Compare and Contrast Gatsby and Tom: the Conflicting Worlds of Wealth

Introduction and Setting

The Great Gatsby is a well-known story of American literature during the 1920s; This story is one that has been told thousands of times and is probably as old as the Civil War itself: a man works his way from rags to riches, only to get that his wealth can't gets him the privileges enjoyed that those born into the higher class has. The story revolves around the character Jay Gatsby, a rich new yorker of indeterminate occupation.

Gatsby is primarily known for the humongous parties he has each weekend at his gigantic, fancy mansion in the West Egg. He is thought to be involved in illegal bootlegging and other underworldly activities. The narrator, Nick Carraway, is the Great Gatsby's friend in the West Egg. Nick is a very young potential man from a famous family. Taught at Yale, he has come to the great city of New York to enter the bonds business. In some manner, the story is Nick's memoir, His very fascinating ways of view of the events of the summer of 1922; as such, his impressions and observations necessarily color the narrative as a whole. For the most part, he plays only a side role in the events of this story; he intends to remain the observer in The Great Gatsby.

Character Relations and Affairs

Upon arriving in New York, Nick goes to visit his favorite cousin, Daisy, and her husband, Tom. Tom and Daisy live in the posh Long Island district of East Egg; Nick and Gatsby live in nearby West Egg, a less rich area looked down upon by those who live in East Egg. West Egg is home to the not-so-famous and rich people who lack many friends and social connections as those in East Egg and who tend not to show so much wealth. Like Nick, Tom graduated from Yale College, and they come from a privileged family. Tom is an athletic force. He plays almost every sport but comes from football; he is an overpowered bully, paranoid with the view of class boundaries. Daisy, by contrast, is a beautiful young woman who lives life in rich fancy houses and places. At Toms, Nick meets Jordan Baker, A gorgeous girl who lives her life in a rich manner with famous people. These two later become really good friends. Jordan tells Nick that Tom has been having some affair with Myrtle, a woman who lives in a harsh environment, and she owns a mechanic shop, an industrial wasteland outside of New York City.

After Nick visits Daisy and Tom, He goes home to his house in West Egg; there, Nick sees Gatsby Staring at a weird green light across the bay. Gatsby reaches his arms out toward the green light as if he was to catch it and hold it. Tom takes Nick to New York, and while on the way, they stop at the garage owned by Wilson Myrtle's husband. Tom has been seeing and having affairs. Tom sees Myrtle and tells her to dine with them in the city. While in the city, Tom takes Myrtle and Nick to the apartment in Morningside, where he continues his affair. While they have a party with the sister of Myrtle, Her name is Catherine, and a couple named McKee. They talk about Gatsby; Catherine thinks that he is somehow related to Kaiser; the more alcohol she drinks, the meaner Myrtle becomes; she begins making fun of Daisy and Tom, and he reacts by punching her. The party, surprisingly, comes to an abusive end; Nick attends a party at Gatsby's mansion, where he runs into Jordan Baker. At the party, few of the attendees knew Gatsby; even fewer were formally invited. Before the party, Nick himself had never met Gatsby: he is a strikingly handsome, slightly dandified young man who affects an English accent. Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan Baker alone; after talking with Gatsby for quite a long time, she tells Nick that she has learned some remarkable news. She cannot yet share it with him, however.

Rekindling of Past Love

Later on, Gatsby comes and visits Nick at his home and wants him to eat lunch. At this point in the story, Gatsby's past is unclear. He claims to come from a rich San Francisco family and says that he was taught at Oxford after fighting in the Great War. At lunch, Gatsby brings Nick to his business associate, Meyer Wolfsheim. Meyer is a harsh criminal; many tend to think that he was responsible for fixing the 1919 World Series. Gatsby tends to avoid Rom and Daisy. Later, Jordan explains the reasons for Gatsby's anxiety: She states that Gatsby loves Daisy and that they were together before the war, and when he went to the war, he left for some unknown reason and that Gatsby was still in love with her now. Then Gatsby wants Nick to set up a meeting between Daisy and himself. Gatsby has simultaneously planned their meeting: he all of sudden gives Daisy an amazing tour of his beautiful mansion and is desperate to show his wealth and possessions to Daisy to impress her. Gatsby is soft and well-mannered during the first initial meeting; Gatsby's dearest dreams have been for this moment, and so the actual reunion is bound to disappoint. Instead of this, the love between Gatsby and Daisy is revived, and the two begin to start an affair again where they had let off.

Later on, Nick learns the truthful story of Gatsby's past. He was born James Gatz in North Dakota, but he had his name legally changed at the age of 17. The gold baron Dan Cody served as Gatsby's mentor until his death. Although Gatsby inherited nothing of Cody's wealth, it was from him that Gatsby was first introduced to a world of power, wealth, and fanciness. Tom thinks Gatsby is part of the 'new rich' and that he causes a danger to the old order that Tom holds dear. Besides this, he accompanies his wife, Daisy, to Gatsby's next party; there, he is extremely rude and mad toward Gatsby. Nick finally realizes that Gatsby wants Daisy to renounce her husband and her marriage so that they can recover the years they have lost since they first parted. Gatsby's great flaw is his love for Daisy is a kind of worship and that he fails to see her flaws. Gatsby believes that he can redo the past, but he forgets that Daisy's essentially small-minded and scarily nature was what initially caused their separation.

After his reunion with Daisy, Gatsby stops throwing extravagant parties. The only reason he threw such parties was the chance that Daisy would attend one, maybe. Daisy wants Gatsby, Jordan, and Nick to eat lunch at her house. In an attempt to make Tom jealous and to exact revenge for his affair, Daisy is highly discreet about her relationship with Gatsby. She even tells Gatsby that she loves him while Tom is in the wrong. Although Tom is even having an affair, he is outrageously mad at the thought that Daisy could be unloyal to him. Tom forces the group to drive into the city: there, in a suite at the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby and Tom have an argument. Tom talks down to Gatsby about how he was born into the lower class, and he reveals to Daisy that Gatsby's wealth has all come from illegal activities. Daisy's real faithfulness is to Tom: when Gatsby asks her and begs her to say that she doesn't love Tom, she refuses to say it. Tom lets Gatsby drive Daisy back to East Egg.

The Tragic End of Gatsby

On the trip back to East Egg, Gatsby lets Daisy drive so she can calm her nerves. While passing Wilson's garage, Daisy has to swerve to avoid another car and runs into Myrtle thinking it is Tom coming; she is killed instantly. Nick wants Gatsby to leave town until everything calms down, but Gatsby refuses to leave without Daisy; he stays so that he knows Daisy is safe. George Wilson, driven crazy mad by the death of his wife, is desperate to find her killer. Tom Buchanan tells him the night Myrtle died, Gatsby was the driver of the yellow car. Wilson, Myrtle's Husband, who has decided that the driver of the car must also have been Myrtle's lover, shoots Gatsby before killing himself. After the murder of Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy, and their family leave town to distance themselves from the violence of which they caused. They did not want part of it. Nick is the only one there to arrange Gatsby's funeral in how he thought he would want it, and Nick finds out very, very few cared about Gatsby. Just Meyer Wolfsheim shows respect and grief, and very few people come to the funeral service. Throughout his terrible life in New York, Nick went back to the Midwest. , Nick sees Tom Buchanan once more before his departure. Tom tries to elicit Nick's sympathy; he believes that all of his actions were thoroughly justified, and he wants Nick to agree.

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