Introduction:

Fitzgerald paints a dramatic picture of life in the 1920’s in the classier parts of
the United States, in the novel “The Great Gatsby”,. Living the high life has its perks,
however, there are stories behind it. The two in particular are the main character, Jay
Gatsby and his main rival Tom Buchanan. These two gentlemen are distinguished by
their similarities and differences: physical characteristics, personalities and so on.
This essay will go over just a few of them.

Main points to contrast: First we meet Jay Gatsby. He is the “New Money” in the
neighborhood whereas Tom Buchanan, is the “Old Money.” The meaning is Tom
comes from a rich family and is seen as spoiled. However, Jay Gatsby is a self-made
man. He worked hard to make his fortune and it shows in his personality and actions.
Gatsby's character is representative of the newly rich's lack of taste, ostentation,
lavish parties and spending. Tom's character, on the other hand, is more old-
fashioned and restrained, at least on the surface. Tom and Daisy's home is subtle
and beautifully decorated. Gatsby's is a mansion, garishly decorated, and a site for
all sorts of excess. Gatsby dresses in a loud pink suit, whereas Tom is more
reserved in his dressing style.
Jay is a one woman lover, he seems to chase after Daisy for most of his life.
He is dedicated and loyal, like he was when working for Dan Cody. Tom, on the
other hand is a cheater, and cheats multiple times. Tom is not described as a loyal
person, as it was mentioned in the beginning of the novel that he has many enemies.
Jay is well mannered and “cool” because he learned it from Dan Cody. However,
Tom is aggressive and arrogant. His description is very stiff, unlike Jay’s mystery.
Since Gatsby has more of a “blank slate” and mysterious appearance, readers can
imagine his changing personalities such as: mysterious party host to a military man,
then someone madly in love with Daisy, and finally to the ambitious farmboy James
Gatz
Main points of comparison: They both are in “love” with Daisy. Gatsby is a
mysterious figure who keeps his past hidden. In fact, he invented his own identity.
His real name is James Gatz. He grew up in extreme poverty in North Dakota
without prospects or education. The Army was his means of escape. He met and fell
in love with Daisy in Louisville, Kentucky, before going to the war. She married Tom
in 1919. James Gatz is mysteriously transformed into Jay Gatsby during the post-
war years. His new identity and wealth are motivated by his desire to regain Daisy.
Tom, on the other hand, is easily seen as a young, spoiled rich man. However, his
character is far darker. He is abusive, sexist and racist. They are both intelligent
such as Jay going to Oxford, and Tom going to Yale. Tom is described to read “The
Rise of the Colored Empire” just so that he can justify his racist attitude. On the other
hand, Jay Gatsby used his intelligence to create his fortune, although it was a bit
illegal, from the bootlegging and gambling. Both in the end, are tragedies. Jay,
because he did not achieve his dream that he worked so hard for and Tom, because
he will never learn from his mistakes.

Conclusion:

Since the 1920’s, times have changed but as told in “The Great Gatsby,” life is not as
spectacular as it may seem. From a hidden past, to an unrealized dream, the
characters involved influenced each others decisions and their mistakes. Even if
their lives appear grand, to understand the story, we must know the characters.
Tom Buchanan's Physical Description

He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy, straw haired
man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining,
arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the
appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate
swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body—he
seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing and you could
see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat.
It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body. (1.19) page 7

Tom is a manly man. He is aggressive and is considered to be dangerous. Because

of his description in chapter one, it is hard to see him as anything else other than a
stereotypical muscle-head.

Tom Buchanan’s Background

Tom came from a rich family, so it can be described as his family comes from “Old
Money.” Since he is wealthy he went to Yale University. Tom met Nick in the football
team that they played together in. Tom has a lot of enemies as the quote says “there
were men at New Haven that hated his guts.”(p.7)
Later in his life, he marries Daisy, a wealthy heiress from Louisville. Daisy really
loves him, but he cheats on her with a housekeeper from the hotel that they stayed
at (p.77). Tom cheats on his wife more than once. (p.15, p.24)
They move around the world, like Chicago and France, including their little daughter
Pammy. It is inferred that Tom is cheating on Daisy after giving birth when she says
he’s “god knows where” (p.16)
The family moves to New York, and Tom begins having an affair with Myrtle Wilson
shortly afterwards.

