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Tom Buchanan Quotes

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Tom Buchanan, the antagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," is a complex and deeply flawed character whose actions and beliefs represent the worst aspects of the society in which he lives. Throughout the novel, Tom is portrayed as arrogant, racist, and misogynistic, with little regard for the feelings of others. This character analysis will explore Tom's personality, motivations, and actions, using quotes from the novel to illustrate his character. Tom's personality is characterized by his sense of entitlement and his belief in his own superiority. He is described as having "a cruel body" and "arrogant eyes" (Fitzgerald 7), and his behavior towards others is often condescending and dismissive. Tom is also deeply racist, making derogatory comments about people of color and expressing his belief in the superiority of the white race. He tells Nick, "if we don't look out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged" (Fitzgerald 17). Tom's arrogance and racism are central to his character, as he represents the worst aspects of the privileged elite. …show more content…

He is deeply invested in maintaining the social hierarchy of the society in which he lives, believing that his wealth and status entitle him to certain privileges. Tom is also possessive and jealous, particularly when it comes to his wife, Daisy. He becomes threatened by Gatsby's attempts to win Daisy's love, and his jealousy ultimately leads to tragedy. Tom's motivations are ultimately revealed to be selfish and self-serving, as he seeks to maintain his own power and control at the expense of

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257 Words | 2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," the character of Tom Buchanan is constructed as a symbol of traditional masculinity, embodying the ideas of physical strength, dominant posture, and aggressive manner of speaking associated with the traditional gender roles for men. Throughout the text, Tom is described as a physically strong and powerful man. He is introduced as a "sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty" with a "rather hard mouth" and "supercilious manner. " His body is described as "capable of enormous leverage," with "a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat.

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647 Words | 3 Pages

Tom also was angry at Gatsby for having an affair with Daisy, His wife. Tom Buchanan was an arrogant, wealthy, manipulative, and abusive person. Tom exhibited these characteristics throughout the book, which resulted to Jay Gatsby's death. Tom was the one who discovered Gatsby's past as a bootlegger, which led to daisy knowing the source of his money and ultimately influenced her decision to leave Gatsby and return to Tom. This began a chain of events that led to Gatsby's death.

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1230 Words | 5 Pages

Tom Buchanan falls in the opposite direction with the Narcissist Archetype. He is a selfish bully, taking what he wants at the cost of others. These two archetypes clash spectacularly in the novel and highlight the difference between new and old money, Jay Gatsby with his new status and likable persona, and Tom Buchanan with his constant sexism, racism, and old view of thinking. It highlights the change in times between the newer and older generations during the 1920s. “Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart,” (Fitzgerald 20).

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1587 Words | 7 Pages

In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the majority of the characters are either dishonest, chasing hollow dreams, or plain ignorant. Fitzgerald flaunts the flaws of these characters regularly. Tom Buchanan is a constant example of dishonesty, due to his reoccurring affair with Myrtle Wilson. Although she does not believe it true, Daisy is one of the most ignorant characters.

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794 Words | 4 Pages

“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, exposes the American Society during the 1920’s. The author displays many heroes and villain throughout the book. The characters in the novel are mostly mixtures of good and evil. Although the book does not clearly delineate the villains or heroes, there is one character who tends to stand out as a villain known as Tom Buchanan. Tom Buchanan is a major character in the book.

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1357 Words | 6 Pages

Despite Tom’s wife being one of the most sought over women of the East Egg, he still disregards her feelings and has an affair that he doesn’t even bother to keep secret. Because he eulogizes himself that much. Tom refuses to acknowledge any faults he has throughout the book; including cheating on Daisy, breaking Myrtle’s nose, and assisting in the Death of Gatsby. His privilege is used as a shield from the violent nature of his character. Fitzgerald represented Tom as a motif for everything that is wrong with the class and status system; how privilege can get into your

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1173 Words | 5 Pages

The Fall of Jay Gatsby “Daisy’s husband, among various physical accomplishments, 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 afterward savors of anticlimax”(Fitzgerald 7). In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Buchanan is a wealthy man of East Egg. He had a wife named Daisy and a mistress named Myrtle. That was until his world fell apart when his wife hit his mistress while driving with her past love Gatsby. Tom was an arrogant man looking to protect his family image and to get revenge on the man who nearly ruined his life.

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825 Words | 4 Pages

Tom is a racist, sexist, man and Fitzgerald does not hide it. In the beginning of the novel when Nick is over at Tom and Daisy’s home Tom begins to speak to Nick of a book he is reading called ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ Tom believes that, “ Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be--will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proven.” ( Fitzgerald 13).

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451 Words | 2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, wrote Tom whose flaws are being a cheater and abusive person. Tom Buchanan’s abusive behavior towards his lovers in the book is something that should never be overlooked. One could overlook the cheating due to being blind in love and money, but abuse is crossing the line of morality. Even though everyone knew about his behavior, he never tried to change and continued to hurt them. It is not possible to overlook his physical abusive behavior even if he is a wealthy man.

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1020 Words | 5 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, there are many important characters, some alike and some different. Two characters who are both different and alike at the same time are Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. Fitzgerald gives the reader a lot of information about how Tom and George are very different from each other. One can interpret many different things that Fitzgerald may be trying to convey about the nature of men. Based on how he portrays Tom and George’s actions it helps to show the true nature of men.

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539 Words | 3 Pages

He acts as if he is a father and is entitled to tell others how they should act. Tom only thinks about himself and how his wealth allows him to feel superior to those around him. Gatsby is a mysterious man who is blindly in love with Daisy. The only thing he cares about is for Daisy to come to him. He spent the past 5 years making money to show that he worthy of her and that he can be a wealthy man as well.

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531 Words | 3 Pages

Although he didn’t wield the gun, Tom Buchanan is a murderer. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a main plot point is love and relationships. This includes marriages, secret affairs, dating, and old love. In a mix of jealousy and being self centered, Tom became too caught up in the love triangles, resulting in Jay Gatsby’s death. Tom was the person who told everyone what cars to take, both before and after going to town with the group, as well as causing an argument between Gatsby, Daisy, and himself.

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553 Words | 3 Pages

Tom was arrogant in his ways and put himself before others. Even though he claimed to be loyal to Daisy, he could not hide his mistress from everyone. Tom was a brute of a man and claimed to be part of a master race. His arrogance and neglection of Daisy and others end up getting him into trouble. Gatsby did everything out of love for Daisy and it was as if he had blinders on and could only see a future for himself with her in it.

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544 Words | 3 Pages

Tom claims he loves Daisy the whole book, but yet he cheats on her. Tom even has the nerve to get jealous when Daisy talks about Gatsby like he isn't doing something much worse. Tom also selfishly breaks apart Wilson and Myrtle, he puts on this nice guy act with Wilson while he’s slowly destroying his life. But Tom apparently still loves Daisy.

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1238 Words | 5 Pages

In “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Buchanan represents a man who is unfaithful, selfish, and arrogant. Throughout this essay, the character Tom Buchanan will be analyzed and will explain his purpose in this story as well as the many flaws he possesses which make him an unlikable person. Tom is considered to be the antagonist in this novel, but his main purpose in this story is to be the barrier between Daisy and Gatsby. Unbeknownst to Tom, Daisy eventually gets back with Gatsby but has a massive fit once he finds out they’re together.

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