Tom Buchanan

Myrtle is Tom's mistress, which allows her play the role of a well educated wealthy woman. Myrtle is deceptive and untrustworthy because she is married, and is having a secret affair with Tom buchanan. The very first time we meet her in the book “she smiled slowly and, walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye”(26). By having an affair with Tom she is betraying her husband, and she seems to have no remorse about it. Myrtle is described as being “ faintly stout, but she carries her surplus flesh sensuously as some woman can. Her face, [...] contained no facet or glean of beauty”(25). From her physical description the reader can infer that she is not very nice and standoffish. She treats

The Great Gatsby is a novel that was published in 1922 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in this novel he writes about the Jazz Age in language that marvelously evokes music. The Great Gatsby is a romantic and cynical novel about wealth and he portraits characters in the novel who maneuver themselves in complex or difficult situations. The character Tom Buchanan, is Daisy Buchanan’s husband, which Daisy is cheating on him later with Gatsby whom I’ll explain who he is in a bit, and also Daisy is the main character’s cousin. The main character is a man named Nick Carraway which in the novel he is telling the story in a second person point of view of Gatsby, who is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a mansion in West Egg. He is famous for the big parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows what he does, what made his fortune, or where he comes from. In the novel Tom Buchanan is cheating on his wife Daisy for a woman named Myrtle Wilson who is married to a man named George Wilson, a lifeless man owning a run down garage in the Valley of Ashes. Tom Buchanan and George Wilson are more similar than different because they both got cheated on. They will be compared and contrasted on their attitudes towards women, their ways of showing violence, and their reactions of being cheated on.

One of their similarities is their wealth, Both of them live in large, extravagant mansions in Long Island. In addition to their undeniable wealth both of them love and want Daisy, Gatsby fell in love with her while he was training to be an officer in the Army, but she [Daisy] married Tom because she didn’t hear anything from Gatsby after the war was over. This conflict between Gatsby and Tom was put to an when Daisy decided that she would stay with Tom. Although Tom is rude and abusive, marrying Gatsby would mean stepping down on the ‘social hierarchy’ due to the fact that West Eggers were seen as inferior to the East Eggers. In addition to putting her social status at risk, in the hotel room Tom reminded her of a time when things weren’t so bad between them, Tom says “ once in a while I go on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back and in my heart I love her all the time”(Fitzgerald 131). He also says “...that day I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep your shoes dry”(Fitzgerald 132). Both of these bring back pleasant memories from years past between Tom and Daisy, whereas the only memories that Gatsby and Daisy shared were for the short time he was in

Differences that set Buchanan and Gatsby apart is, Tom comes from old money, in other words his wealth originally runs in his family, it goes back generations. Because of Tom’s age, the way in which he spends his money his at sometimes insane. Spending it on unnecessary items such as “a string of polo ponies from a lake forest”. ( Fitzgerald, 6 ) The way in which Tom treated Daisy was much different from how Gatsby would treat her. Tom treated Daisy with no respect. He was an unfaithful individual who would hook up with another woman just to feel powerful. He was also very abusive and unable to contain his anger. In this. He ends up breaking Myrtle’s nose because refuses to stop mentioning Daisy’s name. “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”. ( Fitzgerald, 37) Since Tom had been brought up with so much wealth, he never took into thought of other races. He gives off the impression that he is a racist

“‘The only CRAZY I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in and never even told me about it...” ( Fitzgerald,39), Myrtles little speech Indicates her regret of marrying someone that lacks wealth and a social position like George wilson. It is clear to the readers that Myrtle is not after affection and protection, she is after materialistic items, that have value to them, which she receives from her “secret lover” Tom Buchanan. Myrtle has the idea that if she has an affair with Tom, he will divorce his wife Daisy and marry her, so she can move up the social ladder. She is desirous of Daisy's life, Daisy has everything Myrtle lacks, the money, Tom and a high social status. Her desire to be as important as Daisy to Tom is shown when she shouted “‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’”(Fitzgerald,41),in this chapter Myrtle realizes she could never replace Daisy because Top slaps her across the face speaking his wife’s name, who he does respect and love. Myrtle also believes that she went up the social ladder because she shares an apartment with Tom, in New York. “‘I told that boy about the ice.’ Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. ‘These people! You have to keep after them all the time.”(Fitzgerald,35). She truly believes that speaking in a snobby tone, makes her sound wealthy. To most Myrtle is a subordinate, dependent women, but in reality she uses men to escape poverty and live a lavish

Wilson gives to Myrtle his complete trust in the same way he provides Myrtle with what she asks for, but she abuses it. She takes her husband for granted while at the same time, she gazes at Tom sitting on a pedestal she has made for him. Tom is the man that can make Myrtle's every fantasy come true, but also the man that will lead to her early death. Myrtle is seen to be a fun and floozy mistress, but not as a real wife. She, as superficial as it may be, is not someone that Tom could take to parties and introduce to his parents. Myrtle controls Wilson, while Tom manipulates her simply for enjoyment. For example, Tom tells Myrtle that the reason they could never wed is because his wife, Daisy, is Catholic and she would never stand for a divorce. In this scene, Catherine, Myrtle's sister, tells Nick Carraway, the narrator, about the reasons why Tom and Myrtle may never come