Jay Gatsby's Physical Description

We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age (3.60)

He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was one of those
rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across
four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for
an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your
favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in
you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely
the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that
point it vanished--and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or
two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd.
(3.76)
 His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked
as though it were trimmed every day. (3.93)

Gatsby’s very first appearance was described as just another party-goer of Nick’s
age before it’s revealed that he’s actually the famous Gatsby. Nick’s says Gatsby’s
smile is “rare” and “full of eternal reassurances” that “understood you the way you
wanted to be understood” that sets the overall tone of Jay as someone alluring and
mysterious.
Gatsby has tan skin and short hair, as described and nothing else. Since Gatsby has
more of a “blank slate” and mysterious appearance, readers can imagine his
changing personalities such as: mysterious party host to a military man, then
someone madly in love with Daisy, and finally to the ambitious farmboy James Gatz.
Tom Buchanan and others are stiffly characterized.

Jay Gatsby's Background

Jay is considered “New Money” as he did not come from a rich family and was a self-
made rich person. Gatsby’s real name was “James Gatz,” the son of poor farmers, in
North Dakota. He was ambitious and wanted to be a success. He changed his name
to “Jay Gatsby” and learned how to act rich on the yacht of Dan Cody, a wealthy
man who he saved from a destructive storm and ended up becoming his boss. Cody
intended to leave his fortune to Gatsby but it ended up being taken by Cody’s ex-wife
Ella Kaye. Gatsby had the manners and skills of the rich, but no money to show for
it.
Gatsby was in the military during World War I. While in Louisville, he met Daisy just
before he had to go to Europe. While in uniform, there was no way for anyone to
know he wasn’t wealthy, Daisy assumed he was due to his manners. He kept up this
lie to keep up their romance, and when he left she promised to wait for him.
Gatsby fought in the War but by the time Gatsby returned to America, he learned
that Daisy had married and became determined to win her back.
Through Meyer Wolfshiem, Gatsby got into shady business like bootlegging and
gambling to get rich. It worked, and Gatsby accrued a huge sum of money in just 3
years. He moved to West Egg, bought an extravagant mansion and a Rolls Royce,
and started throwing lavish parties and building up a reputation, all in the hopes of
meeting Daisy again.

Summary of Action in the Novel

In Chapter 1, Daisy Buchanan invites her cousin Nick Carraway to dinner at the
Buchanans’ house. Nick is an old classmate of Tom’s who just moved to New York.
Daisy and Nick take a private walk where Daisy confesses some of her unhappiness
to Nick, but Tom cautions Nick not to believe everything Daisy says.
In Chapter 2, Tom takes Nick with him to see Myrtle, his mistress. They meet up in
Queens and then later in Manhattan, and have a party at the apartment Tom keeps
for Myrtle. As the evening draws to a close, Tom punches Myrtle in the face and
breaks her nose.
In Chapter 6, Tom attends one of Gatsby’s parties with Daisy, and immediately
becomes suspicious of Gatsby’s wealth and his wife’s relationship with him, and
asks a friend to investigate him.
In Chapter 7, Gatsby comes over for lunch at the Buchanans’ house, along with Nick
and Jordan. The group ends up going to Manhattan at Daisy’s suggestion. Tom
notices the way Daisy looks at Gatsby and realizes they are having an affair. But
during the climactic confrontation in a Manhattan hotel, when Gatsby tries to get
Daisy to admit she never loved Tom, Daisy can’t. Tom reveals that Gatsby is a
bootlegger and promises to treat Daisy better. After this confrontation, Tom lets
Gatsby and Daisy drive back to West Egg alone together. This is a show of power:
Tom is saying he has nothing to fear from Gatsby and knows that Daisy will never
leave him.
On that drive back, Daisy fatally hits Myrtle. Tom stops at the scene afterward, finds
out Gatsby’s yellow car hit Myrtle, assumes it was Gatsby, and sobs on the drive
back to East Egg.
In Chapter 8, in the aftermath of Myrtle's murder, Tom and Daisy remain together
and quickly leave New York, George Wilson shoots Gatsby and then himself, leaving
Nick to grapple with Gatsby’s death alone.
In Chapter 9, Tom runs into Nick outside of a jewelry store and confesses to Nick
that he insinuated to George that Gatsby was both his wife’s killer and her lover,
sparking the murder.

