second chapter<\/a>, Nick goes on the train with Tom who decides spontaneously to get off in the Valley of Ashes and introduce Nick to his mistress Myrtle.<\/span><\/p>\nIn this chapter Tom shows a significant disdain for people in lower social classes than himself, explicitly in his treatment of George but even in some of his behaviour towards Myrtle.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen he arrives at Myrtle\u2019s husband George\u2019s garage it is clear George is expecting Tom to sell him a second hand car and that George is somewhat desperate for the sale to go ahead, so Tom has him under his foot and seems to relish in his power over him. When George comments that it is taking Tom\u2019s man a long time to get the car ready, Tom says \u201cNo, he doesn\u2019t\u201d and adds \u201cAnd if you feel that way about it, maybe I\u2019d better sell it somewhere else after all\u201d. Also after the interaction with George, he comments to Nick that Myrtle easily gets away by saying she is visiting her sister and says that \u201che\u2019s so dumb he doesn\u2019t know he\u2019s alive.\u201d This shows Tom\u2019s complete disregard for the lower classes and the struggles they go through.<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, some of his behaviour towards Myrtle also reveals his disdain for the lower classes and that he truly doesn\u2019t see her as his equal. Nick comments that when Tom was away from Daisy and with Myrtle he would let the fact he was having an affair be \u201cinsisted upon wherever he was known.\u201d In other words he doesn\u2019t care who knew he was having an affair which does show Tom\u2019s attitudes towards women in general are poor as he is being disrespectful towards his wife. However whenever he was with Myrtle he would frequently \u201c[leave] her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomever he knew\u201d. This shows he doesn\u2019t care for Myrtle\u2019s opinions and it is just to be seen with her that is enough.<\/span><\/p>\nSimilarly Nick describes their apartment as small and sparsely furnished which shows Tom is only putting the bare minimum into the relationship to keep Myrtle on side as his mistress. Tom also treats Myrtle very poorly during the party and embarrasses her in front of the McKee\u2019s by saying she can introduce Mr. McKee to her husband \u201c\u201cso he can do some studies of him.\u2019 His lips moved silently for a moment as he invented. \u2018 \u2018George B. Wilson at the Gasoline Pump,\u2019 or something like that.\u2019\u201d\u201d This shows how he doesn\u2019t care for her feelings and also sees George as almost sub-human by saying that Mr. McKee can do a \u201cstudy\u201d on George.<\/span><\/p>\nOf course, the chapter also ends in an explosion of violence where Tom makes a \u201cshort deft movement\u201d and breaks Myrtle\u2019s nose \u201cwith his open hand\u201d. This violent attitude towards Myrtle shows again his disdain for the working classes and the power imbalance in Myrtle and Tom\u2019s relationship, that for Tom she is just a distraction and nothing more.<\/span><\/p>\nThe hypocrisy of old money<\/span><\/h2>\nWhen Nick goes with Gatsby to meet Meyer Wolfshiem at the restaurant he is surprised to bump into Tom. They meet and Tom asks him why he hasn\u2019t called, telling him \u201cDaisy\u2019s furious\u201d because of it. He also shakes hands with Gatsby who is nervous by the encounter and quickly disappears.<\/span><\/p>\nWhilst Tom represents old money and getting money from inherited wealth, the fact he is in the same environment as Gatsby and Meyer Wolfsheim could subtly imply that his money isn\u2019t necessarily cleaner and that old money may flirt with corruption and even illegal methods of gaining money just as much as Gatsby\u2019s \u2018new money\u2019 does.<\/span><\/p>\nTom also views himself as morally superior to Gatsby and due to Gatsby\u2019s embarrassment sets up a potential conflict between the two characters which comes to fruition later on in the novel.<\/span><\/p>\nTom\u2019s multiple affairs and opinions of women<\/span><\/h2>\nWhen Jordan recounts Daisy\u2019s first meeting with Gatsby and how she ended up married to Tom, she also recounts a specific encounter that suggests Myrtle isn\u2019t Tom\u2019s first (or last) mistress and also possibly some of his opinions of women in general.