“The Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket” by Jack Finney illustrates what is really important in life and how certain life experiences can open our eyes. This story uses a third person point of view and uses strong figurative language to grab the reader’s attention. The effect of this story changes how the reader may look at life and that one day you will no longer walk on this Earth. People should take a better look at what is more important and live life in the moment while they still can. While there are many places this story could have taken place, it occurred in one of the biggest cities. The author chose to have it take place in New York City at Lexington Avenue in the 1950s in the living room and on the ledge of the eleventh floor. According …show more content…
Tom says to his wife, Clare, “You won’t mind though, will you, when the money comes rolling in and I’m known as the Boy Wizard of Wholesale Groceries?” (Finney 2). He was more focused on being successful in life and thought that was the way to make his wife happy. However, his wife just wanted to spend time with him at the movies, but she had to go alone because of his work addiction. Tom Benecke’s wife, Clare, is not talked about much in this short story, but she is an important character that should be looked at more closely. The author described her as, “A slender, very pretty girl with light brown, almost blonde hair - her prettiness emphasized by the pleasant nature that showed on her face” (Finney 2). Clare is a very nice and elegant lady who is very patient and understanding. For example, she says to Tom, “It’s just that I hate you to miss this movie; you wanted to see it too” (Finney 2). This shows that Clare doesn’t get mad at her husband, even though she thinks he works too much. She tries to reason with him, but doesn’t get mad at him. Tom has a very good wife, but he chooses to stay in to work instead of spending time with his
When he told her, she wasn’t content that he turned it down because they could’ve had money. So the following day she went out to the forest to go look for the devil. He waited to full day to go look for her because she took the pots and pans with her when she went to go meet up with the devil. He didn’t want to find her because he missed her. He wanted to find her because she had the pots that he could sell and make money off of. When he was walking in the forest on the look for her, he saw that her check apron was hanging on the branch of the tree. “Let us get hold of the property and we will endeavor to do without the woman”( Irving 158). When he took the apron off of the branch, he saw that nothing was in it but his wife’s heart and liver tied up in it. The point of this section is that Tom’s wife meant nothing to him because instead of being worried about her,
One reason Tom is unadmirable is because of the way he treats his wife Daisy. He is unfaithful and he is also hypocritical. As Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle, Daisy has an affair with Jay Gatsby. When this affair is revealed to Tom, he becomes outraged despite that fact that he
George, on the other hand, is not wealthy. He is a working class guy, that doesn’t have the financial resources that Tom has. George’s wife, Myrtle, wants more money and a higher social standing. She belittles George because of this and ends up in an affair with Tom, hoping he is the way to getting what she wants.
Most of the time love is our encouragement when we are in trouble, sometimes love can drag us to things we don’t want to happen in our lives. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack.” ( p.1) The letters from Martha signed, “Love Martha” even though the letters were not love letters, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross understands that he doesn’t receive the type of love he hopes from Martha. He carries photographs of Martha and the memories he had with Martha when they went to the movies and how he touched her knee. When Lavender was shot, Lieutenant Cross
Daisy has been brought up being a pretty object. She was an object to Tom; however, he did truly love her. When Tom’s mistress, Myrtle, called out Daisy’s name, Tom became outraged and hit her. He felt it was permissible to have a mistress, yet he still honored Daisy by not allowing Myrtle to talk about her.
How does one make the decision between work and family? Although this question may be easy to answer for some, others find it rather difficult. One person being Tom Benecke, a hardworking man who often neglects to spend time with his wife. In The Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets the author Jack Finney writes about Tom and the change he makes after a near death experience. This short story starts with Tom working at his desk and his wife about to go see a movie, as Tom is letting his wife out the breeze from the door closing makes his paper with all of his work on it fly out of the window. Tom then makes the courageous decision to go get the paper and while on the ledge outside his apartment, he makes a realization of what his work has led to him doing, and how it has affected his relationship with his wife. Tom Benecke is a work obsessed man who spends minimal time with his wife, but while experiencing a life or death event he realizes how much more important his wife is than his job.
