Tom Buchanan,

Tom is the antagonist in this novel. He is a rich man of old money. He attended New Haven (Yale) with Nick Carraway and has stedily made his way across the USA from west to east (symbolic). Every where he went he was dishonest and always seemed to land in trouble that forced him to move.

When Gatsby was fighting in WWI Tom found Daisy, Gatsby's love, and bought her hand in marrige with a Three-Hundred Thousand dollar pearl necklace (symbolic).

Tom is an arrogant Yuppie and is clearly in the way of Gatsby's Love for Daisy. He is, although, having an affair with a low class gal named Myrtle Wilson from Queens, which he makes no attempt to keep secret. The only way he hides his relationship with Myrtle from her husband George Wilson is by carrying on a business deal with George. Tom treats Myrtle even worse than Daisy, for she does not have near the status of Daisy. Through many dog images, Myrtle is (symbolically) seen as Toms pet mut. Even though Tom is the bad-guy in this novel at times you cannot help liking the guy.

Page 7

Sturdy, straw-haired, of thirty, hard mouth, supercilious manner, shining arrogant eyes, leaning aggresively forward, cruel body, gruff husky tenor.

Page 12

Great big, hulking, brute of a man.

Page 13

On page 13 Tom shows how racist he is when talking about a book he read named The Rise Of The Colored Empire by a man named Goddard.