Heel or Hero: Gatsby vs Tom Buchanan

[Monty J]

Let’s begin by comparing Rap Sheets:

Tom Buchanan:
Adultery--multiple counts (with Myrtle and a housemaid)
Domestic Violence*--one count (alcohol involved)
Racism--quotes from a book with racist views

Jay Gatsby:
Adultery--multiple counts (with Daisy)
Securities Fraud--multiple counts (illicit bonds)
Grand Theft by Deception--confidence racketeering
Vehicular Manslaughter--one count
Bootlegging--multiple counts
Consorting With Organized Crime

First, Gatsby and Vehicular Manslaughter. Daisy wasn't driving; Gatsby was. He lied about it to curry favor with Nick so he would join his sales team. It was Nick who suggested that Daisy was driving, and Gatsby, after a pregnant pause, merely agreed with him. The ONLY source for believing that Daisy killed Myrtle was Gatsby's backhanded agreement with Nick’s suggestion. It's the word of a proven liar and thief, a man who lied about his own name, versus the sworn testimony of credible eyewitnesses that it was a man driving and the car never stopped.

There's not a shred of credible evidence that Daisy was driving, yet, even if Daisy were driving, Gatsy could have stopped his car--by pulling on the emergency brake--and rendered aid, according an opportunity to apologize to Wilson and helping assuage somewhat his loss. Failing to do so makes Gatsby guilty of involuntary vehicular manslaughter and culpable in his own murder by Wilson.

Do not be swayed by Nick, who has a history of believing Gatsby's lies about inheriting wealth and investing in rubies. Despite knowing that Gatsby consorts with Meyer Wolfsheim--who pals around with gangsters who engage in gun-play in the streets and who rigged the 1919 World Series--Nick does nothing to check out Gatsby's outrageous avowed history.

If Gatsby said the moon was green cheese, Nick would believe him. He exploited Nick to get to Daisy and tried to further exploit him by recruiting him for his illicit bond sales team. Gatsby is a user, a manipulator.

Gatsby’s involvement in Bootlegging, Securities Fraud/Grand Theft by Deception and Consorting are clearly expressed in the novel.


A closer look at Tom Buchanan reveals he had no way of knowing Wilson would kill Gatsby when he told him at the accident scene the yellow car wasn't his. Later the next day at his house, he was forced to reveal Gatsby's name or risk getting shot. It wasn't as if he had some plot to kill Gatsby.

Tom showed humanity when he cried over Myrtle. He wept in the car on the way home from the accident (Ch.VII, p.141) [Nick, narrating]:

I heard a low husky sob, and saw that the tears were overflowing down his face.

Tom set Myrtle up with a nice apartment rather than dragging her from hotel to hotel. He bought her a cute little puppy, and he wept again when he saw the dog biscuits at the apartment after her death (Ch. IX, p.179) [Tom]:

"I went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard, I sat down and cried like a baby."

In the Plaza Hotel suite confrontation, Tom confessed his sins, professed his love for Daisy and vowed to reform, fighting for her by touchingly reminding her of scene after scene of their romantic history (Ch. IX, p.132)[Tom]:

"Not that day I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep your shoes dry?" There was a husky tenderness in his tone.... "Daisy?"

Tom had the good sense to have Gatsby investigated, thereby salvaging his marriage, yet he's been vilified for having the audacity to expose Gatsby.


Tom was careless, but his actions hurt only a few people--Daisy and the Wilsons, whereas Gatsby's bond scam hurt hundreds, if not thousands of people. There was no way of knowing George would commit homicide until it was too late. Tom was guilty adultery and carelessness, whereas Gatsby was guilty of adultery, vehicular manslaughter, securities fraud and grand theft by deception.

