Tom Buchanan In The Great Gatsby

Tom Buchanan thinks highly of himself but to others, he comes off as pretentious. People may say that Tom genuinely thinks of himself as a great person. This is true but it leads to him being pretentious because he portrays himself as a hero

Let’s begin by talking about how Tom Buchanan only cares about others stature rather than the people themselves. Tom can be seen judging others on how they stand in society rather than how they are as people. This is evident when Nick is

As a main character we may get a different impression of Nick since we are now analysing his personality and how he interacts with the other characters in the story. We read numerous pronouns in the first chapter, ‘I’, suggesting that he is self-indulgent and pompous. For instance, once at Gatsby’s party, Nick only kisses Jordan Baker because he ‘had no girl’, conveying he only kissed her because there was no one else there. This makes Nick seem selfish and arrogant as he is only thinking of himself. To the reader, we

According to Nick, Tom Buchanan is a “sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner” (13). Tom shows careless and arrogance multiple times

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

One of Tom’s most prominent traits is his disloyalty, especially to his marriage. During the dinner party at Daisy’s house in the East Egg, the telephone receives a call, from Tom’s mistress, resulting in Daisy exclaiming “She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time, don’t you think?” (Fitzgerald 15). Daisy is frustrated that Tom is cheating on her, but not for the right reasons. Rather than being upset at Tom for having an affair, she is upset because the phone call is merely disrupting the dinner party. One of Tom’s proudest moments takes place at the dinner party when Daisy, Nick, and Jordan discuss races in America and his opinions on it. He mentions that “It’s up to us, the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things” (Fitzgerald 18). Tom upholds the white community in America to be at a higher standard than those that were not born/raised in America. He sees members of the white community as higher beings than those who are not, holding himself at an upper level.

As the reader knows...nobody likes Tom Buchanan because he thinks he is above society. Nick says, “His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked—and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.” (Fitzgerald, 20). This is a real harsh judging coming from Nick as he uses the word “fractiousness” which basically means that he’s unruly or irritable. This clear explain why nobody really likes him, because nobody likes an irritable person. But for Nick to say he’s so honest is a total lie. Even though he hit the nail on the head with the judgement of Tom, Nick still blatantly lied to the reader because he clearly judged Tom. Nick obviously doesn’t like Tom so he takes another shot at him by saying “He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was 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” (Fitzgerald, 7) Nick is basically saying that since he has money, he seems to think that he has the right to tell everyone in society what to do. But, this is when Nick starts judging. Nick makes it very clear that Tom was born into wealth and that he never worked for it at all.

Acting as if he is superior to others is a trait that makes Tom Buchanan’s sporadic appearance in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a laudable part of the plot. This twentieth-century novel is told through the eyes of Nick, the narrator, and set in New York. Nick lives next to a wealthy man, known as Jay Gatsby. Unfortunately, Gatsby’s love for Daisy Buchanan, who had a history with Gatsby before he went to war, becomes a problem when she is married to Tom Buchanan. As if this isn’t already complicated, Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy, who happens to be his cousin, over to his house so Gatsby can see her for the first time in a long time.

Nick later introduces the readers to the rest of the characters and what he thinks of them (story is told through Nick when he was younger the mid-20s in

Nick directly describes Tom in book. Here is the quote from the book where Nick describes him. " He had changed since his new haven years. Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes

He continually berates Nick as being a lesser man and raises himself higher onto his imaginary pedestal. Not too far into the novel Tom Buchanan breaks into a tyrant after a joke made by Nick: “‘Civilization’s going to pieces,’ broke out Tom violently... ‘Well, these books are all scientific,’ insisted Tom, glancing at her impatiently. ‘This fellow has worked out the whole thing. It’s up to us who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things’”

The identities that aid Tom Buchanan into becoming a narcissistic male living in East Egg during the 1920s’ are factors such as wealth, society’s outlook on males and his life accomplishments all feed into the growth of Tom’s ego. All of Tom’s life his has been wealthier than most, “his family were enormously wealthy - even in college his freedom with money was a matter of reproach” (Fitzgerald 6). This contributes to his identity because Tom never experienced any financial struggles like many did during the 1920s, this prevents any hope Tom maybe be humble about his success. Having wealth gives people a certain power over others, Tom for one thrives off this power, always creating a desire for control. The arrogance in Tom contributes to his

Nick is still, however, an honest and good man. He is not extravagantly rich, but unlike Gatsby he earned all of his high social connections fairly. He is rather disgusted with the East and it’s empty values by the end of the book. But he is still intrigued by it all, as he demonstrates through his relationship with Jordan Baker. He holds an almost subconscious

The author’s diction intensifies Tom’s aggressive and arrogant persona through Nick’s hostile narration and Tom’s egotistical attitude. Nick describes Tom’s manner as “supercilious” and his body as “cruel”. Nick’s word choice indicates that although Nick has yet to have a conversation with Tom, Nick sees Tom as assertive and insensitive. Not only does Tom appear arrogant to Nick, but Tom also talks with a “gruff husky tenor” and a “harsh, defiant wistfulness.” Nick’s description of Tom’s voice further stresses Tom’s intimidating personality and his arrogant manner. Not only does Fitzgerald’s word choice show Nick’s impression of Tom,

Before one can learn, one must be confused. It’s no surprise that a coming of age character starts out naïve and inexperienced. When Nick first introduces himself, he appears very innocent. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice,” he says. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1). Nick naively claims that he is a man