Tom Buchanan Quotes

“[Tom], among various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most
powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven—a national figure in a way,
one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that
everything afterward savors of anti-climax.” (1.16)

Tom is established early on as restless and bored, with the threat of physical
aggression lurking behind that restlessness. With his glory days on the Yale football
team well behind him, he seems to constantly be searching for – and failing to find –
the excitement of a college football game. Perhaps Tom, like Gatsby, is also trying,
and failing, to repeat the past in his own way.

"Well, it's a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don't look
out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged. It's all scientific stuff; it's
been proved." (1.78)

In Chapter 1, we learn Tom has been reading “profound” books lately, including
racist ones that claim the white race is superior to all others and has to maintain
control over society. This speaks to Tom’s insecurity – even as someone born into
incredible money and privilege, there’s a fear it could be taken away by social
climbers. That insecurity only translates into even more overt shows of his power -
flaunting his relationship with Myrtle, revealing Gatsby as a bootlegger, and
manipulating George to kill Gatsby – thus completely freeing the Buchanans from
any consequences from the murders.

"Don't believe everything you hear, Nick," he advised me. (1.143)

Early in the book, Tom advises Nick not to believe rumors and gossip, but
specifically what Daisy has been telling him about their marriage.
Nick certainly is wary of most people he meets, and, indeed, he sees through
Daisy in Chapter 1 when he observes she has no intentions of leaving Tom
despite her complaints: “Their interest rather touched me and made them less
remotely rich—nevertheless, I was confused and a little disgusted as I drove
away. It seemed to me that the thing for Daisy to do was to rush out of the
house, child in arms—but apparently there were no such intentions in her
head” (1.150). But as the book goes on, Nick drops some of his earlier
skepticism as he comes to learn more about Gatsby and his life story, coming
to admire him despite his status as a bootlegger and criminal.
This leaves us with an image of Tom as cynical and suspicious in comparison
to the optimistic Gatsby – but perhaps also more clear-eyed than Nick is by the
end of the novel.

"And what's more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make
a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time."
(7.251-252)

After seeing Tom’s liaisons with Myrtle and his generally boorish behavior, this claim
to loving Daisy comes off as fake at best and manipulative at worst (especially since
a spree is a euphemism for an affair!).
We also see Tom grossly underreporting his bad behavior (we have seen one of his
“sprees” and it involved violently breaking Myrtle’s nose after sleeping with her while
Nick was in the next room) and either not realizing or ignoring how damaging his
actions can be to others. He is explicit about his misbehavior and doesn’t seem sorry
at all – he feels like his “sprees” don’t matter as long as he comes back to Daisy after
they’re over.
In short, this quote captures how the reader comes to understand Tom late in the
novel – as a selfish rich man who breaks things and leaves others to clean up his
mess.

"I found out what your 'drug-stores' were." He turned to us and spoke rapidly. "He
and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago
and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts. I picked him
for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong." (7.284)

Again, Tom’s jealousy and anxiety about class are revealed. Though e immediately
pegs Gatsby for a bootlegger rather than someone who inherited his money, Tom
still makes a point of doing an investigation to figure out exactly where the money
came from. This shows that he does feel a bit threatened by Gatsby, and wants to be
sure he thoroughly knocks him down.
But at the same time, he’s the only one in the room who sees Gatsby for who he
actually is. This is also a moment where you, as a reader, can really see how
clouded Nick’s judgment of Gatsby has become.
 "You two start on home, Daisy," said Tom. "In Mr. Gatsby's car."
She looked at Tom, alarmed now, but he insisted with magnanimous scorn.
"Go on. He won't annoy you. I think he realizes that his presumptuous little
flirtation is over." (7.296-298)

A common question students have after reading Gatsby for the first time is this: why
does Tom let Daisy and Gatsby ride back together? If he’s so protective and jealous
of Daisy, wouldn’t he insist she come with him?
The answer is that he is demonstrating his power over both Daisy and Gatsby – he’s
no longer scared that Daisy will leave him for Gatsby, and he’s basically rubbing that
in Gatsby’s face. He’s saying that he doesn’t even fear leaving them alone together,
because he knows that nothing Gatsby says or does would convince Daisy to leave
him. It’s a subtle but crucial show of power – and of course ends up being a fatal
choice.

