Symbolism In The Talented Mr Ripley

Water is not only present on 71 percent of the Earth’s surface it also present nearly 100 percent of “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” It is used throughout the book and movie many times as the setting for several events and as a symbol for a variety of ideas. Death, salvation, rebirth and deception by water in both the book and the movie adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Death is the first and perhaps most apparent of the three.
Water is seen by many as a symbol of life and good health, but to Patricia Highsmith it is seen more as a symbol of the opposite, death. Death and water are connected in “The Talented Mr. Ripley” from the time Tom prepares to leave New York for Europe and explains his fear of water. Tom’s parents drowned in Boston Harbor following a boating accident and he has linked that with his …show more content…
Just like the impressions, he made during his lunch with Dickie where he displayed his abilities Tom was able to pretend to be anyone he had to be (Highsmith 59; The Talented Mr. Ripley). While water does not physically represent deception in the book, it is more of the properties water has that Tom mimics throughout the story. In the book while Tom was still living in New York, he pretended to be an agent from the Internal Revenue Service in-order to collect checks for small amounts of cash (Highsmith 20-21). In the movie adaptation, Tom pretended to be from Princeton so Mr. Greenleaf would be inclined to believe that he would know Dickie and would pay his way to Europe (The Talented Mr. Ripley). Furthermore, Tom was able to do impersonations of any person possible including Dickie and his father. With his powers of deception and adaptation Tom was able to continue living as Dickie Greenleaf for several months before the web of records put an end to this and he must kill of Dickie for good (Highsmith 199-222; The Talented Mr.