Tom's Role In The Great Gatsby

Words: 1268
Pages: 6
Open Document
The roaring twenties. Probably jazz music came to mind first, maybe flappers and bootleggers or anything else this time period is famous for. But the main difference between then and now, in my opinion, is the way people acted/ were treated based on the set gender roles. Men were stereotypically manly men, and women were trophies, willing to put up with the man's antics. The man had total control of their significant other and dominated the workforce. Two main characters, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, in The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, represent the opposite ends of the spectrum. Daisy is an airheaded, ditzy woman, she is used to following societies rules. Tom, on the other hand, is an imperious and hot-headed man who is the epitome …show more content…
The opposite of that is someone like Nick, who is passive and quiet, very unwilling to ruffle anyone’s feathers. There were many times that wrong has happened in front of Nick that he did nothing about it. In the case of Tom and Myrtle, Nick watched his friend slap his mistress and he did nothing to help the situation, “making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke [Myrtle’s] nose with his open hand,” (). A real man's man like Tom is strong and hot-headed, representative of the stereotypical male, that most desired to be or marry. Nick is passive, and a better listener than a talker. The range between these two, and even Gatsby and Nick has a contrast of current and past norms. The screaming would start before the talking, then the fists would come out. They would put their demands on the table and attempt to ruin the person who wasn’t allowing it. When Daisy's affair with Tom was out in the open, they both refused Daisy the right to choose who she wanted to be with herself. “‘She’s not leaving me!’ Tom’s words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby,” (140). Toms failure to respect his wife's decisions leads to a blowout between himself and Gatsby, an argument that Nick stays out of. Daisy tries her best to let her opinion on the matter be known, but then men have little respect for anything they don't agree with. Nick is silent when his cousin is being verbally attacked by her husband and boyfriend, He could have attempted to break up the fight, which would give Daisy the respect she deserved, but he did
Show More

Related Documents: Tom's Role In The Great Gatsby

Stereotypes In The Great Gatsby

Throughout history, societal pressures consistently change creating the need to fit into what is expected. Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the interactions between male and female depicts the various social pressures and expectations of the time. Two of the main male characters of the novel, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, employ rhetorical devices in order to describe the stereotypical male figure. Due to this, Daisy Buchanan’s character is ultimately the shadow of the two…

Words 1374 - Pages 6

Daisy's Treatment Of Women In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a novel written by Scott Fitzgerald in the 1920s. Daisy is the main female character in this book who embodies the role of women in their society on a massive scale. She finds herself in the centre of a love triangle with her husband, Tom Buchanan, and her lover from long ago, Jay Gatsby. Both these men treat Daisy almost as property as they fight over her, not giving Daisy any real choice in the matter. In this time this is all women were to men; property. Although Tom is having…

Words 444 - Pages 2

Theme Of Daisy Selfish In The Great Gatsby

During The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, set in the 1920s, many things were changing including fashion, music, and social norms. Changes like these caused many people to start to act differently than they would before, especially women. Daisy, Tom’s wife, did not follow the role of a woman that would be expected of her by previous generations. She changed the her style into a more modern look and did not follow what was precedented for her. Men also changed their ways and began living…

Words 918 - Pages 4

The Great Gatsby Myrtle Analysis

Similarities of developing character between Daisy and Myrtle in The Great Gatsby In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald takes advantage of the feelings and characteristics of women during the roaring twenties in the story. He shows that women believe in having a higher social status, reputation and lots of money are all factors that help in leading to a happy and secure lifestyle. Daisy and Myrtle try to achieve this hope and dream in similar ways by being involved with…

Words 1951 - Pages 8

Colors in The Great Gatsby Essay

Colors in The Great Gatsby Many different colors play a large role in the development of characters, and underlying messages in The Great Gatsby. White, generally seen as a symbol of innocence, is used in the novel to represent what appears to be true on the surface, but is merely a facade. Yellow has many implications in The Great Gatsby, including the desire for wealth, noxious character traits, and death of the American Dream. Fitzgerald also uses green to represent feelings of envy, hope, and…

Words 967 - Pages 4

The Great Gatsby's Death Analysis

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, the character George Wilson shoots Jay Gatsby, causing him to die. But who is to blame for Gatsby’s demise? It seems logical that the person who pulled the trigger, but what about other characters like Tom and Daisy Buchanan who lied to George in order to save themselves? Many would declare Tom and Daisy played a key role in the murder of Gatsby; however when looking back at moments where Gatsby’s death could have been averted, Nick is considered to…

Words 1209 - Pages 5

How Does Fitzgerald Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

American dream is a “recurring theme in American society”. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s it presents the American dream as an illusion which can never be achieved no matter how hard they yearn for it; and per recent events in America, Fitzgerald is evidently correct. The illustration of Daisy as the American Dream, the issue of meritocracy, Myrtle’s death, the image of the green light, as well as the way Gatsby was restricted access to the elite class, all represent the chase of…

Words 1207 - Pages 5

Essay On The Role Of Women In The Great Gatsby

The story, “The Great Gatsby,” has a setting of New York in the pre depression 1920’s, to be more precise most of the major characters live in East and West Egg. Three of the main major characters are women, that Fitzgerald contrasts as Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s lower class mistress; Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy socialite with marital problems; and Jordan Baker, a professional golfer with a shady past. Fitzgerald writes about gender roles in a quite conventional manner. In his novel, men work to earn money…

Words 620 - Pages 3

Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gatsby Essay

Roaring 20’s in The Great Gatsby In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the plot is centered in the postwar cultural capital of the Anglo-American world: New York. The post-war economy and atmosphere resulting from the Great War play a vital role in the outcome of the novel, as it is a critical element in the portrayal of both Tom and Gatsby. The culture of the underground crime in the 1920’s hinted throughout the novel is a direct result of Prohibition. After World War I, the United States…

Words 1078 - Pages 5

Essay about The Great Gatsby Written

Venality of the ‘American Dream’ “Anyhow he gives large parties and I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there's never any privacy.” (Jordan Baker Pg. 50) ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald 1926 is one of the most effective, classical pieces of American literature. This novel is set in the period of the Jazz age and explores the corruption of the ‘American Dream’. Throughout this novel, Fitzgerald intertwines many motifs and symbols in order to demonstrate this. These…

Words 1239 - Pages 5