That Tom is an arrogant thoughtless brute who doesn't know his own strength was established in chapter one when Daisy called him out in front of Nick for accidentally bruising her wrist. Yes, Tom was a racist, as were 98% of the whites in this country back then. (In 1906 a black man, Ota Benga, was exhibited in a cage in the Bronx Zoo with an orangutan. Despicable, yes, but those were the times.) Everyone at Myrtle's party was drunk, and she goaded Tom after he warned her to shut up about Daisy. He didn't punch her; he reflexively slapped her. She was at least partly to blame by inflicting mental torture on him. Breaking her nose was clearly an accident.

Fitzgerald did not portray Tom as uni-dimensional. He has a good side the same as Gatsby, but curiously, everyone, including academics and literary critics, who should know better, portrays Tom strictly as an upper class villain who exploits the lower classes. Filmmakers, too. Neither of the two most recent films showed Tom's vulnerable side.

For Tom to be painted as a uni-dimensional villain is inconsistent with the text. Stop and take a broader look. He's shown far more humanity than Gatsby, who shows no concern for others except Daisy, the object of his pleasure, and certainly none for her daughter, five-year-old Pammy, and pathologically so, none for the people he's defrauding in the bond scam. If you see some evidence of Gatsby's humanity, please present it.

Viewing Gatsby as a victim of Tom and Daisy is untrue to the book. As any sensible woman would have done, Daisy rejected Gatsby when she learned he was a criminal. Losing Daisy was not due to some defect in Daisy; it was due to Gatsby's own corruption.

Gatsby's no victim; he's a perpetrator. He deserved jail, but not death. His death was due to him running down Myrtle. He's not only a criminal but a coward. A dreamer who acted on his dream, yes, but a greatly flawed anti-hero.

Who's the greater threat to society, Tom or Gatsby? You decide.

*the text, (ch 2, p.37), Nick narrates:

Sometime toward midnight, Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face, discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy's name.
"Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai---"
Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.

Given the amount of alcohol consumed and the late hour, it was enough to make Tom momentarily lose control. One alcohol-laden mistake in the heat of being verbally assaulted does not a pattern make. Clearly, Myrtle was goading him. Elsewhere the text shows she was used to bullying her passive husband George and getting away with it. This time it backfired. Here's an example of what Myrtle thinks of her husband (Ch.VII, p. 137):

[Myrtle speaking]"Beat me!" he [Michaelis] heard her cry. "Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward.!"

She is partially culpable in her own injury. To blame? No, but partially responsible. Tom would not have struck her had she not been goading him.

[Monty J]

Ellen wrote: "WARNING: There is no way to respond to this GR member in a way which he will accept which will not involve decriminalizing what we call in my state "AOF," or assault on a female."

The facts speak for themselves. People will make up their own minds about them unassisted. If you can't refute them, attacking the messenger merely exposes your incapacity.

[Geoffrey]

Monty, you are way over the line on this issue. Please think it through better. And you never once did mention that Tom was a KKK sympathizer and racist. The book he cites in the beginning of the story is one which was the triple K´s Bible during the 20´s

[Karen]

Geoffrey wrote: "Monty, you are way over the line on this issue. Please think it through better. And you never once did mention that Tom was a KKK sympathizer and racist. The book he cites in the beginning of the s..."

Thank you

[Monty J]

Geoffrey wrote: "And you never once did mention that Tom was a KKK sympathizer and racist. The book he cites in the beginning of the story is one which was the triple K´s Bible during the 20´s."

I forgot about the racism. Thanks for reminding me. I'll add it.

But where (in the text) does it indicate he's a KKK sympathizer? I'm not finding it with a word search for "KKK" or "Ku Klux."

Monty, you are way over the line on this issue.

Yeah, but ain't it fun?

[Karen]

Ellen wrote;
"Seriously, I resent the way you trample over any new reader's attempt to discuss the book. There are several threads here that you have overtaken, created by first-time readers of the book, and you will not allow any opinion but your own. Why are you such a tyrant?

