Tom Buchanan Flaws

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Each character in The Great Gatsby reflects specific flaws that represent spiritual emptiness. Tom Buchanan is a racist, incapable of separating race from character. Nick falsely reports himself as an impartial narrator, despite his apparent bias towards and against certain people. Jay Gatsby lives in a fantasy world, under the belief that Daisy will leave Tom and return to the past when she and Gatsby were lovers. The Great Gatsby reflects the Modernist sensibility that man is spiritually empty. For example, Tom is a racist. Shown at the very beginning of the story, Tom masks his lack of intelligence by presenting ‘facts’ about racial superiority and inferiority. “It’s all scientific stuff, it’s been proved” (Fitzgerald 16). This relates to Charles Darwin’s research published in On the Origin of Species and the …show more content…
Hays used Natural Selection to prove that the Caucasian race was superior to all others. Moreover, the reader cannot trust Nick as an impartial narrator when it comes to Jordan Baker. From the instant Nick’s eyes met Jordan Baker, he couldn’t stop analyzing her every move. During his narration in scenes involving Jordan Baker, Nick details her movement and attitudes from the point of praise. As a person who claims to be impartial, praise of a character in the story cannot be trusted. For example, Nick sets aside the lies that Baker tells and writes it off, stating “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply.” (Fitzgerald 64). Moreover, Gatsby lives in a fantasy world when it comes to the past. “Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why, of course, you can!’” (Fitzgerald 118). Gatsby lives in a fantasy world of his own, under the belief that he can recreate the past and create the perfect life for himself. In Breaking Bad, Walter White lives in the fantasy that his family will love him and appreciate him for the money that his drug empire

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