Theme Of Tom In The Great Gatsby

Camber Allen

Mrs.Wright

7th Hour

19 March 2018

Terrible Tom

Sometimes in life, people stumble upon others who are careless and destroy peoples lives even though it may be unintentional. Some people are just toxic, they destroy lives one by one. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes it’s just the effect they have on people. This occured in the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which took place around the 1920’s, a time where women didn’t have as many rights and freedoms and men were not so great to them or to most people for that matter. Tom and Daisy are prime examples of this throughout the whole novel, many other characters are unsure as to why they are even married. They disagree throughout the majority of the story, they

He is extremely noncommittal and cheats on Daisy several times through the course of their marriage. “Miss Baker and I exchanged a short glance consciously devoid of meaning. I was about to speak when she sat up alertly and said “Sh!” in a warning voice. A subdued impassioned murmur was audible in the room beyond, and Miss Baker leaned forward unashamed, trying to hear. The murmur trembled on the verge of coherence, sank down, mounted excitedly, and then ceased altogether…. “Tom’s got some woman in New York.” “Got some woman?” I repeated blankly. Miss Baker nodded. “She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Don’t you think?” Almost before I had grasped her meaning there was the flutter of a dress and the crunch of leather boots, and Tom and Daisy were back at the table.” (Fitzgerald 19). This quote from the novel shows readers that Tom is clearly a cheater and Daisy has definitely got a clue that it is happening. Tom has his own apartment that he pays for in New York just so he can see his mistress, who just so happens to call him in the middle of dinner with his wife. This proves that he doesn’t care all that much because he knows Daisy won't leave him. Daisy only wanting him for his money makes him feel the need to have more because she couldn’t ever give him the fulfillment he needs. “I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back, and I thought I’d never seen a girl so

During the 1920’s all people wanted was fortune and a high reputation. Just like in Daisys case, she wanted the money and privileges that come along with being Tom although she is unhappy with her marriage. “You did it, Tom,” she said accusingly. “I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a ——” (Fitzgerald 16). When Daisy says this it shows the readers that she is truly unhappy and doesn’t like being with someone like Tom. This also has an underlying meaning, Just like Tom never meant to physically hurt her he didn't mean to emotionally hurt her either. Many people used others just to get what they wanted. Daisy used Tom for this, even when she didn’t want to be with him, and the consequences such as pain were not necessarily worth the reward of money. “It passed, and he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made. But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, despairingly, toward that lost voice across the room. The voice begged again to go. “please, Tom! I can’t stand this any more.” Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever