The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby, a wonderful novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about a man by the
name of Jay Gatsby, and Jay’s dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire
happiness. To get to this happiness Jay must reach into the past and relive an old dream.
In the past, Jay had a love affair with the affluent Daisy, knowing he could not marry her
because he was poor at the time he left her and went to fight in the war. But once he had
became rich five years later, he hunted her down and moved close to her, and her new
husband Tom Buchanan.
Overall, Tom Buchanan and Mr. Gatsby are completely two different types of men,
in my opinion. Although there are limited examples of how they are similar. Both of the
men had a fondness for Nick Carraway, cousin to Daisy and neighbor to Gatsby. ? ? This
is just a friend…? ? (page 71.) Gatsby explains to Meyer Wolfsheim about young Nick
Carraway. ? ? When I said you were a particular friend of Tom’s, he started to abandon
the whole idea. ? ? (page 80.) Jordan Baker told Nick about her conversation with Mr.
Gatsby one evening. Gatsby loved Daisy so much more than Tom had, but Tom still
confessed his love for Daisy. ? ? And whats more, I love Daisy too. ? ? (page 132.) Tom
tried to defend himself as Gatsby accused him of not treating his wife right, and stating
that Daisy had never loved Tom. ? ?…Well, there I was, ?way of my ambitions, getting
deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn’t care. ? ? (page 150.) Tom tried
to explain to Nick of his love for Daisy. Also, one more similarity between Tom and Mr.
Gatsby, is the fact that they both had won over Daisy’s love. Daisy had loved them both.
? ? I did love him once – but I loved you too.? ? (page 133.) As Daisy had to explain her
love for her husband Tom, and her love for Mr. Gatsby, in front of Nick, Jordan, Tom,
and Gatsby.
There were many differences between Tom and Gatsby. First off, Tom lived in
East egg, the more wealthier part, while Gatsby had lived in West egg, where people
hadn’t inherited all their money, but mostly earned it through illegal matters. ? I lived at
West egg, the – well, the less fashionable of the two…the one on my right was a colossal
affair by any standard…It was Gatsby’s mansion. ? (page 5.) ? Across the courtesy bay
the white palaces of fashionable East egg glittered along the water, and the history of
the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom
Buchanans. ? (page 5.) Tom told of how he and Mr. Gatsby lived in West egg, and Tom
lived in East egg with his wife Daisy. Also, Tom had inherited his money, it was all
passed down, from generation to generation. When he was a young boy, his parents were
rich. Although, Gatsby had a very different background. He had inherited money from his
mentor Dan Cody, well he never really seen the money, but he was suppose to get it from
him. He had though, picked up his habits of bootlegging and getting money through
illegal matters from Dan Cody. And that is how he got all his money, from illegal
business. ? ? A lot of these newly rich people are just bootleggers, you know. ? ? (page
109.) Tom was describing Gatsby to Nick. ? His family were enormously wealthy – even
in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach. ? (page 6.) Nick dictates
the facts about Toms childhood and current state of wealth. One major difference in the
end, is Nick’s final opinion of the two men. At the end of the novel, Nick finds he loves
Gatsby and hates Tom. ? I found myself on Gatsby’s side, and alone. ? (page 165.)
Nick tells it the way it is. ? ? I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I had saw that what
he had done was, to him, entirely justified. ? ? (page 180.) Nick explains his feelings
toward Tom after he had last seen him after Gatsby’s death. HS
Mr. Tom Buchanan and Mr. Jay Gatsby, were two totally opposite men. They
were from different places, had different backgrounds, different morals, and different
behaviors. But what had got them in trouble was that they both had loved the same
woman, Daisy. And even though it obvious that Gatsby’s love for her was more special
and genuine, Tom had won in the end.