Not only does Tom treat women poorly, he treats anyone that is not upper class below par. Since Tom is immensely wealthy, and because he comes from “old” money, he believes that he is superior. Tom hides behind the dollar signs that are associated with his name and, uses them as a license to treat others harshly. This is evident in how he treats George Wilson, his mistress’s husband, and how he treats his wife 's admirer, Jay Gatsby. Wilson 's characteristics do not matter to Tom. It does not matter if George Wilson is kind, handsome, or humble. In Tom 's eyes, Myrtles husband is "so dumb he doesn 't know he 's alive" (26). It is not wicked enough that Tom "fools around" with George Wilson 's wife, he also has the nerve to belittle the man just because they do not share the same privileges in life. The way Tom treats George Wilson is much similar to the way he treats Jay Gatsby. From the beginning, Tom looks down on Gatsby and suspects that Gatsby 's wealth comes from illegal origins. In Tom’s eyes, it does not matter if Gatsby is wealthy, due to the fact that the “old” rich and the “new” are on different levels of social class and grace. Thus, when Tom finds out about the connection his wife and Gatsby share, his attitude about Gatsby sours. Hence, Gatsby becomes the ideal scapegoat when someone is needed to blame for Myrtle 's
Tom realizes her desperate situation and takes total advantage of her. The clearest example of this is when Myrtle shouts Daisy’s name and Tom warns her not to say it again but Myrtle says Daisy's name anyway. Tom Buchanan in a “A short deft movement..., breaks her nose with his open hand.” Tom views her as not even being allowed to lick the dirt of his shoe. She is just another one of Tom’s possessions. Myrtle isn’t even allowed to say Daisy's name. He knows that she's in desperate situation. Tom is all she has and he knows this, he could do whatever he wants. He realizes that without her she will have to go back to George’s measly garage and she doesn't want that. Therefore Tom takes control of her desperation. Additionally, at the party, Catherine tells Nick that neither of them can stand the person they’re married to. They don't divorce and marry one another because Daisy is a Catholic. Nick knows that Tom is lying indicating to the reader, yet again, that Tom uses Myrtle for his own pleasure. She is nothing to him and he could do this because of Myrtle’s desperation. Another example in the novel is Mr. McKee asks Tom for a reference to be able to work in West Egg and Tom replies “Ask Myrtle,” said Tom, breaking into a short shout of laughter as Mrs. Wilson entered with a tray. “She’ll give you a letter of introduction, won’t you Myrtle?” She answers in confusion “Do what?” Tom is mocking her in front of
Daisy, the wife of Tom Buchanan, has no goals in life; no discipline, nor any morals. She can't even think for herself because she has never had to before. She talks to Nick as if he is part of a group which is secluded from the lives of the East Eggers and in some aspect he is " 'All right,' said Daisy. 'What'll we plan?' She turned to me helplessly. 'What do people plan?'," (153). Daisy lacks competence. Daisy has nothing to do or care about each day. She has no idea of how to plan something because she hasn't had to do anything that requires thinking since the day that she thought money would solve her problems. She can go through life without having to think about anything that would probably require an elementary education. In the scene where Daisy runs over Myrtle, she doesn't care what has happened, she just cares about herself. "For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes," (158). This quote shows that Daisy is living in a dream world where she doesn't have to obey any laws. Her snobby personality gets her in trouble. Killing Myrtle has no affect on her. She just keeps living her boring carefree life with no regard for other people.
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.
Tom still feels the need to protect his wife, even though he chooses Myrtle over Daisy. Tom seems to care for both women, but does not show commitment to either woman. The main characters aren't just what the theme against commitment is connected to. The author, Fitzgerald, illustrates it as a common behavior for many married couples in the 1920s, which is when the book is set.... ...
Daisy’s character can also be identified by the way she speaks of her daughter, Pammy, “I hope she'll be a fool, that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This implies that woman don’t have power in the world compare to a man. Daisy thinks it’s best to have beauty rather than brains. Daisy treats her daughter as an object, showing her off to guests at her house, which suggests her lack of concern for her child and how careless she is. Daisy’s relation with Tom is unstable at sometimes. Daisy and Tom both came fr...
The both of them had a strictly sexual relationship that nobody knew about. Tom and Myrtle were basically having an affair inside their marriage. In addition to that Myrtle felt the need to disrespect Daisy when the time came, because she wanted to feel like the wife number 1 when she was really side chick number 1. "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" (p. 120). In spite of the fact that Tom married Daisy, Myrtle felt jealousy and thought that she should have Tom to herself. She was mad that she didn’t marry Tom. Daisy was the lucky one. Myrtle sees the affair with Tom as a way of forgetting her marriage with George and basically a ticket to possible true love. Tom is spoiling Myrtle with all these gifts of animals and gifts that she couldn’t afford. "I think it's cute," said Mrs. Wilson enthusiastically. "How much is it?""That dog?" He looked at it admiringly. "That dog will cost you ten dollars." At this point, Tom doesn’t really want to give her the dog, because does she deserve it? "Is it a boy or a girl?" she asked delicately. "That dog? That dog's a boy." "It's a bitch," said Tom decisively. "Here's your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it." Tom is starting to have a different type of tone with Myrtle and it has her thinking. For the reason that Tom is spoiling her with all these gifts, Myrtle thinks that Tom wants to do more than have an affair. Tom honestly just loves
The notion that a man's success can be measured by his possessions becomes evident through the actions of Tom, Gatsby and Wilson. These characters strive to obtain more than just material possessions. For example, Tom seems to view the women in his life as mere possessions, a sign of his success and wealth. His attitude and interactions with Daisy, his wife, and Myrtle, his mistress, demonstrate this. Through out the story, Tom does not show respect or genuine caring for either woman. Rather, he commits open adultery with Myrtle. Tom makes this affair public because it is just another way of showing-off, another of his possessions and thus boosting his ego. Tom does this without regard for the shame his affairs may bring onto his wife.
Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s rich, uptight, rude husband. He is a racist bigot and thinks the world revolves around him. Tom makes himself out to be a powerful man through