Whos the Better Man

Here in the year of 2005 surprisingly

people have not changed a lot since the 1920’s. Sure

we have computers, cell phones, and other advanced technology, but the people themselves have

not evolved. The 1920’s was also known as the jazz era where people went out and partied, went

dancing and the women starting wearing more revealing clothes. In the novel The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the two main characters Tom and Gatsby are very wealthy people. Even

though Tom and Gatsby seem to be two completely different people in the views of others they a

have a lot in common

Even though Tom and Daisy are married Tom does not treat Daisy with the respect she

deserves. When Tom is first introduced to the readers he is very disrespectful with Daisy,

“..arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and him the appearance of always

leaning aggressively forward..” (11). Tom know he has a lot of power just because he has a lot of

money. He is self absourbed and he expects Daisy to handle his every need. When Miss Baker,

Nick and Gatsby are over at Tom and Daisy’s house Daisy finds out from Miss Baker that Tom

is cheating.. “ Tom got some women in New York..”(19). Tom is very insecure of himself

because he is cheating on Daisy to make himself look like he is more of a man. In reality Tom is

weak and can not handle problems well. At Gatsby’s party Nick starts to even notice that Tom is

being distant with Daisy... “ He looked at Myrtle and then at Tom. “ What I say is, why go on

living with them if they can’t stand them? IF I was them I’d get a divorce and get married to each

other right away.” (37). Tom more focused on Myrtle than his wife Daisy because he is looking

for something new and exciting. Tom does not care for Daisy as much anymore because he has

become so passive. Tom does not show to Daisy that he loves her by treating her like she is not

important in his life.

Throughout the story Gatsby proves that he is more genuine than Tom because he

actually cares for Daisy. In chapter four it shows that Jay Gatsby is very sensitive, “..you see I

usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things

that have happened to me..” (72). Gatsby is alone because he is always running away from his

problems. He is insecure of himself because he has been hurt by others. Gatsby and Daisy used

to have a relationship with each other and even though Daisy has moved on Gatsby has not,

“....He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say : “I never loved you”

(116). Gatsby still has strong feelings for Daisy because he never stopped loving her. He is

repeating his past because he is trying to have a relationship with Daisy that he cannot

have. Gatsby

doesn’t want to live his life without Daisy and he charishes Daisy when he calls her his. “Golden

Girl” (101). He loves Daisy with all his heart because she is always on his mind. Gatsby believes

that Daisy is the one and only girl he will ever love because he cannot