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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.
An example of this is when Nick is talking to tom about his accomplice in adultery and Nick says “Doesn’t her(Myrtle Wilson) husband object?” and Tom replies with “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive” (Gatsby 26). This indicates that Tom is very cocky and ignorant. Tom’s immoral acts in the novel stem from his overconfidence and ignorance due to his wealth and power. This is further proved by the fact that when his first and only child was born, he left Daisy without any support only one hour after the birth of their daughter.
This is shown in the novel when Daisy says “Well she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where” (Gatsby 22). For most, the birth of a child would be a joyous occasion and a reason for celebration but as for Tom’s case, he had no love for Daisy at that time. If he had love for her, he would not commit a sin and perpetrate adultery with Myrtle Wilson. A man with strong morals would never commit the sin of betraying their spouse and then cause the other person to do the same in the process. Moreover, he uses his accomplice in the adultery as an object and has no care or consideration for her whatsoever.
An example of this is an altercation between Myrtle and Tom : “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” shouted Mrs. Wilson. “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy!
Tom has a high social status which displays irresponsibility and carelessness in The Great Gatsby. Nick says, “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” (191). As Nick explains, Tom Buchanan lives a careless lifestyle which shows through the way he destroys Gatsby’s life. Like Jordan and Daisy, Tom only cares about his own well-being. Tom says, “‘I told him the truth,’ he said. [. . .] He was crazy enough to kill me if I hadn’t told him who owned the car. His hand was on a revolver in his pocket every minute’” (190-191). Readers can probably suggest that Tom does not tell the truth because it’s the right thing to do; he tells Mr. Wilson the truth to save himself from getting hurt. Tom’s actions also lead to him destroying Gatsby’s life. Like most of the characters in The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan reckless lifestyle implies that he is a reckless driver as
A selfish person does the most harm to others by caring only for themself. Being selfish means not considering others in each situation, or being self-centered. Tom repeatedly shows just how selfish he is by what he says and does. His actions prove that he does not care about how situations affect others, only himself. It is important to recognize when you are selfish to others. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom is the most selfish character,
It ended with an even more disgusting event: Tom broke Myrtle’s nose because she dared to mention his wife’s name many times. Tom lets himself be brutal and free from conventionalities of the upper class; thus, he behaves also more naturally, but he does not want to lose Daisy and all that she represents.
Daisy is aware that Tom is cheating on her when the phone rings and he answers because she mentions to Nick she hopes her daughter grows up to be a “beautiful little fool” (21) because ignorance is bliss. In The Great Gatsby, kids are not a significant part of the story; just like in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Dolls House”, they are simply just shown off and played with by the parents and later sent away to be taken care of while the adults do their normal activities. While Tom cheats on her with Myrtle Wilson, she does the same to him with Gatsby. When Gatsby was at the Buchanan house for drinks, as Tom left the room, Daisy grabs Gatsby and starts kissing him, proclaiming “I don't care!” (122).
Daisy pretends everything in her life and her relationship with Tom is perfect when they are together. Similarly, Myrtle pretends that she is a higher class while she is around Tom. They both like to lead different lives, the only difference is Myrtle is somewhat happy with Tom while Daisy wishes to be with Gatsby.
speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed” (7). In Nick’s description of Tom it is evident that Tom uses his voice to impose his power on others. The combination of a sturdy body, gruff voice, and prestigious accomplishments means Tom could use his intimidation to gain more power throughout the story. Tom’s wife, Daisy, confirms his use of this power after he injures her when she says, “That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great big, hulking physical specimen…” (12). Nick is under Tom’s influence as well when Tom “stopped and rested his hand on my shoulder” (10). This is a simple yet powerful act of dominance over Nick displayed by Tom. Another aspect of Tom’s power is his control
For example, “...Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York...for Mrs.Wilson sat discreetly in another car” (26). Even though Tom is close to Myrtle, he knows how detrimental it would be to his reputation if one of his rich friends saw him with Mrytle, so he makes her sit in another car. Likewise, Tom realizes the recklessness in his choices he is doing because it is both bad for himself, if someone in the “secret” society finds out he has a mistress. Also, it is bad for Daisy because she is getting cheated on without even knowing. Along with Gatsby and Tom, Daisy also commits reckless behavior when she does not go to Gatsby’s funeral. All his life, Gatsby acquired wealth and a huge mansion on the Long Island Sound right across from Daisy’s house, just to impress Daisy. He even hosted extravagant parties to attract Daisy to his house. After Daisy decides she does not want to go to Gatsby 's funeral, Nick Carraway concludes, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast
Throughout the novel, one of Tom 's biggest careless acts was when he cheated on Daisy. Tom is a cocky, confident man shown many times throughout the novel like when Nick arrived at his house and "Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch" (Fitzgerald 6). His stance showed his arrogance, and how highly he thought of himself because of his wealth. Tom was a man who often acted without thinking things through, like having an affair with Myrtle. Despite both Tom and Myrtle being married, they both had affairs. Tom doesn 't hide his affair from Nick and introduces him to his mistress Myrtle at Wilson 's garage. Tom doesn 't seem to care if anyone finds out because he feels as though nothing would change due to his wealth. While at Myrtle 's husbands garage, Tom tells Myrtle to meet him at the train station. They end up going to their apartment in New York City that they keep for their affair. While at the Morningside Height 's apartment Myrtle starts to talk about Tom 's wife Daisy, ""Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I 'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-"" (Fitzgerald 37). Tom didn 't like Myrtle overstepping her boundaries and to show
Daisy also exhibits her shallowness when she is too restless to wait for her 'love', Gatsby, to return from he war, and she marries Tom. Her most drastic immoral action is committed when she runs over Myrtle and does not even bother to stop and help a person that is 'below' her. Daisy's husband, Tom shows his ridiculous morality in different ways. One way is his search for power, which is shown most through his affair with Myrtle and his possessiveness. He evidently feels further domination and masculinity when he has her, a woman of lower class, as his mistress. Secondly, Tom Buchanan is shallow enough to think that everything and everyone he has in his life are part of his property. This increases his 'power' and makes him feel as if he is truly successful. This couple, Tom and Daisy certainly contain serious corruptness due to their shallowness and self-indulgence.
Tom wanted the "possession" of Myrtle, Myrtle wanted Tom's "luxuries and wealth," and Daisy wanted Gatsby simply for his wealth. Both Tom and Daisy know each other's affairs, but neither one truly cares. As the story progresses, it seems as though each of them is trying to make the other jealous. Honesty and Love, two words known only by the faithful, George Wilson. George certainly had his flaws, but he loved his wife dearly and couldn't live without her. "He was his wife's man and not his own." When he became aware of Tom and Myrtle's affair, he was "really sick, pale as his own pale hair and shaking all over." He locked her up in fear that she would run away with Tom forever.
The act of betrayal is first seen when Tom Buchanan cheats on his wife, Daisy Buchanan with Myrtle, who also happens to be George Wilson’s wife. Tom’s actions are inexcusable as betrayal in a marriage is an extremely depraved course of action. Due to this betrayal, Daisy loses hope in their society. After realizing that the world is a very dangerous and bad place, she hopes that her daughter won’t see the world like her mother does. She desires her daughter to be naive and foolish so she can’t see the cruelty that lies within this society.
He thinks money can buy everything in the world, and that does not happen to be the case. He shows the hate he has towards Gatsby and calls him a nobody because he has “fake” wealth, "Self-control!" Repeated Tom incredulously. "I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that 's the idea you can count me out […] 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 130). Tom basically says Gatsby is a no one and has not done anything to get his money. He also says Gatsby does not have enough money to “buy” off Daisy and shows an example of money buying happiness. Tom also uses his money to make him happy rather than Daisy, with Myrtle but Wilson, also there and Tom hates poor people like Wilson. He makes Tom mad which does not equate to happiness of Tom and therefore coming to the conclusion of money cannot indeed buy
During the confrontation between Gatsby and Tom Buchanan about Daisy, she is talked about like she is a possession to be won over. During the argument Nick “glances at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband” (Fitzgerald, page 143). Gatsby and Buchanan tell Daisy what to say instead of allowing her to tell her own truths, and if she does start to speak up for herself she is quickly quieted down. Daisy states at the beginning of the novel while talking about finding out the sex of her child that, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald, page 16). Daisy is the only female character in the novel who understands that no matter what a woman accomplishes, she will always be downcasted based on her gender. This outlook is what allows her to be controlled by Gatsby and Buchanan, because she doesn’t believe that anything she can do will make her more of a human to them. Myrtle on the other hand, while still a married woman, isn’t able to see her powerlessness. She feels powerful enough to stand up to Tom and chant Daisy’s name over and over again until he breaks her nose (Fitzgerald, page 37). This scene demonstrates the way that men handled women if they ever did feel confident enough to speak for themselves. One final scene from the novel that really
“"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
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...