Tom Buchanan Unlikeable Character
In the Great Gatsby Tom is an unlikeable character. How does Fitzgerald use language to portray him like this?
Fitzgerald uses both language, Tom’s various interactions with people and the attitudes he demonstrates through his statements to show his dislikeable character. There are many examples throughout The Great Gatsby that highlight this point.
Tom is an immoral character. He is very unlikeable because of his uncivilized attitude. He is a very arrogant, dominating and boorish man who doesn’t cares about anyone focusing only on what he wants and looks down on poor, helpless people. Not only this, but he is also racist and a complete hypocrite.
Fitzgerald introduces us to Tom in the first chapter of the novel by using language to describe Tom’s hard and over bearing physical description. “He was a man with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.” “A hard mouth” shows that he is harsh and even cruel to a point; “supercilious manner “ shows that he is a person who thinks and behaves as if he is superior to others around him. This can also be seen in the way “he was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.” This stance reveals his arrogance and cocky nature, this is further demonstrated by the way Fitzgerald describes “his arrogant eyes”. In addition Fitzgerald talks about “the enormous power of that body” which was “capable of enormous leverage – a cruel body.” This suggests that Tom is a big, menacing man who can bully and can cause physical harm to other vulnerable people around him and gives us an idea of the type of personality he will be throughout the novel.
Tom is a self-absorbed character, who is obsessed with his money and social status. While showing Nick his house he says “I’ve got a nice place here… It belonged to the Demaine oil man’, his property symbolizes his wealth and status, the fact that it belonged to somebody famous, increases its value for Tom. He also states,” Oh, I’ll stay in the East, don’t you worry.” This shows that
Fitzgerald uses both language, Tom’s various interactions with people and the attitudes he demonstrates through his statements to show his dislikeable character. There are many examples throughout The Great Gatsby that highlight this point.
Tom is an immoral character. He is very unlikeable because of his uncivilized attitude. He is a very arrogant, dominating and boorish man who doesn’t cares about anyone focusing only on what he wants and looks down on poor, helpless people. Not only this, but he is also racist and a complete hypocrite.
Fitzgerald introduces us to Tom in the first chapter of the novel by using language to describe Tom’s hard and over bearing physical description. “He was a man with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.” “A hard mouth” shows that he is harsh and even cruel to a point; “supercilious manner “ shows that he is a person who thinks and behaves as if he is superior to others around him. This can also be seen in the way “he was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.” This stance reveals his arrogance and cocky nature, this is further demonstrated by the way Fitzgerald describes “his arrogant eyes”. In addition Fitzgerald talks about “the enormous power of that body” which was “capable of enormous leverage – a cruel body.” This suggests that Tom is a big, menacing man who can bully and can cause physical harm to other vulnerable people around him and gives us an idea of the type of personality he will be throughout the novel.
Tom is a self-absorbed character, who is obsessed with his money and social status. While showing Nick his house he says “I’ve got a nice place here… It belonged to the Demaine oil man’, his property symbolizes his wealth and status, the fact that it belonged to somebody famous, increases its value for Tom. He also states,” Oh, I’ll stay in the East, don’t you worry.” This shows that