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What Does Tom Represent In The Great Gatsby

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In society it seems like all people care about is how much money they have and how many things they own. People don't seem to get that there is more to life than money and materialism. Money and Materialism represents two things, money being how wealthy you were and materialism shows how many things that you own. Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald Nick, Tom, and Gatsby are representation of different types of money. Tom is the representation of someone with so much money that he thinks nobody is better than him. Nick is the representation of someone who has wealth, but is still confused on what to do with his life. Finally Gatsby is the representation of someone who has a lot of money, but is a very mysterious …show more content…

Gatsby’s live is very different from everybody elses. He throws elaborate parties, only in hopes that Daisy would make it to one. The only person ever to be invited to a part is Nick. On the outside it seems like Gatsby has his life together, but in reality he is very insecure. When Gatsby is coming over for tea when daisy is also supposed to be there, he gets very nervous and awkward, “Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late,”(85). Daisy shows up to tea two minutes late and Gatsby is automatically inclined to think she isn't coming, which makes him even more anxious. Gatsby's whole goal of his life is to be with Daisy, he changes himself just so they could be together. The light at the end of her dock is a representation of their future, “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water, in a curious way,”(20). Gatsby was stretching his hand out across to touch the green light he could see from Daisy’s dock. He changed his life around for someone who only cares about bettering herself, because in the end Daisy let Gatsby take the blame for the murder of Myrtle. Gatsby's biggest flaw was his inability to distinguish between romantic illusion and

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece of literature “The Great Gatsby”, the eponymous character is shown to be an eccentric man with a shrouded past, which only becomes revealed to the reader in the final third portion of the book. Through his past, and many other subtleties laced into the book by Fitzgerald, it is heavily hinted at that Gatsby himself is African-American, being pale enough to pass as a white man in West Egg. The inklings of this idea are planted through this novel, both overt and symbolic, such as the geography laid out by Fitzgerald and characters’ placement in that, character interactions between Gatsby and harsh racists like Tom Buchanan, and Gatsby’s past that got him to West Egg and found him his fortune. Gatsby being black was a very hidden yet powerful statement by Fitzgerald on the upward mobility of African-Americans during the 1920’s when racism and racial violence were becoming extremely prevalent, and the lengths these people had to go to to achieve that mobility, with no guaranteed success.

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587 Words | 3 Pages

“It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other race will have control,” Tom (13/3) Do you ever think about how your little group could possibly be washed out by someone else? No? Me neither, but you know who feared it the most? Tom Buchanan. He panicked that another race, like a whole other group of people would kill his off.

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445 Words | 2 Pages

Gatsby spends outrageous amounts of money every week attempting to get Daisy to attend one of his parties. He spends these outrageous amounts of money because Gatsby wants to create a perfect reunion between himself and Daisy. This reunion is suppose to give Daisy something that she will remember for the rest of her life, Gatsby wants to be her knight in shining armour. Nick’s house is completely reorganized by Gatsby whenever Daisy attends the tea party. This shows the viewer that he is trying to create a perfect environment for Daisy.

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1621 Words | 7 Pages

When Gatsby first sees the green light on Daisy’s dock, he feels like his dream is “so close that he [can] hardly fail to grasp it” but he is unable to see that it “[is] already behind him” and impossible to reach (180). He lives a life of optimism “running faster and stretching his arms out further”, expending all his energy for a goal that only gets further away (180). Rather than sailing closer to the greatness of his goal, Gatsby is “borne back ceaselessly into the past,” drifting further and further away from his dream (180). Gatsby obsessively crafts an ideal image of a life with Daisy in his head, but the reality of the situation is much different. When Daisy comes over for tea Gatsby is a mess despite spending everyday preparing for her arrival.

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654 Words | 3 Pages

People came to Gatsby’s parties just because they could. Gatsby never really cares about who comes and what they do; he just cares about seeing Daisy. Those who came to the parties often do not get to speak to Gatsby himself because they simply do not try or care enough to.

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1741 Words | 7 Pages

At the end of Daisy’s dock is a green light, that of which is yearned for, across the bay by Gatsby. At Gatsby’s house, Nick watches Gatsby as he stares at the light. “Involuntarily I glanced seaward- and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (21). The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock represents Gatsby’s hope and his growing desire for Daisy, his wanting to become a better man and renew himself. The green light is a symbol of Gatsby’s desire for a life with Daisy, and his ambition to better himself and achieve his American dream, thus exhibiting a sense of growth, vitality, and renewal, as conveyed in the Spring Equinox.

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561 Words | 3 Pages

The story of the Great Gatsby has a rather tragic ending. When tensions that were built throughout the story finally erupt, it leads to Myrtle Wilson being killed by a car, Jay Gatsby being murdered by George Wilson, and George Wilson committing suicide after killing Gatsby. So the big question after reading the book is who's responsible for all of this bloody trouble? After reading the book I think the best person to point your finger at is Tom Buchanan.

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1281 Words | 6 Pages

Nick states, as he begins his retelling of the events of the book, “ [Gatsby had] an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.” This illustrates Gatsby as a figure of romanticism and hope. Yet, if the reader looks beyond Nick’s

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686 Words | 3 Pages

Money can make one feel powerful and invincible. It can also lower one’s morals. Materialism has corrupted Tom, George, and Gatsby. Tom is a very immoral character as he lies and cheats. Carla L. Verderame states that “There are no spiritual values in a place where money reigns.”

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995 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”

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637 Words | 3 Pages

In the story "The Great Gatsby" Nick has a favorable opinion of Jay Gatsby. In the first chapter of the book Nick states "When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction- Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. " The book gives many examples of Nick thinking of Gatsby as the "Great" such as Gatsby 's smile, what Gatsby was willing to do for Daisy, and what Gatsby did for himself.

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542 Words | 3 Pages

Though Gatsby’s weaknesses may outbalance his strengths, there is an up and down to everything. To begin, Gatsby is very naïve, his lack of judgement and wisdom do not work to his benefit. His naivety throughout the novel, blocks him from the true reality of who Daisy is. Daisy is a woman who thrives on the attention and wealth of others, she no longer loves Gatsby the way he genuinely loves her. This leads to him into taking the blame for Myrtle’s death, which he would not have done, if he was not protecting Daisy from the backlash.

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1081 Words | 5 Pages

You can infer that Gatsby was reaching toward this green light that we later figure out is on the end of Daisy’s dock. Gatsby still loved Daisy and had hope and wanted to move forward and be with Daisy. The only problem is that Tom was there. He envied Tom and his relationship with Daisy. He wanted to be in his place.

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1114 Words | 5 Pages

Nick is beginning his new eastern life for the first time. Also, it is a similar situation with Gatsby as his life seems to restart as well as he attempts to regain Daisy’s love for him. Joy and fun come along with the chaos that summer brings. All the parties Gatsby throws in his house are not your typical house party. “People were not invited--they just went there.

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1149 Words | 5 Pages

How does the desire to pursue money and power negatively impact the characters' moral sense of right or wrong? Many people allow their social class and wealth to determine their belonging in life. In The Great Gatsby people with "old money" are more respected and superior than those with "new money". The characters' actions are driven by their desire for wealth and power.

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