Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is centered on Tom Rath, a man who despite having everything in life is so miserable and unhappy. He is so ashamed and scared to face his past that he turns into a dishonest, inhuman being with no emotion, ambition or zeal in life. When asked to write his autobiography, he thinks “only masochists can get along without editing their own memories” (13) which is very ironic because he unintentionally becomes the masochists in his attempt to edit his memories. Tom is unable to come to terms with what happened during the war, and that he is a disappointment to the Rath’s and himself. His avoidance to face reality almost destroyed his marriage and career. Tom is ashamed of his heritage,
…show more content…
The war was a very drastic event in Tom’s life as it left him with a lot of regrets; the killing of his best friend Mahoney and the abandonment of his Maria and his son. He spends a lot of his time thinking about the war and trying to make excuses to feel better about his actions by blaming the world. He tells Betsy “Ever since the war, it’s been as though I were trying to figure something out… that the whole world is absolutely insane” (266) thereby not taking responsibility for his actions. Tom’s desire to edit his memories made his life miserable since he couldn’t be honest with anyone. His dishonesty almost destroyed his marriage as Betsy says” things haven’t been very good since you got out of the service,……..we haven’t had much of a life together”(267), and if not for Betsy’s love and trust in Tom, their marriage would have been broken a long time ago. Tom was a masochist. Tom’s idea of a masochists editing his memories is ironic because in his attempt to edit his memories he instead becomes the masochists. Tom’s frustration leads him into this inhuman being as seen in the cases where he has the desire to kill both Edward and Ogden. He confirms this when he says “I would have gone on, becoming more and more bitter, more and more cynical, and I don’t know where that road would have ended”(273). The real pain came from editing his memories which was contrary to what tom
The war was a very drastic event in Tom’s life as it left him with a lot of regrets; the killing of his best friend Mahoney and the abandonment of his Maria and his son. He spends a lot of his time thinking about the war and trying to make excuses to feel better about his actions by blaming the world. He tells Betsy “Ever since the war, it’s been as though I were trying to figure something out… that the whole world is absolutely insane” (266) thereby not taking responsibility for his actions. Tom’s desire to edit his memories made his life miserable since he couldn’t be honest with anyone. His dishonesty almost destroyed his marriage as Betsy says” things haven’t been very good since you got out of the service,……..we haven’t had much of a life together”(267), and if not for Betsy’s love and trust in Tom, their marriage would have been broken a long time ago. Tom was a masochist. Tom’s idea of a masochists editing his memories is ironic because in his attempt to edit his memories he instead becomes the masochists. Tom’s frustration leads him into this inhuman being as seen in the cases where he has the desire to kill both Edward and Ogden. He confirms this when he says “I would have gone on, becoming more and more bitter, more and more cynical, and I don’t know where that road would have ended”(273). The real pain came from editing his memories which was contrary to what tom