Myrtle Wilson is obsessed with leaving her poor life behind her by being with Tom but unlike Gatsby, her attempts are fruitless. She attempts to make herself seem an upper class person like when she changed her dress before the party in chapter two. She believes her husband is beneath her and talks of all low statuses as if she isn’t one of them. "I told that boy about the ice." Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. "These people! You have to keep after them all the time." (42)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a text written which conveys that the protagonist, Jay Gatsby is a better person that that of other characters as described by the narrator, Nick Caraway. The characters, Tom Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan are portrayed as the ‘rotten crowd” (pg 146) whereas Gatsby being “...worth the whole damn bunch put together” (pg. 146). Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker are a wealthy, cynical and careless pair, who desert Gatsby at his worst and throughout the text and are revealed as arrogant. Daisy Buchanan, a superficial woman, is affectionate towards Tom and Gatsby; however through the text it is revealed that she has no sense of loyalty. Gatsby’s hardworking and hopeful nature leaves him vulnerable to the works of the ‘rotten crowd’.

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, focused his work on exploring the unconscious and human behavior. The goal of psychoanalysis is to help resolve psychological problems and give better understanding to overcoming conflicts. In literature, readers can use the psychoanalytical lens to examine character behavior and better understand the text. In F.Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan portrays the psychoanalytical lens through his behaviors of fear of intimacy and avoidance. One area of human behavior explored in The Great Gatsby that has significant implications for psychoanalytic criticism is found in the romantic relationships illustrated in the novel, specifically through Tom Buchanan.

His arrogance causes him to taint his “committed” marriage to Daisy, and have an affair with another character dissatisfied with life, Myrtle. Myrtle explains, “Well I married [George], and that’s the difference between your case and mine. I married him because I thought he was a gentleman, I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (34). Myrtle is yet another character unhappy with their marriage. She feels entitled to be treated better, that she deserves more than her “gentleman” husband, George. Tom is just the person she believes can provide her with all the comforts and luxuries that she desires, using him to weasel her way into the world of the

Myrtle desires wealth and luxuries, and as a result she has an affair with Tom, who gives her anything she yearns for. Myrtle despises her lifestyle with her husband, George Wilson, due to the lower-class living and dirty, physical labor. She explains how, “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman … I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (Fitzgerald, 34). Myrtle planned to marry a rich man, so in the future he could support her children and herself, and they would be members of

Tom is a character who remains the same. He is introduced as a big dominant man, and continues to act in that projection of power and natural leverage over others. During their intense confrontation with Gatsby, Tom waves in Daisy’s face that if she decides to be with Gatsby, she will be with a criminal bootlegger, which strikes her fear of becoming a nobody without her prized social class. He remarks, “I picked him up as a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong” (Fitzgerald

Tom Buchanan is one of the many colourful, intriguing and enigmatic characters of the masterpiece “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He is the antagonist of the novel and rightly so. He is racist, a hypocrite, an immoral cheater, a short-tempered brute and misogynistic. Tom is also part of an old and out dated sort of world that is being swamped all-round the edges by a new and better society. That is the reason why he is acting so tough and also why he hates Jay Gatsby so much, it is because he is afraid, afraid that the world that he knows and all the old-fashioned values of love, wealth and masculinity will come crashing down on him. He dislikes Gatsby because he is part of the new generation and he got rich by a different way

As Myrtle’s relationship with George Wilson deteriorates and she is disenchanted with his limited lifestyle, she desires more and thus when she meets Tom he offers her this. In some distorted way, Myrtle thinks that Tom will leave his beautiful wife Daisy and marry her, Tom doesn’t truly see the relationship between Myrtle and himself being a true relationship, he just believes she is someone he can call upon unannounced and use her for a sexual relationship. But Myrtle has other plans for the two of them. This is made clear when he breaks Myrtle’s nose we she mentioned his wife’s name: “‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy Dai-‘Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald, 1926)This harsh action implied by Tom, really puts Mrs. Wilson in her place, making her come to her sense of what she can and cannot say. This reaction from Tom signifies that it is not a pure love existing between them. Further, Myrtle’s desire for the material goods Tom can provide shapes her conception of their alleged love, which is evidently greatly distorted as shown through Tom’s treatment of her.

Myrtle Wilson, a relatively minor character, belongs to the lower classes, expresses a desire to upward social mobility, but is largely prevented from doing so due to her gender. She uses love to acquire wealth and has an extramarital affair with Tom. She is not happy with her lower social status and her husband George Wilson, a representative of the lower classes and a simple man with no grand ambitions, states in the novel: “The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in and never even told me about it,” (Fitzgerald 28). Myrtle allows us to look at her accumulation of things, such as the down-town apartment which was “… crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continuously over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles” (Lindberg 16; Fitzgerald 35).