“What if I did tell him? That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your
eyes just like he did in Daisy's but he was a tough one. He ran over Myrtle like
you'd run over a dog and never even stopped his car." (9.143)

One of Tom’s last lines in the novel, he coldly tells Nick that Gatsby was fooling both
him and Daisy. Of course, since we know that Gatsby didn't actually run over Daisy,
we can read this line in one of three ways:

 Maybe Daisy never actually admitted to Tom that she was the one driving the
car that night, so he still has no idea that his wife killed his mistress.
 Or maybe the way Tom has made peace with what happened is by convincing
himself that even if Daisy was technically driving, Gatsby is to blame for
Myrtle's death anyway.
 Or maybe Tom is still scared of speaking the truth about Daisy's involvement
to anyone, including Nick, on the off chance that the police will reopen the
case with new evidence.

Depending on your interpretation, you can use this line as evidence if you’re arguing
for a darker, more selfish version of Gatsby’s character.

What Jay Gatsby Does in the Novel

Although Nick briefly glimpses Gatsby reaching out to Daisy’s green light at the end
of Chapter 1, we don’t properly meet Gatsby until Chapter 3. Gatsby has been
throwing lavish parties, and he invites Nick Carraway to one. They meet, and
Gatsby takes a liking to Nick, inviting him out on his hydroplane the next day. He
also speaks to Jordan Baker in private, and reveals his past history with Daisy
Buchanan.
In Chapter 4, he spends more time with Nick, telling him about his service in WWI as
well as a made-up story about his past as the only surviving member of a wealthy
family. Later, he has Jordan explain Gatsby and Daisy’s background in a bid to get
Nick to help the pair reunite.
Through Jordan and Nick, Gatsby is thus able to meet with Daisy again and begins
an affair with her in Chapter 5.
Throughout all of this Gatsby continues to do business with Meyer Wolfsheim and
run his own bootlegging “business," mainly based on the mysterious phone calls he's
always taking. Rumors begin to swirl about where he got his money. Tom Buchanan,
in particular, is instantly suspicious of Gatsby when they meet in Chapter 6 and even
more so after he and Daisy attend one of Gatsby’s parties. Daisy seems particularly
unhappy and Gatsby frets.
At the beginning of Chapter 7, he stops throwing the parties, fires his current staff,
and hires Wolfshiem’s people instead, telling Nick he needs discreet people – this
makes the affair easier, but also hints at Gatsby’s criminal doings. In the climactic
Manhattan confrontation with Tom and Daisy later in Chapter 7, Gatsby tries to get
Daisy to admit she never loved Tom, and to leave him, but she doesn’t. Later in the
same chapter, he and Daisy leave together to drive back to West Egg in Gatsby’s
distinctive yellow car. However, Daisy is driving and hits and kills Myrtle Wilson, who
ran out into the road since she thought the car was Tom’s. Gatsby resolves to take
the blame for the incident and still believes that Daisy will leave Tom for him.
During Chapter 8, Gatsby confides in Nick about his past, the true story this time. At
the end of Chapter 8, Gatsby is shot and killed by George Wilson, who believes
Gatsby killed Myrtle and was the one sleeping with her. Meanwhile, Daisy and Tom
have left town to avoid the repercussions of Myrtle’s death.
In Chapter 9, Gatsby’s funeral is sparsely attended, despite Nick’s efforts to invite
people. Gatsby’s father does make an appearance, sharing some details about
young Jay’s early ambition and focus. Nick leaves New York shortly after,
disenchanted with life on the east coast. Thus Gatsby's actual death has caused
Nick's metaphorical death of leaving New York forever.

Jay Gatsby Quotes

Catchphrase: “old sport”

Gatsby adopts this catchphrase, which was used among wealthy people in England
and America at the time, to help build up his image as a man from old money, which
is related to his frequent insistence he is “an Oxford man.” Note that both Jordan
Baker and Tom Buchanan are immediately skeptical of both Gatsby’s “old sport”
phrase and his claim to being an Oxford man, indicating that despite Gatsby’s
efforts, it is incredibly difficult to pass yourself off as “old money” when you aren’t.

