The Great Gatsby; Theme; Violence
Violence is a central theme used in the novel ‘The Great Gatsby.’ By definition, violence is a behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt or kill someone or something and unfortunately, in almost every chapter of the Great Gatsby at least one violent or reckless act is displayed. Three major examples or symbols of violence portrayed in the book includes the characterisation of Tom Buchanan, the usage of cars and lastly, the death of Myrtle Wilson. Analysis of these examples show that F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, uses violence as a mean to express the power, passion and mere ignorance of the characters in his book.
Tom Buchanan is the embodiment of violence in the Great Gatsby. From the beginning, Buchanan is characterized by Fitzgerald as a wealthy, racist, abusive and arrogant aristocrat. He has a strong need to exert or flaunt dominance over other people and uses violent means to do that. This is illustrated in the scene in chapter two where he breaks Myrtle Wilson’s nose after she taunts him by saying Daisy’s name. This quote recounts the scene, “Sometime toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name. ‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai—“ Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” Buchanan used physical force to put Wilson in her place, as his mistress and explicitly say that he overpowers her. Tom did not apologise to Wilson or even acknowledge this incident later in the book and this conveys the idea that Tom does not care about the integrity of other people and uses violence quite a lot to see his way through and exert dominance over others.
Another symbol of violence in the Great Gatsby is cars and their reckless usage by the characters in the novel. Cars were new merchandise during the 1920’s and were then representative of wealth, passion and
Tom Buchanan is the embodiment of violence in the Great Gatsby. From the beginning, Buchanan is characterized by Fitzgerald as a wealthy, racist, abusive and arrogant aristocrat. He has a strong need to exert or flaunt dominance over other people and uses violent means to do that. This is illustrated in the scene in chapter two where he breaks Myrtle Wilson’s nose after she taunts him by saying Daisy’s name. This quote recounts the scene, “Sometime toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name. ‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai—“ Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” Buchanan used physical force to put Wilson in her place, as his mistress and explicitly say that he overpowers her. Tom did not apologise to Wilson or even acknowledge this incident later in the book and this conveys the idea that Tom does not care about the integrity of other people and uses violence quite a lot to see his way through and exert dominance over others.
Another symbol of violence in the Great Gatsby is cars and their reckless usage by the characters in the novel. Cars were new merchandise during the 1920’s and were then representative of wealth, passion and