Tom Buchanan Character Analysis

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Hypocrisy, physical abuse, and verbal brutalization are all traits of a villain as can be seen in The Great Gatsby. In the story, this villain is Tom Buchanan. Tom is portrayed as a financially high-class gentleman from a well-to-do family. He is viewed as someone with high social standing. After Nick moves into West Egg, he visits his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. When Nick arrives at their house, he starts to learn Tom’s personality. Nick sees Tom as an arrogant bully whose social attitudes are laced with the definition of the shadow archetype, and Tom never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Buchanan represents the shadow …show more content…
Toward the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan starts to have a strong stigma of being the shadow archetype by being aggressive and abusive. An example of Tom’s abusive nature can be seen when he was having a party at his apartment that he owns with Myrtle. Tom gets angry at Myrtle, because she wants to discuss his marriage with Daisy, he tells her she does not have the right to say Daisy’s name. Myrtle starts yelling “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!... I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai ----” (Fitzgerald 37). At that moment Tom’s abusiveness is triggered him and he makes “a short deft movement … broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). This abrupt display of physical abuse causes the party to stop and the guests leave while Myrtle is covered in blood. This emphasizes a villainous stance that shows his cruel dark nature. Another key point to which shows his intimidating presence can be realized when we verbally brutalizes Gatsby and Daisy. As Gatsby and Daisy confess their love for each other, it caused Tom to become angry. Tom states, “She’s not leaving me!... Certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger.” (Fitzgerald 133). Of course, as a bully and intimidator Tom would stand for this betrayal from his wife and someone who is not within the same social class. Tom was …show more content…
Tom is a hypocrite as he is having an affair, but then gets upset when his wife may be having an affair. He uses his abusive powers when becoming physical with Myrtle and breaking her nose. Similarly, he uses his intimidation tactics when he verbally brutalizes Gatsby regarding his social status and money. Lastly, he uses intimidation persuasion when he convinces Wilson that Gatsby was most likely the person responsible for his wife’s death. These scenarios prove that Tom is the shadow archetypal character within the book. However, take into consideration how his affair ended and Daisy’s affair ended, when looking at what one person does for love or lust, in these two cases murder is the
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