<\/span><\/p>\nThe passage is:<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cA week after I left Santa Barbara Tom ran into a wagon on the Ventura road one night, and ripped a front wheel off his car. The girl who was with him got into the papers, too, because her arm was broken\u2014she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThis clearly implies that Tom was with someone who wasn\u2019t Daisy, which shows a lack of respect on his part for Daisy in that he is happy to cheat on her with other women.<\/span><\/p>\nThere are also some similarities to Myrtle, the woman is a chambermaid so is likely to be of lower, working-class status too which implies a power dynamic in this relationship that is similar to the dynamics we saw in the second chapter where Tom takes Nick to meet Myrtle. Tom takes advantage of these women and uses them for his own gains.<\/span><\/p>\nAlso an interesting detail is the broken arm, although Tom is described as uninjured. Whilst it could have been the case that Tom just wasn\u2019t injured, there is also the question of how the chambermaid broke her arm, given how we saw Tom was physically violent to Myrtle when he broke her nose. Could it be he views these women with so much disdain that he is happy to be physically abusive to them? It is a darker side to his character that cuts through the elegant, sophisticated image of coming from old money and supports Nick\u2019s earlier observations of him having a \u201ccruel body\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nTom\u2019s encounters with Gatsby<\/span><\/h2>\nAfter Daisy and Gatsby reunite and seemingly begin an affair Tom has two interactions with Gatsby which are recollected by Nick.<\/span><\/p>\nIn the first, Tom is out riding with Mr and Mrs Sloane near Gatsby\u2019s mansion. A very awkward exchange takes place where Gatsby reminds him of their brief meeting when Gatsby was speaking to Meyer Wolfsheim and also tells Tom that he knows Daisy. Mr and Mrs. Sloane want to leave straight away and Gatsby invites them to dinner in his mansion but they refuse but out of politeness reciprocate the invite but Gatsby doesn\u2019t pick up on the insincerity of the invite and agrees, which causes the three to quickly leave and Tom to dismissively say \u201cDoesn\u2019t he know she doesn\u2019t want him?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThis interaction shows a few aspects of Tom\u2019s character. He is very dismissive of Gatsby being from new money, perhaps seeing it as a threat because times were changing and Gatsby represents social and class mobility and the blurring of class lines whereas Tom clings to old money privilege. Indeed he seems to mock Gatsby for not understanding the social cues that come from being in the East Egg elite during this conversation.<\/span><\/p>\nThere is also a slight hypocrisy as we know Tom was in the same location as Gatsby with Meyer Wolfsheim and presumably was up to no good there as well which suggests Tom is criticising Gatsby for behaviour that he indulges in himself.<\/span><\/p>\nWe also see some of Tom\u2019s attitudes towards women, when he wonders how Daisy could know Gatsby and says \u201c I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me. They meet all kinds of crazy fish.\u201d In his view, women should be nothing more than what Daisy says, beautiful little fools. However it could also imply Tom might be suspicious and feel a little threatened by Gatsby or at least this wealth.<\/span><\/p>\nIndeed later on in the chapter, Tom makes quite a few disparaging comments about Gatsby\u2019s party which he and Daisy attend. Nick indeed comments on the atmosphere being \u201cunpleasant\u201d and a \u201cpervading harshness\u201d in the air which he at least slightly blames on Tom\u2019s presence. Tom also claims that he and Daisy \u201cdo not know a soul there\u201d as well as commenting on people coming from new money as being nothing more than \u201cbig bootleggers\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nBootlegging was the illegal production, transportation and sale of banned goods, particularly alcoholic beverages which took place during the Prohibition era in America during 1920 to 1933, a time where alcohol was heavily restricted and banned. Tom is making a somewhat dismissive comment here that Gatsby\u2019s money must have come from criminal activities. Whilst this may be true, it does show a disdain for Gatsby and his coming from new money. Furthermore, by implying that he and Daisy don\u2019t know anyone there, it suggests they do not mix in the same circles and perhaps aren\u2019t of the same class as the West Egg partygoers.