The Great Gatsby Tom Buchanan Character Analysis

In the case of the characters Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan, in the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, love is not the glue that holds their marriage together. Instead, the marriage of Tom and Daisy is crafted by wealth, social class, and carelessness. Through the narration of another character, Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan is portrayed as being a smug man who has little regard for the feelings of others. We learn this as information is revealed regarding the affair in which Tom is not so secretly having behind his wife's back. Tom has the decency to not be seen with his mistress, Myrtle Wilson, in his own home of East Egg. However, he is cocky and careless enough to be seen with her in New York, and he even has the
Since Tom is immensely wealthy, "and hailing from a socially solid old family" (SparkNotes Editors), he believes that he is untouchable. Tom hides behind the dollar signs that are associated with his name and, uses them as an excuse to treat others harshly. This is evident in how he treats the husband of his mistress, George Wilson and how he treats his wife's admirer, Jay Gatsby. Wilson's characteristics do not matter to Tom Buchanan. It does not matter if George Wilson is kind, handsome, or humble. In Tom's eyes, Myrtles husband is "so dumb he doesn't know he's alive" (Fitzgerald 26). It is not bad enough that Tom "fools around" with George Wilson's wife, he also has the nerve to belittle the man just because they do not share the same privileges in life. The way Tom treats George Wilson is much similar to the way he treats Jay Gatsby. From the very beginning, Tom looks down upon Jay Gatsby and suspects that Jay Gatsby's wealth comes from illegal causes. Thus when Tom finds out about the connection his wife and Gatsby share, his attitude concerning Gatsby worsens. Hence when someone is needed to blame for Myrtle's death, Tom tells her husband that Jay Gatsby is the culprit, and this gets Gatsby killed. Tom does not feel an ounce of guilt for blaming Gatsby, he says, "that fellow had it coming to him" (Fitzgerald 178). Tom's wealth is the only thing that protects him
Tom and Daisy share more qualities than one could ever ponder. Both Tom and Daisy are careless when it comes to one another's feelings, Gatsby's feelings, as well as Myrtle's feelings. If Tom and Daisy really care for one another they would not treat each other with such little respect. Both the husband and wife are being unfaithful in this marriage, and this also relates back to how they treat the individuals they are seeing on the sly. Tom and Daisy's affairs are not fair to the marriage that they share, nor are they fair to the people they wish to love but keep "secret". Although Daisy is the one that toys with Gatsby's emotions, it is Tom that gets Gatsby killed. He does not physically kill Gatsby with his own two hands, but he is the one that tells Wilson the lie. Tom does not know for certain if Gatsby is the culprit, but either way he feels no guilt. Daisy's situation is a little different. In Daisy's case, she is the one that commits murder, but it isn't intentional. With what we can gather from the text Daisy is not aware of the victim's identity. Daisy does not know that she killed her husband's mistress. Tom sets out to destroy Gatsby's life, whereas Daisy unintentionally brings Myrtle's life to a harsh halt. Although the situations are different, carelessness and blame still play a role in both the lives of Tom and Daisy. Tom willingly