Preview

The Great Gatsby Close Passage Analysis Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
586 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Great Gatsby Close Passage Analysis Essay
Close Passage Analysis
Prompt:
In a well-organized essay, discuss how the author’s use of language-particularly diction, dialogue, and selection of detail-serves to develop and/or compare the characters of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby.

Thesis:
By using confrontational dialogue and the contemptuous tone during the dialogue, Fitzgerald portrays that the characters of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are in fact very similar.
Topic Sentence:
Fitzgerald emphasizes Tom and Gatsby’s similar characteristic of being possessive using contemptuous tone throughout argumentative dialogue.
Topic Sentence:
The author projects the trait of dominance in both Gatsby and Tom by provoking dialogue with contemptuous tone.
Topic Sentence:
Both Tom and Gatsby
…show more content…
Sometimes the competitive nature in people comes out and now the goal is only focused on winning, not for the prize, but for the victory over the opponent. Both Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are in love with Daisy, so they say, but perhaps they care more about beating the other than having Daisy. Being so belligerent towards each other, you can see the hatred they have for the other. It’s surprising to find that the characters are alike in many of their thoughts and wants. By using confrontational dialogue and the contemptuous tone during the dialogue, Fitzgerald portrays that the characters of Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are in fact very similar.
Body Paragraph:
The author projects the trait of dominance in both Gatsby and Tom by provoking dialogue with contemptuous tone. Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are beginning to argue over Daisy and both are trying to have the control. Tom still knows nothing and Gatsby is informing him.

“Sit down Daisy. “ Tom’s voice groped unsuccessfully for the paternal note. “What’s been going on? I want to hear all about it.” “I told you what’s been going on,” said Gatsby. “Going on for five years- and you didn’t know.” (Fitzgerald

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Discuss how Fitzgerald presents Gatsby’s infatuation with Daisy and how his love for her becomes obsessive.…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom’s physical abuse of his mistress, Myrtle, reveals his need for dominance over women. When Myrtle mentions Daisy’s name, Tom’s extreme anger causes him to break “her nose with his open hand.” (37) Tom’s need to exert physical control over Myrtle emphasizes his sexist need for control. His infuriation over her mentions of Daisy illustrate his inability to see Myrtle beyond an object for his sexual gratification. Furthermore, his immediate invalidation of his mistress’s accusations of infidelity portray his ignorance of female opinions, again exemplifying his need for dominance over the women in his life. Moreover, Tom’s disregard for Daisy and their family by having an affair further emphasizes his lack of respect for women. Additionally, Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy’s wealth displays his glorification of money and reveals his view of Daisy as a tool to break out of the confines of poverty. While describing Daisy as a “nice girl,” Gatsby focuses on her “rich house” and “rich, full life.” (149) His fixation on her material wealth reveals his identification of her as a means to achieve his desired success. This objectification of Daisy further highlights the overall dehumanization of women. Tom’s marginalization of Myrtle and Gatsby’s advantageous use of Daisy illustrate the ultimately negative and condescending attitude toward women throughout society, particularly in the wealthiest…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The purpose of this chapter is to show what Tom Buchanan is like, and how he acts towards other people and his money. Also, the reader is prepared to meet Gatsby as the party scene continues to build an aura of mystery and excitement around Gatsby, who has yet to make a full appearance in the novel. Here, Gatsby emerges as a mysterious subject of gossip. He is extremely well known, but no one seems to have any verifiable information about him.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom Buchanan plays a large role in the great Gatsby and is greatly representative of the rich “old money” part of society, and, in many ways what was wrong with it. F. Scott Fitzgerald may have made Tom a villain because of their rejection of him in his earlier life. Fitzgerald has used Tom in The Great Gatsby, to demonstrate the power that men had during the 1920s. In order to understand Tom's purpose in the book, it must be known that he has been purposely set up as a character the reader does not like. Fitzgerald has done this, as he does not like men whose lives mirror Tom's. Tom is a violent man, who is completely in control of the women in his life. He shows how disrespectful some men were to women. For example, he breaks his mistress Myrtle's nose.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom’s reaction to the sudden realization that Daisy and Gatsby are having an affair reveals his jealousy of Gatsby. This piece of knowledge only furthers Tom’s hate towards him. At this point Tom’s hatred of Gatsby is so great that when he is approached by Wilson for the identity of the driver that…