<\/span><\/p>\nThe tone of the comments could also imply a jealousy and a need to exert dominance over the situation as Gatsby\u2019s parties clearly show his wealth and Tom feels threatened that a man from a lower class background like Gatsby could actually be a rival for his wife\u2019s affections. It is also showing a hypocrisy as we know Tom is having an affair and perhaps has had multiple affairs but now that Daisy is potentially having an affair with someone else, he feels far more protective and possessive, revealing a double standard which he lives his life by.<\/span><\/p>\nConfronting Daisy and Gatsby<\/span><\/h2>\nAfter Gatsby realises Daisy didn\u2019t enjoy the parties Gatsby abruptly stops them and it appears they don\u2019t see each other again until Daisy invites Gatsby around to their house for dinner. It is at this moment that Tom seems to piece together that Gatsby and Daisy are having an affair. During their dinner the pair lock eyes and in the moment it appears \u201cshe had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded.\u201d It is also at this point he looks at Daisy as \u201cif he had just recognized her as someone he knew a long time ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn this moment he has to face up to the reality that he could actually lose Daisy and this gets worse when he, Nick and Jordan ride Gatsby\u2019s car to the city and stop at George\u2019s garage where George tells Tom he plans to move West with Myrtle. As Nick observes \u201chis wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control.\u201d At this point Tom is actually very vulnerable and could lose both his wife and his mistress.<\/span><\/p>\nIt is also at this point out of desperation we see the worst in him. Whilst at their house, he greets Gatsby with \u201cwell-concealed dislike\u201d, perhaps his sophisticated East Egg upbringing helps him to hide this. However by the time the characters arrive at the Plaza Hotel, Tom is in a far more aggressive and confrontational attitude. He goads Gatsby, firstly about his \u201cold sport\u201d phrase asking him \u201c\u201cAll this \u2018old sport\u2019 business. Where\u2019d you pick that up?\u201d\u201d. He then questions if he is actually an Oxford man before going in with the big confrontation that the \u201clatest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife\u201d. Here he tries to take control of the situation and forces a confrontation between himself and Gatsby.<\/span><\/p>\nHowever he also reveals his hypocrisy when he follows up this statement with \u201cnowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they\u2019ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white.\u201d. Not only does this show Tom to be profoundly racist once again but it shows his hypocrisy, Tom has had multiple affairs and largely treated Daisy as nothing more than an object, he sees it as his entitlement and his role as a man to cheat but not for Daisy to do the same.<\/span><\/p>\nYet there is a sign of desperation in Tom as he tries to regain control of the situation, perhaps realising how close he is to losing Daisy, especially as Daisy begins to bring up past events such as his \u201clittle spree\u201d in Chicago, which probably was alludes to more affairs that we don\u2019t know about. Tom begins to recount moments in his relationship and shared history with Daisy, things we aren\u2019t let into fully as the reader such as the \u201cday I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep your shoes dry?\u201d. This causes Daisy to falter and admit to Gatsby that she did love Tom as well, something which Gatsby cannot abide by as his dream is to have Daisy as she was years earlier when they first met.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis also shows a manipulative side to Tom\u2019s character which has much darker consequences following Daisy\u2019s hit-and-run accident that kills Myrtle. Tom probably realises that Daisy is the one driving but when Myrtle dies, Tom isn\u2019t that concerned or really upset at her death, instead he goes to George to cover his tracks:<\/span><\/p>\n\u201c\u201cI just got here a minute ago, from New York. I was bringing you that coup\u00e9 we\u2019ve been talking about. That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn\u2019t mine\u2014do you hear? I haven\u2019t seen it all afternoon.\u201d\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThis shows Tom\u2019s disregard for women, especially those of the lower classes who he sees as disposable and shows his moral decay that he would lead George to believe Gatsby was driving which probably begins the chain of events that leads to Gatsby\u2019s and George\u2019s downfalls.<\/span><\/p>\n