Corruption, unfortunately, has become a staple of today’s society. One might question if people are either born corrupt, or bred though the environment. This is a true question when it comes down to Tom Buchanan. In order to understand corruption, we must realize that corruption can stem from cheating, taking bribes, or accepting favors for future favors. In the case of Tom Buchanan we can look at the fact that he was born into a life of luxuries, and easy commodities. Tom can be thought to have been corrupt. In the beginning of the story we see Tom take Nick to see the girl Tom is having affair with and regard that Nick is daisy’s cousin. Tom takes it as something harmless that won’t affect him or anyone around him. “ ‘We’re getting off!’ He insisted. ‘I want you to meet my girl. ‘ ” (Fitzgerald Pg:28) During the outbreak with Tom and Gatsby, Tom argued that he loves Daisy and even though he makes a fool of himself. “And what’s more, I love Daisy too.Once in awhile I go off 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 Pg:140). Having an affair is one way is that Tom is seen to be corrupt in the story. …show more content…
“Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” (Fitzgerald Pg:41) Tom even though he is protecting his wife name, he did it in a violent way that could have been solved a different way. Tom is an aggressive man, not only to people he doesn't care much about, but also to his wife. “ the Knuckle was black and blue. ‘You did it, Tom,’ “ (Fitzgerald Pg:15). Violence can be seen as way of corruption, especially if it’s a man hitting a woman, and Tom can be seen to be a little violent throughout the
The relationship of Tom and Daisy was very unhealthy right from the beginning. Even on the wedding day, Daisy was having thoughts of calling it off and Tom started cheating right after their honeymoon. In one quote the stories shows the reader “The girl who was with him got into the papers too because her arm was broken-she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel”- (Fitzgerald 82). This quote shows that even a week after their honeymoon, Tom was
Tom cheats openly on his wife, Daisy, and he even flaunts his girlfriend in front of Daisy’s cousin, Nick. This is common knowledge; in the beginning of the book, Jordan Baker tells Nick, “‘I thought everybody knew… Why-’ she said
In this scene, Nick narrates, “The telephone rang inside, startlingly, and as Daisy shook her head decisively at Tom the subject of the stables, in fact all subjects, vanished into air” (20). Tom understood that Daisy would not leave his side as long as he had money and consequently, he remained unfaithful and lived carelessly. In the quote, Daisy realizes that Tom is having an affair with someone else, but submits to Tom’s demands anyway. This defines the basis of their relationship and is supported by their actions later in the novel, all caused by the carelessness that brewed within Daisy and Tom due to their overwhelming amounts of wealth. One action that would demonstrate this kind of carelessness would be how Tom and Daisy decide to flee from the city after the incident where Myrtle is run over by Daisy. To emphasize how flawed the couple truly were, Nick states, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made...” (187-188). This quote is the embodiment of the characteristics of
What about your little affairs? How many times have you gone on one of your sprees? I saw Tom as a hypocrite. Even though he was off having a shameless affair with Myrtle, he still condemns Daisy for having an affair with Gatsby. Daisy turned from Tom and began to sob, “did it ever come to your mind Tom that I need a little some love too?”
In addition to Gatsby’s dishonesty with others, he is dishonest with himself. Gatsby has fabricated a dream—a fictional reality—in his mind. He wants Nick’s cousin, Daisy, whom he met five years prior to the story’s beginning, to marry him. However, this marriage could never happen, because Daisy is already married to an East Egg man named Tom, with whom she has a child. Despite the odds, Gatsby continues to push Daisy towards breaking it off with Tom.
Tom Buchanan is arguably the character who possesses the most corrupt set of morals. His actions can be described as “some of the most immoral and senseless actions in the entire novel” (“Ranking…). He cheats on Daisy “simply because he can” (“Ranking…”). This shows that he has no care or regard for anyone but himself. He is going to do what he wants no matter how it affects other people. It is this mindset that causes the deaths of Myrtle, Gatsby, and Mr. Wilson. He knows this, but “he runs away from the entire situation… as if he was never part of it in the first place” (“Ranking…”). He and Daisy mess things up and leave. They go back to their normal, careless life of wealth and leave someone else to fix their mess (Fitzgerald 187-188). Together Tom and Daisy are absolutely incorrigible people with no regard for others.
Tom and George both show their treachery towards women on multiple occasions. Tom’s first physical violent act is towards Myrtle when she constantly says, “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! I’ll say it whenever I want to!” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke
Tom Buchanan is repeatedly depicted by words referring to his hulking and massive frame, producing a vivid image of sheer arrogance and power. Before Tom is even introduced, his expansive house is seen, an ostentatious mansion fit for a postcard. Tom later remarks matter-of-factly “I’ve got a nice place here'; (12). Nick’s first actual encounter with Tom is a paragraph saturated with words of strength and authority: sturdy, supercilious, enormous, and aggressive, to name a few. Tom’s physical body is described as “cruel'; and this describes more than just his body, but his demeanor as well. His voice, “…a gruff husky tenor…'; (11), added to his rough image. Every one of his actions is completed with unnecessary force. Tom has the tendency to manhandle Nick, manipulating nearly all of his movements. “…wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square. (16)'; The action verbs Fitzgerald employs convey Tom’s brutish force. Charles Scribner III could not have been more correct when he said, “I would know Tom Buchanan if I met him on the street and would avoid him…'; (199).
Tom Buchanan is described as having a strong and repugnant presence. He was a star athlete at Yale and is restless after his glory days of playing there, “…had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven-a national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterwards savours of anti-climax” (page 10). He is arrogant and seems to believe that he can have anything that he wants. Even though he has a wife and child, he has no problem with having a mistress on the side and does not care that others, including his wife, know about it. In addition, Tom is very self-absorbed and cares only about himself and his own desires. Tom was what Daisy’s family considered to be suitable for their daughter. That, along with his money, is mainly why she married him.
Another example showing the disrespect for women is the fact that Tom is cheating on Daisy quite openly. She knows that he is having an affair, but there is nothing that she can do about it. Fitzgerald comments on this power and disrespect that men had for women because he disagrees with it himself. He believes that men should not do these terrible things. Tom never once expresses his guilt for his actions, and never considers Daisy's feelings. His life is full of selfish actions which lead him nowhere.
When Nick visits Daisy she tells him the story of how her daughter was born, “It’ll show you how I’ve gotten to feel about––things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling.” By leaving Daisy behind at a time when she most needs him, Tom loses his value of companionship with Daisy. He no longer fits the three criteria that Daisy feels she needs in a man. Daisy knows that Tom no longer loves her and is having an affair with another woman, but despite all of this, Daisy has no intention of leaving him (20). This is because Tom, despite no longer fulfilling her emotionally, is still better for her financially and socially than if she left him to live alone. If Daisy wants to stay in her class, she has no option other than to stay with Tom. When Daisy finally sees Gatsby again, she suddenly has another option besides staying with Tom. Daisy knows that Gatsby has true feelings of love towards her, but leaving Tom would prove to be risky as it could tarnish her reputation and by extension her social stability. Daisy is now struggling between taking a risk for love and maintaining a safe, stable life she is ultimately unhappy
“"I found out what your drug-stores were." [Tom] turned to us and spoke rapidly. "[Gatsby] and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong"” (Fitzgerald 133). This proves how Tom is quick to pass judgment and how Tom thinks he is the only perfect person. Tom can drink alcohol during the prohibition, but it is wrong for Gatsby to produce liquor. It is obvious to infer that Tom has to put people down to feel good about himself. “"You're crazy!" [Tom] exploded. "I can't speak about what happened five years ago, because I didn't know Daisy then—and I'll be damned if I see how you got within a mile of her unless you brought the groceries to the back door. But all the rest of that's a God damned lie. Daisy loved me when she married me and she loves me now"” (Fitzgerald 131). Tom sees Daisy’s love as a possession; Tom sees marriage as a system of ownership, and he wants to be the only who can Daisy. Tom will let Daisy ride around with Gatsby, but not much else. In “The Great Gatsby”, Tom has shown his true personality, narcissistic, through these
Tom Buchanan’s moral character can be quesitoned due to his dispicable and patheic nature when it comes to his actions throughout the novel. Even though he was born into a wealthy family and thus inherited the wealth he has in the novel, no signs of moral teachings by his family were evident. The actions he took in the book were due to him being a conceited and ignorant man. His ignorance was a result of the easy access he had to power and wealth. He feels that because he has wealth and power in society, he is given the acquiescence to be as arrogant and immoral as he so chooses and society cannot do anything about it. Because of this he looks down upon people that he feels are lower in the social and financial ladder.
Nick is astonished at this information. He finds it hard to believe that Tom, with a beautiful wife and child, would be having an affair with some woman in the city. Miss Baker thinks “everybody knew” about the affair, yet Daisy is still with Tom. Being too ignorant to make herself believe it’s true, Daisy is willing to stay in the marriage, even when she is presented with an opportunity from Gatsby to escape. Daisy is willing to stay with Tom just because he has “old money,” and that shows how important it is to her. Everyone else’s morals are just as bad as Tom’s because they know about what’s going on and know that it’s wrong, but they don’t say anything about it. Later in the story, when Wilson is looking for the driver of the yellow car that killed Myrtle, he also suspects that person of having an affair with...
we are able to view the corruption through the eyes of Fitzgerald's character, Nick Carraway. The story begins as Nick moves to a small house in Manhattan, New York. It is here where he reunites with his second cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom. As the story unfolds, readers realize how the small island of Manhattan is used as a microcosm to represent the immoral behavior taking place throughout the United States. All of the characters represent the immoral behavior of this time period, yet there is one who is unique in comparison 一ㅡ Mr.