Finally, the pecking order becomes painfully clear during the encounter in the hotel. Gatsby puts everything on the line and asks Daisy to confess that she never loved Tom. But not only can she not do that, she ends up admitting she did in fact once love Tom very much, so that Tom leaves the encounter secure in his marriage. Once you've fleshed out examples of how Tom and Daisy exemplify old money while Gatsby exemplifies new money, you could make a larger argument about one of the book's major themes: the rigidity of society and class in s America or the hollowness of the American Dream.
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. Physical Recklessness. There are many examples of Tom and Daisy acting reckless, and of the fact that they are protected from the consequences of their actions by their money.
Of course, while you can go for the biggest event, Daisy hitting Myrtle in Gatsby's car, you should also find some smaller examples can help build your argument:. In all three cases, there are apparently zero consequences for this behavior.
After the honeymoon, Tom's marriage stays intact, and he gets to go off to France. His affair with Myrtle continues even after the violence. And after Daisy kills Myrtle, the couple just skips town and doesn't even show up in the official police record of the accident.
Emotional Recklessness. The pair are just as cavalier with each other's emotions as they are with everyone else's. Tom starts cheating on Daisy early on in their marriage on their honeymoon! With these examples along with other examples you can find! Here are just a few ideas:. Tom and Daisy's money protects them from consequences in a way the working class cannot be protected.
Moral decay in America comes from the top down with the hardworking George Wilson, who's at the bottom of the social heap, the most hurt. Tom and Daisy: never afraid to break eggs to make their selfishness omelet. Here are answers to some common student questions about Tom and his place in The Great Gatsby. Tom may enjoy spending time with Myrtle, but he would never divorce Daisy to marry her—she's just the latest in a series of mistresses he has had since the beginning of his marriage.
Tom and Daisy come from the same social class, and they both need each other to remain part of that group. In contrast, Myrtle is from a less-wealthy background, and would never truly fit into Tom Buchanan's circles. So while Tom is pretty brazen about showing Myrtle off in restaurants and not hiding his affair with any real effort, for him the relationship is more about power—power over Myrtle, over George, and over Daisy—than about love. Want to write the perfect college application essay?
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A lot of students wonder about Daisy and Tom's marriage. Since we learn that Daisy was still in love with Gatsby right before going through with her marriage to Tom, and we see Tom engaging in affairs, it makes sense that we would wonder whether Tom and Daisy like each other at all.
Well, first of all, it seems clear that, at least in the early days of their marriage, they were in love:. She looked at Gatsby. Suddenly she threw the cigarette and the burning match on the carpet. I can't help what's past. Tom brings up happy memories from early in the marriage, and for once, his voice has a "husky tenderness," which causes Daisy's voice to lose the cold tone it had when she said she never loved him. She then breaks down and admits that she loved Tom.
However, the fact that Tom is clinging to old memories, and Daisy uses the past tense—"I loved him once"—suggests that Tom and Daisy aren't exactly head-over-heels for each other anymore. But our last scene that shows Tom and Daisy together suggests that that doesn't matter. Even if they're not in love, their relationship is stable, and neither has any interest in leaving the other:. Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table with a plate of cold fried chicken between them and two bottles of ale.
He was talking intently across the table at her and in his earnestness his hand had fallen upon and covered her own. Once in a while she looked up at him and nodded in agreement. They weren't happy, and neither of them had touched the chicken or the ale—and yet they weren't unhappy either. There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together. As we discuss above, Nick makes a point of showing Tom to be a racist, a believer in the pure white face's need to subjugate everyone else in the world.
But why does this come up at all? Is it just another unflattering detail about Tom? Tom's racism is a reflection of his slight insecurities and his need to continually reassert his money and status. Even with all of his money and privilege, he still has a slight fear that his place isn't assured.
That fear comes out in small moments in the novel—when George says he's taking Myrtle out west and when Daisy briefly threatens to leave him. This is why we see Tom constantly swaggering and asserting his status. If you're writing about Tom, it can be helpful to take a close look at the beginning of the novel , specifically, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
In these chapters, you both see Tom both in his high-class, old money home, and engaging in a "spree" with Myrtle. Make sure to close read and annotate both chapters! Tom is a major player in not just one but two of the novel's major relationships. Read more about love, sex, and desire in The Great Gatsby in our detailed article.
Check out our analyses of all the other characters in the novel and learn how to compare and contrast Tom to other characters. Having Daisy come to West Egg has the advantage of isolating her from Tom, and also makes it possible for Gatsby to stage an apparently accidental encounter with her.