At your age, you should not be trampling all over the young as they discover literature. Surely there are better outlets for your issues"

I'm glad I have your support here, I am frankly tired of it, and I am afraid I have been too passive in voicing that until you posted earlier regarding the rationalization of violence toward women.

[Monty J]

Ellen wrote: "Why are you such a tyrant?"

Why are you attacking the messenger instead of responding to the text I've cited? Name-calling is the tyranny.

All I've done is cite text that seems overlooked so people can judge it as they see fit.

[Geoffrey]

Monty J wrote: "Geoffrey wrote: "And you never once did mention that Tom was a KKK sympathizer and racist. The book he cites in the beginning of the story is one which was the triple K´s Bible during the 20´s."

I..."

yes, it is fun, I have to agree. Nothing better than a great intellectual debate, or even a minor one among us half-wits. No, I am taking liberties with the KKK accusation, but it wouldn´t surprise me. His white supremacy attitude fits in well.

[Geoffrey]

Now Ellen, I have to agree with Monty. His is not a domineering personality from what I can tell and I have been following him for years.

[Petergiaquinta]

Jeezus, Monty, your ongoing misreading of Gatsby and the way you continue to inflict your kooky views on the GoodReads public regarding the title character, especially your misinformed reading of the accident with Myrtle, reminds me a lot of the way Cosmic bombards the threads with her own personal confusion about Catcher. It's not healthy.

You're entitled to your opinions, but you don't come across as a very informed reader. And now the way you are soft-pedaling the character of Tom Buchanan is a bit sickening. Maybe you don't like what Fitzgerald has to say in this novel, but you can't take his words and his characters and make them mean something else. That's not the way it all works...

[Monty J]

Petergiaquinta wrote: "That's not the way it all works."


I'm happy to back up anything I've said with citations from the book. Just let me know where you think I've misstated something.

Opinions, and you have every right to yours, are a dime a dozen. People will read what I have written and judge for themselves. They don't need to be told how to think.

[Petergiaquinta]

Monty, I've engaged you on your ridiculous ideas about who was driving the car. I won't be doing that any longer because like Cosmic you don't respond to reason or textual evidence, and you clearly don't understand the novel as a whole. If you want to play Cosmic with Gatsby and think you've unlocked some secret meanings to the novel hidden to all but you, go ahead. But show me one serious lit critic, scholar of the book or prof who is on board with your reading...

No, now I'm just troubled by you soft pedaling a man who is an ignorant racist and a classist, part of the old money 1% who does whatever he wants, hurts people and moves on. I'm especially troubled by the way you have excused his abusive treatment of women. And Tom is also complicit in the murder of Gatsby, although I know you don't care much about that.

But whatever, Monty, you can cling to whatever peculiar view of the book you like. You're a romantic, just like Gatsby, in love with your own ideas, standing outside the house all night in the darkness, but it doesn't mean what you are longing for is true.

[Karen]

Petergiaquinta wrote;
"No, now I'm just troubled by you soft pedaling a man who is an ignorant racist and a classist, part of the old money 1% who does whatever he wants, hurts people and moves on. I'm especially troubled by the way you have excused his abusive treatment of women. And Tom is also complicit in the murder of Gatsby, although I know you don't care much about that."

Thank you Peter for saying this better than I ever could.

[Monty J]

Petergiaquinta wrote: "Monty, I've engaged you on your ridiculous ideas about who was driving the car."

Your argument was so full of holes I didn't give it much thought. I had other priorities. But since you bring it up, I am happy to number the paragraphs in your elephantine sieve and address them comprehensively, rather than piecemeal.


No, now I'm just troubled by you soft pedaling a man who is an ignorant racist and a classist, part of the old money 1% who does whatever he wants, hurts people and moves on. I'm especially troubled by the way you have excused his abusive treatment of women

What I did was bring up for discussion what Fitzgerald wrote. I didn't write the paragraphs I referred to; Fitzgerald did. But instead of discussing what the author wrote, people attacked me as if I endorsed Tom's behavior.

