Tom Buchanan Character Analysis

In The Great Gatsby we meet Tom Buchanan early on in the story in chapter one. His character is a stereotypical wealthy man who inherited his wealth without lifting a finger and learned to use his money to his advantage. The essay “Deceitful Traces of Power: An Analysis of Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby” by Alberto Lena makes great points about the different types of money and the power Tom specifically holds with his money because of his physical and mental appearance as well as the class he was born in. One argument in Alberto Lena’s essay is that how Nick describes Tom both physically and mentally has a deeper meaning to it.

Navya Tyagali Whitt American Literature Honors 7 21 September 2022 Tom Buchanan: Does Deceit and Duplicity Make Him the Apex Predator? “The Great Gatsby reads like a warning. For as much as it is a story about the American dream, it is also a story about power under threat, and of how that power, lashing out, can render truth irrelevant” (Smith). In her article “How The Great Gatsby Explains Trump,” Rosa Smith illustrates how within Gatsby, the act of “lashing out” due to a surfeit of power is carried through by Tom Buchanan, the double-dealing antagonist of the novel. Tom demonstrates how power trumps all, and how when one possesses power, they have the capability to write their own truth.

Fitzgerald condemned the American Dream by showing how even though Gatsby became rich, he was not happy nor did he have a happy life. Tom Buchanan dehumanized Gatsby by how he thought badly of him because he was nouveaux riche. Tom was old money. Nick was also newly rich like Gatsby. He dehumanized the Buchanans in the fact that he thought of them as careless except when it comes to their image or their money.

Jealousy is the root of a lot problems this is the case with F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. In this book we will talk about how jealousy is the main factor in this topic. Consequently proving how jealous Tom Buchanan is when he is surrounded Jay Gatsby.

He displays this control when he manipulates those of the lower class, and he tries to dominate his relationships. The struggle between the power and powerless in the novel develops into a battle between the upper and lower classes. The main powerful and wealthy character, Tom Buchanan, uses his power to hurt other people, and he does not care who it is. For example, Tom Buchanan has a very powerful status, which attracts Myrtle because she strives to be in the upper class.

The Nature of Man The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a detail filled trip back in time to the 1920’s. Fitzgerald tells the story of the inhabitants of West Egg, East Egg, New York City, and everyone in between. He is able to turn something as simple as a party into an entire plot to earn someone's affection and, what might seems like a harmless old billboard, into a symbol that is talked about on numerous occasions. As the novel progresses, more and more characters are introduced.

In Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, there are two characters by the names of Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. Throughout the book, these two particular characters seem to be very different from each other in nearly every way. However, it becomes clear as the story continues that they share some ideas and attitudes in common. Specifically, Tom and George were noteworthy in the way they felt about women, the methods by which they conveyed violence, and how they responded to their wives cheating on them.

One of the most prominent social biases, both in the 1920’s specifically and throughout American history, is race. In the period after WWI, race tensions were heightening. Tom clearly does not approve of the idea that black people could rise socially and “infiltrate” his world. Even though Tom himself has a mistress, he says, “Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white. ”(Fitzgerald p130)

Tom Buchanan is Fitzgerald’s masterpiece of creating a character who portrays the life, and characteristics as an alpha male. Through the vision of character’s surrounding Tom we began to see how his loftier masculinity characterizes him in the story. I begin with a quote from Tom’s wife Daisy that embodies the intimidating masculine characteristics of Tom, “I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a-----” (Fitzgerald 12). In this quote from Daisy we view a list of characteristics that are associated with Tom’s masculinity.

In the novel The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald set in the 1920s, a man named Jay Gatsby who became rich through illegal means tries to win the heart of a woman named Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan’s wife. The wife of a garage owner named George Wilson, Myrtle, is also having an affair with Tom. Throughout the course of the novel, Tom and Wilson run into similar encounters. Both of them discover that their wives have been cheating on them and have comparable reactions. These discoveries and related events reveal their attitudes toward women and become violent.

If his mind is not occupied by his mistress Myrtle, he is drowning in thoughts of Gatsby’s suspected crime-filled life. “Indeed, Tom Buchanan's sources appear most reliable in his characterization of Gatsby's drug store chain as ‘just small change’ compared to his stolen bonds” (Pauly 116). Buchanan is a hypocrite towards Gatsby. He denounces Gatsby’s life actions as being morally evil but Tom’s actions are no different than Gatsby’s in the sense that both men are unfaithful to themselves and their nearest relationships. Tom is competing with Gatsby through deception and treachery, and their dangerous habits wound them

In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the majority of the characters are either dishonest, chasing hollow dreams, or plain ignorant. Fitzgerald flaunts the flaws of these characters regularly. Tom Buchanan is a constant example of dishonesty, due to his reoccurring affair with Myrtle Wilson. Although she does not believe it true, Daisy is one of the most ignorant characters.

Tom is a racist, sexist, man and Fitzgerald does not hide it. In the beginning of the novel when Nick is over at Tom and Daisy’s home Tom begins to speak to Nick of a book he is reading called ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ Tom believes that, “ Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be--will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proven.” ( Fitzgerald 13).

In “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Buchanan represents a man who is unfaithful, selfish, and arrogant. Throughout this essay, the character Tom Buchanan will be analyzed and will explain his purpose in this story as well as the many flaws he possesses which make him an unlikable person. Tom is considered to be the antagonist in this novel, but his main purpose in this story is to be the barrier between Daisy and Gatsby. Unbeknownst to Tom, Daisy eventually gets back with Gatsby but has a massive fit once he finds out they’re together.

As god can 't even blame for an individual wanting what was beyond their capability. Striving for Daisy, The girl he once loves, who married a man that you would call the reflecting of the emptiness generation. Creating the newly rich Gatsby, fill with an illusion of party, guest, and love. between gatsby requoted love and subsequent re-animation of the flaws of humanity. Tom Buchanan is a man with alpha appearance.