Sam Adams
Mrs. BK
English IIIH
07 April 2015
Tom BuCAN-NOT Be a Nice Guy: How Conflict Enhances Tom Buchanan’s Archetype
Bullies have been around since the dawn of time and have continued the same methods after all these years. There are many types of bullying, but the two most common are physical and verbal. This means that a person will either use his or her body or words to make someone feel weak and hopeless. When conflicts arise, bullies use the same tactics to get what they want, even if it means hurting other people. Bullies rarely change their ways, much like Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Conflict with other characters and the idea of racism influences Tom’s archetype of a bully.
Within moments of meeting …show more content…
On the hottest day of the summer Nick travels to East Egg to have lunch with the Buchanans, and when he arrives he finds Jordan and Gatsby already there. Five years ago Daisy and Gatsby were in love, and have recently rekindled that flame in secrecy. Throughout the afternoon, Daisy and Gatsby can’t hide their affection for one another; Daisy suggests that the two of them go to the city together, in which Tom interjects and invites everyone to journey to the city. Tom, Jordan and Nick ride together in Gatsby’s gold car, and Gatsby and Daisy ride together in Tom’s cobalt blue car. While stopping for gas at Mr. Wilson’s garage, Tom, Jordan, and Nick learn that Mr. Wilson has become aware of Myrtle’s adultery, but does not know the identity of the man she has been having an affair with. The three continue into the city where the five of them reunite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom and Gatsby soon get into an argument in which Gatsby blurts out that Daisy never loved Tom; Daisy denies this and says that she did love him once. Gatsby then begins losing the argument and is then ordered, “‘you two start home, Daisy,’ said Tom. ‘ In Mr. Gatsby’s car’” (Fitzgerald 135). Tom commands Gatsby and Daisy to leave as a way of proving that Gatsby is incapable of hurting him. Bullies show that they are in charge by making others feel small and powerless. By demanding this, and by Gatsby doing what he has been …show more content…
Tom is a static character in The Great Gatsby; he is a bully in the beginning and remains a bully throughout the entire story. The conflicts that arise enhance Tom’s archetype of a bully by causing him to act physically or verbally to get what he wants, whether it is by breaking someone’s nose or ordering someone to do what he wants. Tom is just another example of how bullies never change and will remain the same for many years to come. Work Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004.
Mrs. BK
English IIIH
07 April 2015
Tom BuCAN-NOT Be a Nice Guy: How Conflict Enhances Tom Buchanan’s Archetype
Bullies have been around since the dawn of time and have continued the same methods after all these years. There are many types of bullying, but the two most common are physical and verbal. This means that a person will either use his or her body or words to make someone feel weak and hopeless. When conflicts arise, bullies use the same tactics to get what they want, even if it means hurting other people. Bullies rarely change their ways, much like Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Conflict with other characters and the idea of racism influences Tom’s archetype of a bully.
Within moments of meeting …show more content…
On the hottest day of the summer Nick travels to East Egg to have lunch with the Buchanans, and when he arrives he finds Jordan and Gatsby already there. Five years ago Daisy and Gatsby were in love, and have recently rekindled that flame in secrecy. Throughout the afternoon, Daisy and Gatsby can’t hide their affection for one another; Daisy suggests that the two of them go to the city together, in which Tom interjects and invites everyone to journey to the city. Tom, Jordan and Nick ride together in Gatsby’s gold car, and Gatsby and Daisy ride together in Tom’s cobalt blue car. While stopping for gas at Mr. Wilson’s garage, Tom, Jordan, and Nick learn that Mr. Wilson has become aware of Myrtle’s adultery, but does not know the identity of the man she has been having an affair with. The three continue into the city where the five of them reunite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom and Gatsby soon get into an argument in which Gatsby blurts out that Daisy never loved Tom; Daisy denies this and says that she did love him once. Gatsby then begins losing the argument and is then ordered, “‘you two start home, Daisy,’ said Tom. ‘ In Mr. Gatsby’s car’” (Fitzgerald 135). Tom commands Gatsby and Daisy to leave as a way of proving that Gatsby is incapable of hurting him. Bullies show that they are in charge by making others feel small and powerless. By demanding this, and by Gatsby doing what he has been …show more content…
Tom is a static character in The Great Gatsby; he is a bully in the beginning and remains a bully throughout the entire story. The conflicts that arise enhance Tom’s archetype of a bully by causing him to act physically or verbally to get what he wants, whether it is by breaking someone’s nose or ordering someone to do what he wants. Tom is just another example of how bullies never change and will remain the same for many years to come. Work Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004.