Apparently some people aren't capable of facing the text on the page.

I'm going to replace this topic with a new one structured so there's no misunderstanding and lay some ground rules so that people can't hijack the discussion with political rants. I'll leave this one up for a couple of days in case anyone has something they want to keep. Then replace it with the new one.

[Geoffrey]

Monty J wrote: "Let’s begin by comparing Rap Sheets:

Tom Buchanan:
Adultery--multiple counts (with Myrtle and a housemaid)
Domestic Violence*--one count (alcohol involved)
Racism--quotes from a book with racist v..."

You have to add accessory to murder as well.

[Monty J]

Geoffrey wrote: "You have to add accessory to murder as well."

If you're referring to Daisy, she didn't kill Myrtle. Gatsby did.

If you're referring to Gatsby's death, Tom had no way of knowing Wilson would kill him. Identifying the owner of a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run homicide is a civic duty, not a crime. And Tom didn't go looking for Wilson; Wilson came after him, with his hand on a gun.

Furthermore, Tom thought, and correctly so, that Gatsby was the driver, which means he was reporting not only the owner of the car, but the perpetrator of murder.

You've just illustrated the Iceberg Principle. Your one-sided judgement of Tom comes from within you.

[Petergiaquinta]

Okay, Cosmic...

[Karen]

Yep, Cosmic. And it's getting worse.

[Geoffrey]

Monty J wrote: "Geoffrey wrote: "You have to add accessory to murder as well."

If you're referring to Daisy, she didn't kill Myrtle. Gatsby did.

If you're referring to Gatsby's death, Tom had no way of knowing W..."

If someone threatens me with a gun in his hand for a crime he thought I had committed and I tell him who did the deed you better believe that person may very well kill.

[Geoffrey]

So it´s not a civic duty to inform the police?

[Geoffrey]

Monty
Tom wouldn´t have stood a chance had the police learned that he had informed Wilson of Jay´s ¨complicity¨. He would have fried in jail with a conviction of accessory to murder. You need to read up on law.

[Monty J]

Geoffrey wrote: "If someone threatens me with a gun in his hand for a crime he thought I had committed..."

A--Tom told Wilson at the accident scene that the yellow car he drove earlier wasn't his and he couldn't have driven:

"Listen," said Tom, shaking him a little. "I just got here a minute ago from New York. I was bringing you that coupe we've been talking about. That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn't mine--do you hear? I haven't seen it all afternoon."

Geoffrey wrote:"...and I tell him who did the deed you better believe that person may very well kill."

An assumption you have every right to make. But it's still an assumption, and Tom likely was preoccupied with getting out of town.

In any event, Tom didn't say who was driving, only who owned the car (Ch.IX, p.178) [Tom]

"I told him the truth," he said. "He came to the door while we were getting ready to leave, and when I sent down word that we weren't in he tried to force his way upstairs. He was crazy enough to kill me if I hadn't told him who owned the car."

[Monty J]

Geoffrey wrote: "Monty: Tom wouldn´t have stood a chance had the police learned that he had informed Wilson of Jay´s ¨complicity¨. He would have fried in jail with a conviction of accessory to murder.

Nope, not if Wilson had a gun. That's duress. (Look it up. It's a legal term. Here's Wiki's explanation:

In jurisprudence, duress or coercion refers to a situation whereby a person performs an act as a result of violence, threat or other pressure against the person. Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.) defines duress as "any unlawful threat or coercion used... to induce another to act [or not act] in a manner [they] otherwise would not [or would]". Duress is pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act that he or she ordinarily would not perform.)

[Monty J]

Geoffrey wrote: "So it´s not a civic duty to inform the police?"

Tom's first duty was to his family, to get them safely away from: a) a guy with a gun who tried to force his way upstairs and b) another guy, mob-connected, who tried to steal his wife and who just ran over Myrtle as if she were "a dog in the street." Only then does he have a duty to phone the cops. Family safety first.