What Does Tom Buchanan Represent In The Great Gatsby

Tom Buchanan is an important character throughout the course of The Great Gatsby, and is used as a symbol of the emotional and moral decline of the era. Tom forms part of the social critique of the upper classes, and reflects the lack of values in the ideal appearance of the wealthy. Tom is married to Daisy, they are a couple living in “East Egg”. They are described as people that without any further point: “here and there unrest fully wherever people played polo and were rich together” (Fälth). In The Great Gatsby, “West Egg” represents the newly rich, while “East Egg” and its people, especially Daisy and Tom, represent poise, taste and those who have inherited their wealth. Tom is exceptionally unpredictable, and sometimes bored with his

With his pedigree, education, upbringing and wealth, he represents the upper class. In The Great Gatsby he is described as “A sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face, and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward … you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body” (Fitzgerald 7). But what made Tom Buchanan so arrogant and cruel? His old money? Tom’s Chicago family is “enormously wealthy.” In fact, his wealth was what attracted Daisy, his wife. And he unwaveringly argues his racial superiority at the beginning of the book. But his heredity and power with his money does not convert into anything worthwhile. He is unkind and ungenerous, and never shares his undeserved fortune. In fact, he does just the opposite. He denies the poor George Wilson one of his extra cars, despite his pleas. In correspondence, the Buchanan's never see their families, and even in the heart of their own family, Tom and Daisy’s marriage is crumbling. It seems one thing is true: money can’t buy

He meets a woman named Myrtle—Myrtle Wilson that is, George Wilson's wife, on the train. Myrtle was traveling to New York to see her sister, but could not keep her eyes off Mr. Buchanan. Tom sensing her admiration decided to invest in her, looking her up and down. After getting off the train he led her into a taxi with him (Fitzgerald 36). So Tom, stares her down on a train and practically forces her into a cab. I'm not sure if he even says hello or tells her his name. But this absurd performance of masculinity, where money feeds, pushes Myrtle's buttons in the right ways. Tom clearly tells her his name at some point, but also a lot more; the reason he can't leave his wife for her is because Daisy is Catholic. And poor, foolish Myrtle believes