Tom Buchanan Ex Predator In The Great Gatsby

Navya Tyagali
Whitt
American Literature Honors 7
21 September 2022
Tom Buchanan: Does Deceit and Duplicity Make Him the Apex Predator? “The Great Gatsby reads like a warning. For as much as it is a story about the American dream, it is also a story about power under threat, and of how that power, lashing out, can render truth irrelevant” (Smith). In her article “How The Great Gatsby Explains Trump,” Rosa Smith illustrates how within Gatsby, the act of “lashing out” due to a surfeit of power is carried through by Tom Buchanan, the double-dealing antagonist of the novel. Tom demonstrates how power trumps all, and how when one possesses power, they have the capability to write their own truth. Smith contends that when power is valued above any

Rosa Smith elaborates that “Tom… turns Wilson’s need for vengeance to his advantage—just as Trump, with his anti-immigrant rhetoric, played to the previously unspeakable fears of those who felt their country had been taken from them.” Throughout The Great Gatsby, Tom feeds off of George Wilson’s loyalty to him — and hangs the prospect of new business in front of Wilson like a carrot to a horse. To trick Wilson into trusting him, Tom continuously promises Wilson a car to sell, using manipulative tactics whenever Wilson’s faith wavers. When Wilson begins questioning Tom, he contends that “if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell… [the car] somewhere else after all” (Fitzgerald 24). Tom’s necessity for Wilson’s trust stems from his affair with Wilson’s wife — so naturally, Tom makes prodigious promises to keep Wilson from being wary of his calculating intentions. Wilson is blinded with the belief that Tom is a friend, someone he can truly trust, and it’s this blind faith that ultimately leads Wilson to his demise. Trump adopts these exact tendencies with his “Muslim ban” and anti-immigration policies. He convinced his supporters that the policies will truly benefit their own lives — which is distinctly untrue. The anti-immigration laws do not actually benefit our economy, as immigration increases

As individuals get caught up in the chase, moral and ethical integrity take a backseat — as demonstrated through Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. By virtue of his Machiavellian outlook of the world, Buchanan’s persona is even now reflected in American culture. His nature is still buried deep within modern affairs — specifically in American politics with former President Trump. The pair share an exorbitant amount of respect for socioeconomic status, and care not about who they hurt to maintain this power. In this world of demagoguery that Buchanan and Trump have so meticulously designed, no relationship is tantamount to the taste of power. This is the augury that Fitzgerald conveys through Gatsby: the consequences of holding pure power to such a high regard — consequences that were relevant at the height of jazz age — and are just as relevant today. As displayed in Tom, the constant desire to remain the apex predator forces individuals into a ruthless, unilateral way of thinking — a mindset where one only sees the material and transactional use of others, where moral integrity falls short to personal satisfaction. To quote Nick Carraway: “They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness... and let other people clean up the mess they had