him to be strong and stay alive, for her sake. The only reason he made it back into his house was because of how much he cared for her. Tom then decides to go find her at the movies, which shows that he has become less self-centered and more aware of his wife’s feelings.
Killing Mr. Griffin is a story, which captures the reader’s attention by developing themes. It’s suspenseful; it includes topics from love and friendship to guilt and murder. Susan McConnell had a slow life, but at a sudden moment, she gets hit by a social wave and is caught in a wave of peer pressure, manipulation, psychopaths and a battle of her conscience. The moral lesson that has been shown inside the book is being careful for what you wish for. The grass might seem greener on the other side but is it actually? People don’t always seem how they appear to be either good or bad (Mr. Griffin, Mark Kinney.)
This early characterization keeps readers interested in Tom and what he will do throughout the novel due to his intriguing early rebellious behavior and personality. To start analyzing Tom’s life one must start with the earliest mention of him as a child, this being a scene of Tom harassing young girls during his own baptism, ignoring those who tell him to stop. This shows early rebellion and an apt for trying societal rules, revealing that he does not care about the outcome of any situation as long as he is enjoying himself. This is backed up later in his life when Tom gets into a fight at a bar and ultimately kills a man, resulting in him going to jail for multiple years, in which he does not break maintaining sanity revealing his aptitude and strength in his ways of leading his life. This philosophy would follow him through his life, ultimately starting to take a new shape when he would later meet again with the preacher who baptized him, Jim
But he is not in any way greatful for any of it. Despite everything Tom has he still belittles others, and cheats on Daisy. Tom has a racial attitude, for example, he disapproves interracial marriage. He is very egoistic and has a high opinion of himself. Even more supporting that he has no morals and a dark side also, Tom's affair with Myrtle Wilson also supports the conclusion that he's quite the
Edward Bloor takes on a challenge when he attempts to make the reader empathize with people that he had intentionally tried to make the reader dislike earlier in the story. This is a challenge because i...
At the beginning of the novel Tom has just been paroled from prison serving time for killing a man in a fight. Tom feels he was merely defending himself. He feels no guilt or shame about killing the man and would do it again under the same conditions. Tom's morals allowed him to justify the killing. These morals were instilled in him by his family especially from the strength and love of his mother. Tom is looking forward to "laying one foot down in front of another." At this point in he story Tom has his physiological needs met and is going home to his family to meet his needs of safety and security love belonging.
While both Harrison and Rainsford courageously fight for freedom, Harrison’s impulsive nature causes his death, whereas Rainsford’s discretion enables him to surmount his enemy. Throughout the novel they both portray the importance for living a free life guarded by just laws. Reflecting on Rainsford’s story, teaches us to confront problems with rationality and reason. By doing so, we not only make ourselves better human beings but also help build a society that reinforces positive values.
Tom hits Myrtle, so we see that he acts on his anger issues. Tom uses his standing in society to bully people into doing things the way he wants them done. He thinks he can have or do whatever he wants, without having to pay any consequences.
...nd Mr. Greenleaf. Though Tom already knows he has gained Marge's trust, his sociopath, anti-social attitude comes out in San Spiridone. “He felt more frightened that night, walking through San Spiridone with Marge, than if he had been alone.” (222) He feels more frightened when having a possible connection with Marge than he did when violently murdering Dickie or Freddie. However, if he could pull off being Dickie around Marge, I wonder if he would feel the same way? That would be an ideal situation for Tom. “He wanted to see Greece as Dickie Greenleaf with Dickie's money, Dickie's clothes, Dickie's way of behaving with strangers.” (172) With the realization that this could not happen comes the strongest emotion out of Tom, “Tears came in his eyes as he stared up at the campanile of the cathedral, and then he turned away and began to walk down a new street.” (172)
In the note “Evils Imminent,” Erik Larson writes “Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow” [xi]. The purpose of this novel is to compare and contrast the book's main characters, Daniel Burnham and Henry H. Holmes. The characters have contrasting personalities and feelings, but a few similar motives to a certain extent.
Tom is good natured and deals with what life throws at him, during the long trip towards work the family has realized the can count on Tom to help protect them. His past isn't going to define his future or change the way he feels about his family. As they arrive to California they get the devastating news that work is sparse and many people are dying of starvation, including Grampa who dies of a stroke. When the major change of losing a family member Tom realizes that life can be gone faster than you think and you see him changing into a more considerate person and a more sentimental person towards others. After they have buried Grampa, Tom comes across a “one eyed mechanic” who he helps fix his touring car. An act that he would probably never do in his past. Steinbeck shows Toms development into a more considerate person as the book
Tom can now start to show his maturity everywhere, including at home. In the beginning, Tom is running from Aunt Polly's punishments, hurries through chores, and plays hooky from school. When he convinces kids to do his job of whitewash the fence for him, it shows immaturity. Also when he runs away from home to the island, he doesn't leave a note.
The third and final reason Tom is unhappy and wants to leave, is due to his dreams being put on hold to support his family. Tom envisions a life of adventure, something of which he feels his life is meaningless without. After his father leaves, though not his obligation, Tom takes over the role as the man of the house. Tom feels that he is now responsible for taking care of his mother and sister. Even though Amanda and Laura need him, Tom decides anyway to leave them in search of his own adventures. Tom does not necessarily want to be unlike his father, he thinks of his wanting leave as a gene of sorts, a destiny, something he is supposed to do. When Tom’s coworker, Jim, is invited to dinner, Tom even confides in Jim that Tom is “like my [his] father” and that he is “the
Being in a state of emotional discomfort is almost like being insane. For the person in this discomfort they feel deranged and confused and for onlookers they look as if they have escaped a mental hospital. On The first page of chapter fifteen in the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the main character is in a state of total discomfort and feels as if he is going mad. From the reader’s perspective it seems as if he is totally out of control of his body. This portrayal of the narrator is to express how torn he is between his two selves. He does not know how to tell Mary, the woman who saved him and has been like a mother to him, that he is leaving her for a new job, nor does he know if he wants to. His conflicting thoughts cause him to feel and seem a little mad. The author purposefully uses the narrator’s divergent feelings to make portray him as someone uncomfortable in is own skin. This tone is portrayed using intense diction, syntax, and extended metaphors.