Tom In The Great Gatsby

If there is an antagonist or a villain in the novel, it is Tom. He is racist and he generally mistreats everyone he comes into contact with. Tom loves Daisy but he treats her more like a possession than a partner. He is having an affair with Myrtle. During an apartment party with Nick and Myrtle's friends, Tom breaks Myrtle's nose for having mentioned Daisy's name. Tom is also condescending to George, Myrtle's husband. Tom also seizes the opportunity to implicate Gatsby in Myrtle's death, thereby indirectly leading to Gatsby's and (more indirectly) to George's deaths. Tom comes from money and is proud of his heritage.
Gatsby comes from a poor family and has made it his life's work to achieve money and success, to distance himself from his heritage. This is one of the many ways he is different from Tom, who came from money. While Tom is the villain of the novel, Gatsby (and to some
Gatsby got a taste for wealthy life when he met Dan Cody and his strategy for winning Daisy back, years later, also necessitated (in Gatsby's mind) the accumulation of more wealth. While Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy is conflated with monetary and material value, there is a degree of love and idealism involved. This is what sets him apart from Tom again. Although Tom loves Daisy, it seems that Gatsby's love is more idealistic, more passionate, and therefore it is perhaps more genuine.
It is difficult to find any redeeming qualities with Tom. Gatsby is an admirable, idealistic hero but he does have his flaws which include engaging in illegal activities. We might also criticize Gatsby for disrupting Tom and Daisy's marriage. Even though he does this for love, his actions eventually lead to disaster. However, Tom is equally if not more culpable for the tragic events that unfold. It is not simply put that Tom is bad and Gatsby is good but for the most part, Gatsby is our flawed but idealistic hero and Tom is the