Sunday, May 17, 2009

20. Gatsby and Tom

Compare and contrast Gatsby and Tom.

3 comments:

  1. Tom is a man who flaunts his wealth while Gatsby is the opposite. Tom wants to have a perfect family and life. He has a nice house and family which he constantly shows off, yet he cheats on his wife. Tom wants to show that he can take care of two women at the same time. Gatsby is a man that has lots of money and a big house, but does not need to show off as much as Tom does. Many of the guests that go to Gatsby’s parties spread rumors about their host that are not true but many guests don’t know whether or not they are because they have never even met Gatsby. Gatsby likes to please people without really getting all of the credit for what was done, while Tom wants all of the credit for himself.

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  2. I agree with Tania, where Tom is a self-centered show-off while Gatsby is a generous and devoted character. i must disagree that Gastby does not try to show off his wealth. The fact that Gatsby throws the biggest parties in the Island and has many important known and unknown guests attend mean he likes to show off his success, after all he is a self made man. I think it is in human nature to show our achievements and success since we all would feel proud of it. It is similar to the feeling we get when we get some sort of special award; we try to show people how good we have been and how successful we can be. Both Tom and Gatsby are not too different, but it is true that Gatsby is an overall better person, more devoted and hard-working.

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  3. I agree with Eduardo in that Gatsby does show off his wealth. The whole purpose of getting rich and throwing huge and extravagant parties was to show off his wealth and hope that the word of his party would reach Daisy and she would show up for a party a reunite with Gatsby. In that aspect, both Gatsby and Tom are similar. Tom also likes to brag of what he has. Tom is an egocentric chauvinist. He likes to show off his power and by being with 2 girls at once he is showing he can. On the other hand, Gatsby is a peaceful timid man. In that aspect, Gatsby is a more noble man than Tom even though both are similar in wealth and love toward Daisy.

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