Monday, March 14, 2011

Two Sides of Tom Buchanan

What is Tom´s relationship with his wife and her friends in the novel?

Tom could present one type of behavior when he was with some people and another when he was with somebody else. So we could consider him an unstable character in the novel The Great Gatsby.

On the one hand he was a gentleman when he was with his wife and her friends, he behaved like a very well-mannered man. But, on the other hand, he had another life, the life outside his family. In this other life, he would flirt with his mistress. His behavior with her, with her husband and of course with his wife was unclear. He could be a very rude man when he became angry.

The reader can see Tom as a gentleman when he is with his guest at home and he poured them some drinks. But there are other episodes in the story where you can see the rude Tom, when he is in New York with his mistress and friends and he smacks her in the nose, for example. (Brenda)

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