Compare and Contrast Essay: Tom and Gatsby

Fitzgerald writes the classic novel The Great Gatsby to show how life used to be during the 1920s in New York City. The novel shows how Gatsby chases his dreams. Gatsby’s dreams contain wealth and a young woman named Daisy. Daisy is married to a young man named Tom Buchanan who cheats on Daisy with a hotel maid and a woman named Myrtle. This is where the narrator Nick Carraway comes in. In the novel readers see how Nick views both characters Tom and Gatbsy as a friend. Fitzgerald shows the readers that Tom and Gatsby share similarities, while also having an amount of differences. 

Tom and Gatsby are both very wealthy yet, achieved it differently. Nick is talking about Tom’s background and how he is very wealthy. Nick said, “His family were enormously wealthy . . . for instance he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was really hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that” (Fitzgerald 10). With Tom’s background evidence the readers know that Tom lives in East Egg which means he is a very wealthy man. East Egg means old money; this means that his family has always been wealthy. Knowing Tom’s background will help readers understand the events that take place in The Great Gatsby. Daisy and Tom show up to Gatsby's party and Daisy and Gatsby danced at the party. Nick said, “But the rest offended her -- and inarguably, because it wasn’t a gesture but an emotion. She was appalled by West Egg” (Fitzgerald 113). In this quote, Daisy says that she is appalled by West Egg, meaning that she was dismayed by West Egg. This is important because readers meet the character Jay Gatsby who is from West Egg which means new money. Gatsby did not grow up wealthy and had to work for his money. In the book, readers learn that Gatsby is a bootlegger who sells illegal alcohol. Tom and Gatsby are both similar when it comes to money but in the same way, they are also similar when it comes to the same girl who they both fell in love with. 

Both Tom and Gatsby fell in love with the same girl; however, they treat her in a different way. In the book Jordan was explaining how Daisy and Tom used to be in the beginning of their marriage. Jordan also describes how both Tom and Daisy used to love each other and how their marriage is now. Nick states, “A 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 -- she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel” (Fitzgerald 82). Tom and Daisy got married and went on a honeymoon. This is where Tom gets caught cheating on Daisy with a hotel maid. Tom’s affair did not stop with the hotel maid. Tom also has a mistress named Myrtle who lived in the Valley of Ashes. Knowing Tom’s actions in The Great Gatsby shows how Tom treats Daisy throughout the book. Jordan talks to Nick and explains how Gatsby has gone out of his way to win Daisy back. Gatsby shows his wealth by buying a house right across the bay from Daisy to impress her. Jordan Baker and Nick discuss Gatsby’s house across the bay from Daisy; Nick says, “‘It was a strange coincidence,’ I said. ‘But it wasn’t a coincidence at all.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay’” (Fitzgerald 83). This quote shows the love Jay Gatsby has for Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy have not seen each other for five years; yet Gatsby is still trying to recreate the past with Daisy. Gatsby goes out of his way for Daisy and remains faithful to her for many years while her husband had many affairs. Along with how they show their affection with Daisy, they are also alike with their mannerism towards Nick. 

In a similar situation, Nick describes the differences between Tom and Gastby’s manners as a person. Nick goes over to Tom and Daisy’s house for dinner and describes Tom and how he has changed. Nick said, “He has 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” (Fitzgerald 11). Nick and Tom were not that close. The only reason Tom and Nick hangout is because Daisy and Nick are cousins. This quote is Nick describing Tom Buchanan as a person. This quote goes behind the life of James Gatz. In the book readers find out that Gastby was a son to poor farmers and abandoned his home, where he met Dan Cody. Nick states, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God -- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that -- . . . So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald 104). Nick describes Gatsby as a truthful and honest person as he is described as the son of god. He also stuck to what he believed in until the end. 

The Great Gatsby shows how the two characters, Tom and Gatsby are similar, yet different throughout the book. Readers learn about the wealth of Tom and Gatsby and how both earned it. Readers learn that Tom is from East Egg meaning old money. His family has always been wealthy. With Gatsby, readers learn that he is from West Egg which means new money. Gatsby earned his wealth by selling illegal alcohol. Tom and Gatsby are also similar with the girl who they both fell in love with, Daisy. Both characters treat Daisy differently. Gatsby waited for Daisy for five years and even went out of his way to impress her with all his money, while Tom cheated on her multiple times. On the other hand readers learn about Tom and Gatsby’s characteristics. Nick thinks that Tom has changed into a more sturdy, aggressive man. When it comes to Gatsby Nick views him as a faithful person. Nick also compares him to the son of God. Gatsby tends to show more tenderness towards Daisy than Tom ever has, and got the recognition he deserves from Nick, as shown by the author.