10. Tom and Gatsby

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

The dynamic between Tom and Gatsby is really interesting. When Nick stops by the Gatsby mansion, he is surprised to find Tom Buchanon in the company of Gatsby as well as Mr. and Mrs. Sloane. It's interesting and quite strange to Nick that Gatsby is trying to find ways to spend more time with Tom. I think Gatsby is just trying to size Tom up, and he's trying to think of all the possible reasons Daisy would have fallen for Tom in his absence. I also think that it is unbelievably ironic when Tom once again questions why Daisy would have known Gatsby, he says, "I wonder where in the devil he met Daisy. By God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish" (Fitzgerald, 103). First of all- the "crazy fish" Tom is talking about is a man who is likely in love with Daisy, and she with him. Second, the notion of his "old-fashioned ideas" are a quite humorous if you ask me, from committing adultery, to being downright rude and violent, Tom is not the picture of purity and morality. Not to mention that Tom is one of the men "women run around with", so his argument is completely strewn right from under his feet. He is a dark man; I have no respect for Tom Buchanon.