Similarities Between George And Tom In The Great Gatsby

How can two people be so clearly different but similar at the same time? In the story The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this is shown between Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. Tom and George throughout the book are shown to be two very different characters on how they care for their wives and how they hold themselves. But in the story they are also shown how similarly easily they can both lose their temperaments and hurt people.
Throughout the first seven chapters of the book Tom and George show basically no similarities. Where Tom is a rich, selfish, and racist person that also cheats on their wife. And George seems to be more of a modest and hardworking individual who cares deeply for his wife. The first time we are introduced to Tom

He was a blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome. When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes.” (Fitzgerald 19). George is also shown to be a very caring and protective man for his wife and here is an example of that, “Then I saw Wilson standing on the raised threshold of his office, swaying back and forth and holding to the doorposts with both hands.” (Fitzgerald 104), “Oh, my Ga-od! Oh, my Ga-od! oh, Ga-od! oh, my Ga-od!” (Fitzgerald 105). This shows how much George cares for his wife and how lost he seems to be right after seeing his wife get killed by a car. In the text George seems to be a more likable character than Tom because he seems to very deeply care for his wife and he is a hardworking man. Compared to Tom who is more of a hateable character due to his actions in the

Throughout the whole book we are shown how easily Tom can lose his temper and here is an example of that, “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” (Fitzgerald 28). This quote depicts Tom breaking Myrtle Wilson’s nose, due to Myrtle saying Tom’s wife name multiple times in a mocking tone. But for George we are shown little from him but we do get to know near the end of the book that he also loses his temperament very easily and here is an example of that, “It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete.” (Fitzgerald 122). And this quote depicts George shooting Gatsby then comminting suicide due to believing that Gatsby ran over his wife. These quotes show the similarity between Tom and George and how easily they can both lose their