    • 1631 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom Buchanan is a football player from Chicago whose family is extremely rich, he studied at Yale with Nick, and he is the husband of Daisy (Gatsby’s lover). He came to New York, and lives in East egg which is the place for the “Old rich”. Tom Buchanan is a very arrogant person with no real moral values, and a hypocritical bully. He is incapable of feeling guilty or emotional and he represents racism in this novel. In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Buchanan’s purpose is to serve as foil to the characters Gatsby and George Wilson.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby is a very complex book with a lot of different and unique characters. Two characters in mind are Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. These two characters are surprisingly very much alike. They both share the ideal view that men are simple and easily tricked by women. Both Tom and George were cheated on by their wives without them knowing. This shows that Fitzgerald doesn’t think of men too highly in this novel.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cited: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner trade paperback. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.…

    • 2211 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Differences among two people often lead to negative consequences in the end. For instance, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the plot revolves around Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan's love for Daisy, which later results in a huge fight. While Tom and Gatsby are both very different in the ways they love Daisy, they also demonstrate similarities, as they both want Daisy for themselves. Although Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan share many comparisons, these two men also have an even greater amount of differences.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Carey, Gray, ed. Robert, James L., Assistant ed. Cliffs Notes on Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby. Lincoln: Cliffs Notes Inc., 1990 page 21.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the violent situations that occur reveal the true personalities and feelings of many of the characters. To begin, Tom and Myrtle are discussing whether Myrtle has the right to mention Daisy's name and Myrtle annoyingly repeated "Daisy". This outraged Tom. "Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand...Then there were bloody towels upon the bath-room floor, and women’s voices scolding, and high over the confusion a long broken wail of pain"(41). Tom brings out the dark side of him. He demonstrates how brutal and cruel he is by getting to the point of punching a woman. Tom clearly loses his temper easily and does not know how to control himself. He gets outraged if others don’t obey him which makes him…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Truth In The Great Gatsby

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Whether Gatsby was a criminal or not, Tom expressed his belief not to seek justice for a wrong doing, but to further the notion of Gatsby’s character as being that of a poor criminal who does not belong among the wealthy. Tom’s claims strive to do nothing more than attack a single aspect of what separates Gatsby…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, it can be witness this misconception of love between the characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, whom say to be deeply in love with one another. The author portrays the inaccuracy of love and obsession through Gatsby’s persona. This character, which the story revolves around, came from a very poor family, but as he grew up he decided to run away and went on in a risky mission to find better opportunities, because he believed that he was meant to do great things in life. Throughout the novel, the story of Gatsby and his, so-called, endless love for Daisy unfolds into a greater meaning.…

    • 997 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This book, The Great Gatsby, written by F Scott. Fitzgerald in 1925, is a novel dedicated to the inhabitants of wealth, power, and social status. It was mainly about this astonishingly wealthy man known as Jay Gatsby who dreamed of revitalizing the love that was once present between him and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald has written this story as a connection to his past life to show that acquiring the American Dream is not always accessible. Throughout the story, the author has embedded many symbolic figures and themes, some representing his life, but most were mainly intended to show various amounts of emotion, and to encourage creative thinking for the reader. Fitzgerald not only written these symbolic meanings on numerous characters, but also…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fitzgerald uses both language, Tom’s various interactions with people and the attitudes he demonstrates through his statements to show his dislikeable character. There are many examples throughout The Great Gatsby that highlight this point.…

    • 1988 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays