The very first page of The Great Gatsby says, “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” I feel like I should keep this in mind as I read, but it’s difficult to do so with characters such as Tom Buchannan and Myrtle Wilson who appear to have next to no conscience.
I don’t believe that I’ve ever detested a character as much as I do Tom Buchannan. In Nick’s first description of Tom, he says that Tom has “a cruel body”. This statement is what led me first to believe that Tom was either verbal abusive, physical abusive, or both. When he broke Myrtle’s nose in chapter 2, I knew that my suspicions were certainly confirmed. However messed up Tom is, it still baffles me that he has no shame about having a married mistress.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for writing about his disdain for materialism, and that disgust shows in the relationship between Tom and Daisy. Their marriage is loveless. As Myrtle’s sister Catherine says in chapter 2, “Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to.” When Nick asks why Tom and Daisy don’t get divorced, Catherine says it’s because Daisy’s Catholic. However, as her cousin, Nick knows that this isn’t true.
Daisy and Tom are living the “American Dream”. They’re married with money and a baby girl. They have high social standings and friends to have dinner parties with. The only thing that’s missing is the spark that exists between two people who truly want to be with each other. They lack the spark that exists between Tom and Myrtle and Daisy and Gatsby. They’ve put materialistic desires above personal happiness and both suffer the consequences of it.
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