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Tom Buchanan Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

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“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively”, said by Bob Marley. That quote helps contrast my theme for The Great Gatsby. Few people with money ever acknowledge and care for what their personas may have done. As I explain this theme it’ll unravel all the secrets of the book and place them out for you to grab. We’ll start with a little bit of character analysis. Let’s start with Tom Buchanan. He fits this description of the decadence merely because of his attitude throughout the book. From beginning to end. This man, whom is somewhat wealthy, doesn’t care for other peoples’ opinions unless he values the person as a whole. When his mistress acts as a child would, repeating his current wife’s name, he smacks her. Then walks away, and shows no guilt, no remorse. This man had no care for what he’d just done, for a joke. Because he was wealthy, he didn’t care, he had enough to do what he wants. Skipping to the end of the book he shows the same characteristics. When Gatsby dies, Tom just …show more content…

One symbol is the green light. At the end of Tom and Daisy’s dock there is a green light. The green light can be seen from Gatsby’s backyard. Now to Gatsby, who lives across from them, this is his hope and dreams. He hosts these parties to see of Daisy come, to impress her. Even on the book cover, there the tear is green there as a symbol to recognize. But at the point in the book where Gatsby meets Daisy again for the first time in 5 years he shows her the light. And Nick explains on page 93, as Daisy hooks arms with Gatsby that “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.” This supports the theme well in this instance because Daisy who before has betrayed her own husband with Gatsby. She knows she‘s married, but she also knows that Gatsby is rich. Especially after the display of his

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