How does Tom's behavior and Gatsby's behavior toward women reveal their values? .
Scott Fitzgerald distinguishes the dreamers out of the careless American society of the 1920's. Gatsby epitomizes an American dreamer so focused on his childhood love that he is blinded by reality. Tom, on the other hand, exemplifies Americans unfortunate disposition toward women and carelessness in their daily life. Daisy's affliction from Tom's affair and Gatsby's obsessive yet kind personality help Fitzgerald depict an avaricious society striving on selfish motives and forgetting the social grace and reachable dreams Americans once needed. .
Whereas the motive within Gatsby that drives him towards success is Daisy and his fantasy of having a life with her, Tom, Daisy, Mrytle's and most of society's motives lie behind money and a superficial lifestyle. Gatsby was supposedly "educated at oxford" and then proceeded to live in "Paris, Venice, Rome-collecting jewels, chiefly rubies, hunting big game trying to forget something very sad that had happened to me long ago." (70) His dream of being happy, famous, successful, and loved extended beyond the reach of any contemporaries. Tom's opulence didn't bring him happiness. " [Tom and Daisy] weren't happy, and neither of them had touched the chicken or ale-and yet they weren't unhappy either." (Pg153) Tom and Daisy lived contently with their pretentious lifestyle. Gatsby's desire for Daisy's love blinded him from realizing that Daisy was already married to Tom, and couldn't be taken. Tom, Daisy, and the majority of the persons living in 1920's wanted wealth and material goods, and essentially lost their integrity. .
Tom epitomized a society that had lost its compassions, its loyalty to others, and its sense of morality, his lifestyle with Daisy exemplified this. In contrast, Gatsby remained subjected to his overwhelming emotions and his dream of being with the girl he has always loved.