He reached in his pocket and a piece of metal, slung on a ribbon, fell into my
palm.
"That's the one from Montenegro."
To my astonishment, the thing had an authentic look.
Orderi di Danilo, ran the circular legend, Montenegro, Nicolas Rex.
"Turn it."
 Major Jay Gatsby, I read, For Valour Extraordinary. (4.34-39)

In this moment, Nick begins to believe and appreciate Gatsby, and not just see him
as a puffed-up fraud. The medal, to Nick, is hard proof that Gatsby did, in fact, have
a successful career as an officer during the war and therefore that some of Gatsby’s
other claims might be true.
For the reader, the medal serves as questionable evidence that Gatsby really is an
“extraordinary” man – isn’t it a strange that Gatsby has to produce physical evidence
to get Nick to buy his story? (Imagine how strange it would be to carry around a
physical token to show to strangers to prove your biggest achievement.)

He had passed visibly through two states and was entering upon a third. After his
embarrassment and his unreasoning joy he was consumed with wonder at her
presence. He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the
end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity.
Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an overwound clock. (5.114)

In Chapter 5, the dream Gatsby has been working towards for years – to meet and
impress Daisy with his fabulous wealth – finally begins to come to fruition. And so,
for the first time, we see Gatsby’s genuine emotions, rather than his carefully-
constructed persona. Nick finds these emotions almost as beautiful and
transformative as Gatsby’s smile, though there’s also the sense that this love could
quickly veer off the rails: Gatsby is running down “like an overwound clock.” In that
sense, this moment gently foreshadows the escalating tensions that lead to the
novel's tragic climax.

"I wouldn't ask too much of her," I ventured. "You can't repeat the past."
"Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!"
He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his
house, just out of reach of his hand.
"I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before," he said, nodding
determinedly. "She'll see." (6.128-131)

This is probably Gatsby’s single most famous line. His insistence that he can repeat
the past and recreate everything as it was in Louisville sums up his intense
determination to win Daisy back at any cost. It also shows his naiveté and optimism,
even delusion, about what is possible in his life – an attitude which are increasingly
at odds with the cynical portrait of the world painted by Nick Carraway.

"Your wife doesn't love you," said Gatsby. "She's never loved you. She loves me."
(7.238)

This is the moment Gatsby lays his cards out on the table, so to speak – he risks
everything to try and win over Daisy. His insistence that Daisy never loved Tom also
reveals how Gatsby refuses to acknowledge Daisy could have changed or loved
anyone else since they were together in Louisville.
This declaration, along with his earlier insistence that he can “repeat the past,”
creates an image of an overly optimistic, naïve person, despite his experiences in
the war and as a bootlegger. Especially since Daisy can’t support this statement,
saying that she loved both Tom and Gatsby, and Tom quickly seizes power over the
situation by practically ordering Gatsby and Daisy to drive home together, Gatsby’s
confident insistence that Daisy has only ever loved him feels desperate, even
delusional.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes
before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster,
stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning----
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
(9.153-154)

One of the most famous ending lines in modern literature, this quote is Nick’s final
analysis of Gatsby – someone who believed in “the green light, the orgastic future”
that he could never really attain. Our last image of Gatsby is of a man who believed
in a world (and a future) that was better than the one he found himself in – but you
can read more about interpretations of the ending, both optimistic and pessimistic, in
our guide to the end of the book.

Jay Gatsby Character Analysis

If you read The Great Gatsby, odds are you will have to write at least one paper that
analyzes Gatsby as a character or connects him to a larger theme, like money, love,
or the American Dream.
To do this well, you should closely read Gatsby’s key scenes (meeting Daisy again in
Chapter 5, the confrontation in the hotel in Chapter 7, his decision to take the blame
in Chapter 8) along with his background, revealed over Chapters 6, 8, and 9. By
understanding both Gatsby's past and his present in the novel, you can write about
him confidently despite his many-layered personality.
It can be helpful to compare Gatsby to other characters, because it can make it
easier to understand his attitude and motivations. Nick’s cynical nature makes
Gatsby’s naiveté and optimism readily apparent, for example.
You should also consider how Gatsby’s interaction with the book’s famous symbols
(especially the green light) reveal aspects of his character.
Remember that there are many valid ways to interpret Gatsby, as he is a very
complex, mysterious character. As long as you back up your arguments with
evidence from the book you can connect Gatsby to various big-picture themes and
ideas. We will explore that in action below with some common essay topics about
Gatsby.