The Confrontational Relationship Between Tom and Gatsby in F Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby
Choose a novel which features a relationship between two characters which is confrontational. Describe how the relationship is portrayed and discuss to what extent the nature of the relationship influences your understanding of the text as a whole.
In F Scott Fitzgerald’s important, tragic American novel, “The Great Gatsby” the conflict and confrontation between Tom Buchannan and Jay Gatsby is central to the novel’s power in the way in which is exposes the falseness of the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses the confrontation and contrast between these two characters to explore this theme and does so through his effective use of characterisation, symbolism and key moments of tension.
Firstly, we can see the way in which Fitzgerald uses the characterisation of Gatsby to establish the contrasts existing between hi m and Tom which will lead to their eventual confrontation. When Gatsby is first introduced he is alone and seems lonely:
“He stretched his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…Involuntarily, I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.”
This introduction to Gatsby already indicates his close link with the theme of the Death of the American Dream; Gatsby’s characterisation is a constant reminder of the falseness of the American Dream and how it cannot be achieved. Gatsby’s idealism and unrealistic dream of Daisy is revealed to be a fantasy and doomed to failure. We sense this in the tone of this passage where Gatsby is seen reaching out for his green light (a symbolic representation of Daisy). The bleak truth held within the novel is that he can never reach his dream because his dream is based on an illusion. This contrasts with Tom in the way in which both men see the world on such profoundly different terms. Consequently, the first time Nick meets Gatsby
In F Scott Fitzgerald’s important, tragic American novel, “The Great Gatsby” the conflict and confrontation between Tom Buchannan and Jay Gatsby is central to the novel’s power in the way in which is exposes the falseness of the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses the confrontation and contrast between these two characters to explore this theme and does so through his effective use of characterisation, symbolism and key moments of tension.
Firstly, we can see the way in which Fitzgerald uses the characterisation of Gatsby to establish the contrasts existing between hi m and Tom which will lead to their eventual confrontation. When Gatsby is first introduced he is alone and seems lonely:
“He stretched his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…Involuntarily, I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.”
This introduction to Gatsby already indicates his close link with the theme of the Death of the American Dream; Gatsby’s characterisation is a constant reminder of the falseness of the American Dream and how it cannot be achieved. Gatsby’s idealism and unrealistic dream of Daisy is revealed to be a fantasy and doomed to failure. We sense this in the tone of this passage where Gatsby is seen reaching out for his green light (a symbolic representation of Daisy). The bleak truth held within the novel is that he can never reach his dream because his dream is based on an illusion. This contrasts with Tom in the way in which both men see the world on such profoundly different terms. Consequently, the first time Nick meets Gatsby