Going with the flow is easy. Fighting the norm can be difficult. It can be hard to do alone, but with a small push, anyone can start a new current and surf it all the way to achieving Greatness. F. Scott Fitzgerald exemplifies this in his novel The Great Gatsby through his characters Tom Buchannan and Jay Gatsby. Tom’s natural instinct towards consistency and preserving the status quo is represented with stagnant water, a force that is the natural enemy of Gatsby. Ironically, moving water does not destroy Gatsby, but instead works to help him fulfill his potential.
Throughout the novel stagnant water is a symbol representing Tom. Almost every time stagnant water, in the form of ice, appears, Tom follows. Along with Tom’s constant presence when …show more content…
They both work to tear Gatsby down from the first moment the two antithetical adversaries meet. This adds to the number of parallels that support stagnant water being a symbol for Tom. The natural bias of old wealth against new wealth immediately sets Tom against Gatsby. Tom is born into an “enormously wealthy,” (6) family. He comes from old money and connections that have existed between his family and the elite for decades. Gatsby, on the other hand, comes from “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people,” (98). Through his own ambition and ingenuity he makes his fortune. As ‘new money,’ Gatsby is ostracized by the old wealth, being perceived as not good enough because he lacks the same connections and elite upbringing that those with old wealth, like Tom, have. To the ‘old wealth,’ Gatsby is still perceived as a poor farm boy masquerading as something that he is not. That same sense of superiority increases the natural antagonism between them. Fitzgerald continues to contrast the idea of new and old money through East and West Egg. Gatsby lives in “West Egg the – well, the less fashionable of the two,” (5) whereas Tom lives in East Egg. Tom is automatically prejudiced against Gatsby, believing that he is better because of their respective locations. These discrepancies in wealth inherently make Tom and Gatsby natural
Throughout the novel stagnant water is a symbol representing Tom. Almost every time stagnant water, in the form of ice, appears, Tom follows. Along with Tom’s constant presence when …show more content…
They both work to tear Gatsby down from the first moment the two antithetical adversaries meet. This adds to the number of parallels that support stagnant water being a symbol for Tom. The natural bias of old wealth against new wealth immediately sets Tom against Gatsby. Tom is born into an “enormously wealthy,” (6) family. He comes from old money and connections that have existed between his family and the elite for decades. Gatsby, on the other hand, comes from “shiftless and unsuccessful farm people,” (98). Through his own ambition and ingenuity he makes his fortune. As ‘new money,’ Gatsby is ostracized by the old wealth, being perceived as not good enough because he lacks the same connections and elite upbringing that those with old wealth, like Tom, have. To the ‘old wealth,’ Gatsby is still perceived as a poor farm boy masquerading as something that he is not. That same sense of superiority increases the natural antagonism between them. Fitzgerald continues to contrast the idea of new and old money through East and West Egg. Gatsby lives in “West Egg the – well, the less fashionable of the two,” (5) whereas Tom lives in East Egg. Tom is automatically prejudiced against Gatsby, believing that he is better because of their respective locations. These discrepancies in wealth inherently make Tom and Gatsby natural