The Great Gatsby An Analysis of the Decadence of Tom Buchanan

1. Batch 2021- 2023 sem 2
Presentation Season 2
Code: 22399 Paper 106: The Twentieth Century
Literature :1900 to World War II
Department of English MK Bhavnagar University
Vachchhalata Joshi
Vachchhalatajoshi.14@gmail.com
Roll no.20
Topic : An Analysis of the Decadence Tom Buchanan
From The Great Gatsby

2. F.Scott Fitzgerald
24 September 1896
Died - 21 December 1940
Works-
1) The Side of Paradise
2) The Beautiful and Damned
3) The Great Gatsby
4) Tales of the Jazz age
“The loneliest moment
in someone’s life is
when they are
watching their whole
world fall apart, and
all they can do is stare
blankly.”

3. F.Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Fitzgerald was essayist , American Novelist , Short story
writer and Screenwriter.
He became the first to turn national spotlight upon this Generation.
As leading authorial voices of the jazz age his literary style influenced a
number of contemporary and future writers.
The Great Gatsby is considered as one of the best American Fiction
Novel.
It is first person Narration and Narrated by Nick Carraway.

4. The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in
the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-
person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay
Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.
The novel was inspired by a youthful romance Fitzgerald had with socialite Ginevra
King, and the riotous parties he attended on Long Island's North Shore in 1922.
Following a move to the French Riviera, Fitzgerald completed a rough draft of the
novel in 1924.

5. East egg and west egg
The East Egg is where those with
old money live, and the West Egg is
where the self-made, rich people
live. While people living in the East
Egg acquired their money through
inheritance and with ease, those
living in the West Egg acquired
theirs through hard work.

6. Tom Buchanan who
belongs to east egg
In The Great Gatsby writer launched
one of the sharpest and most
devastating attacks on the upper
classes in the form of his character
“ Tom Buchanan” the long island
millionaire in the Novel.
Tom is one of the pivotal character
anchored in a solid tradition of
socially acceptable.
In many ways, Tom Buchanan
embodies the decadence of the
upper classes

7. Jay Gatsby who
belongs to west egg
Jay Gatsby originally named James
Gatz is the titular fictional character
of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925
novel The Great Gatsby.
He is the protagonist of the play the
narrator of the play says
“Gatsby is the single most hopeful
person I’ve ever met ”
He is self made rich person who
loved Daisy and did everything for
her only
Gatsby wanted to live in the great
American dream in 19th century.

8. Comparison of Tom and Jay from movie
review
Jay Gatsby Tom Buchanan
• Gatsby is a classic example of a self-made man.
• Gatsby is a dreamer, constantly envisioning a
better future for himself and focusing on what is
possible, rather than what is practical.
• Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man
living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is
famous for the lavish parties he throws every
Saturday night, but no one knows where he
comes from, what he does, or how he made
his fortune.
• Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His
social attitudes are laced with racism and
sexism.
• . As Tony Tanner points out: “Buchanan is
no more grounded in, or significantly related
to, ancient American history than Gatsby”
• Tom Buchanan’s wealth and character are
instrumental in understanding the limits of
Fitzgerald’s fascination with riches, and
also the reasons behind an attraction that led
Malcolm Cowley to denominate some of his
works within the category of the romance of
money.

9. Character sketch of Tom
• Tom Buchanan is one of the many colorful, intriguing and
enigmatic characters of the masterpiece “The Great Gatsby” by F.
Scott Fitzgerald. He is the antagonist of the novel and rightly so.
He is racist, a hypocrite, an immoral cheater, a short-tempered
brute and misogynistic. Tom is also part of an old and out dated
sort of world that is being swamped all-round the edges by a new
and better Society.
• Tom never worked for his wealth, he never did. Instead he was
born into a very old but wealthy family and inherited all the
money once his parents died.
• Tom believes that wealth is everything and that would be true
in his case and anyone else who lived in that world at that time.
Tom is nothing without his vast wealth. He would not have a
beautiful wife like Daisy, he would not have the high socio-
status that he enjoys now, he would never be able to afford that
big villa and he could never have started an affair with anyone.

10. Decadence in other characters of novel
• The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald’s most recognizable works and
considered as a classical novel.
• One of the main theme is Decadence.
• Daisy is first person is revealed as vulnerable and hurt sweet young
lady towards whom reader can feel empathy.
• However in the end Gatsby has put his entire life to be with her.
• When daisy has to choose one among them she chose stability and
confidence in future even though Tom was cheating on her.
• So, we can say that along with Tom Daisy is also considered as
Decadent person.

11. References
(Bloom, Critical interpretation in The Great Gatsby
https://youtu.be/ywHIfdLp58A,Prolecturer