In order for these events to happen, Gatsby needs Nick to invite Daisy over under the pretense of having tea. Instead of asking Nick to do this himself, Gatsby employs Jordan to convince Nick. According to Jordan, Gatsby has kept tabs on Daisy for years and followed her when she and Tom moved from Chicago to the east coast.
Tom finds out about the affair between Gatsby and Daisy in Chapter 7, just before the three of them, along with Nick, take a trip to New York. Although no one explicitly communicates this fact, Tom picks up on suspicious body language.
He was astounded. The mistake occurs because, earlier in the day, Tom suggests that he and Gatsby swap cars for the drive to New York. Myrtle sees Tom from the room where her husband has locked her up. Later that night, Tom and Gatsby drive their own cars back from the city. Although Gatsby himself never explicitly says how he became wealthy, readers could assume his money comes from illegal or nefarious practices, working as either a German spy or a gambler. Before readers are introduced to the more prominent eyes in the novel—those of Doctor T.
Owl Eyes is the only character, perhaps besides Nick, who is curious about Gatsby and wants to see him for who he truly is. Daisy seems unhappy with her marriage to Tom from the outset of the novel. The day, it turns out, is unbearably hot, making all the participants in the luncheon — Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, Jordan, and Tom — even more uncomfortable than expected. While all five are at the Buchanans' house, Tom leaves the room to speak with his mistress on the phone and Daisy boldly kisses Gatsby, declaring her love for him.
Later, after Daisy suggests they go to town, Tom witnesses a soft glance that passes between Daisy and Gatsby and can no longer deny the two of them are having an affair. Enraged by what he has just learned, Tom agrees they should go to the city.
Tom, it turns out, has been suspicious of Gatsby all along and has had him investigated. Noticing the car is low on gas, Tom pulls into Wilson's station where he finds Wilson visibly unwell. Wilson abruptly announces he and Myrtle will be headed West shortly because he has just learned of her secret life, although the identity of Myrtle's lover is yet unknown to him.
Tom, doubly enraged at the potential loss of his mistress and his wife, malevolently questions Gatsby after the group assembles at the Plaza Hotel. He confronts Gatsby about his love for Daisy. Gatsby, refusing to be intimidated, tells Tom "Your wife doesn't love you. She's never loved you. She loves me. Daisy, however, cannot honestly admit she never loved Tom.
Gatsby, somewhat shaken by the scene unfolding before him — the collapse of his carefully constructed dream — tries another tactic. He declares: "Daisy's leaving you.
Tom orders Daisy and Gatsby to head home in Gatsby's own car this time. Tom, Jordan, and Nick follow in Tom's car. The narration now skips to George Wilson who has been found ill by his neighbor, Michaelis.
Wilson explains he has Myrtle locked inside and she will remain so until they leave in two days' time. Michaelis, astonished, heads back to his restaurant. He returns a few hours later, hears Myrtle's voice, and then sees her break away from her husband and rush into the road.
As she enters the highway Myrtle is struck by a passing car that fails to stop, continuing its route out of the city. Nick, Tom, and Jordan arrive on the scene shortly. Excited by the thought of something going on, Tom pulls over to investigate. He is grief-stricken to find Myrtle's lifeless body lying on a worktable. Tom learns the car that struck Myrtle matches Gatsby's in description.
Tom, visibly upset by the day's events, can only whimper of his anger toward the man he already hates. Returning to East Egg, Tom invites Nick inside to wait for a cab to take him home. Nick, seeing clearly the moral and spiritual corruption of Tom, Daisy, and the whole society they represent, declines.
Outside the Buchanans', Nick bumps into Gatsby who asks if there was trouble on the road. Nick recounts what he has seen. After asking a few questions, Nick learns Daisy, not Gatsby, was driving at the time. Gatsby, however, in true chivalric fashion, says he'll take the blame. The chapter ends with Gatsby, the paragon of chivalry and lost dreams, remaining on vigil outside Daisy's house, in case she needs assistance dealing with Tom, while Nick heads back to West Egg.
Everything The Great Gatsby has been building toward intersects in this very important chapter. All of the paths, once loosely related at best, now converge — forcefully and fatally. The turbulence of Chapter 7 gives clear indications of what Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and even Nick are about.
Unfortunately, for three of the four, the revelations are complementary. As the weather of the novel becomes increasingly hotter and more oppressive, Fitzgerald finally gets to the heart of the love triangle between Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom, but lets it speak poorly of all the participants.
Nick, alone, comes out of this chapter looking stronger. Like all the other characters, he has been tested in this chapter, but much to his credit, he grows and develops in a positive way. This chapter put Gatsby and Tom side-by-side.
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