Tom is another character who attracts quite a bit of hatred from readers, as well as the narrator. Tom is Daisy’s conceited, reckless, and domineering husband. Nick’s descriptions of Tom make this quite clear. He writes that “two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face, and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward” with a “cruel body.” Tom comes from an extremely wealthy background, dating back for generations. He attended Yale and was a footballer of “acute limited excellence,” which Nick believes has contributed to him being rather reckless and underestimated. This may have directly contributed to his promiscuity, as he searches for excitement in the absence of a real sense of purpose. It is suggested he was caught with a maid on his honeymoon, he leaves Daisy’s table to mingle with some young girls at Gatsby’s party, and of course maintains an affair with Myrtle Wilson. However, he expresses his disapproval at women “run[ning] around too much these days” when Gatsby and Daisy’s romance is exposed. This is telling of his innate hypocrisy, misogynistic views and mammoth sense of self- entitlement, further evidenced when he goes on a paranoid, racist rant about the fall of the white man. The fact that Daisy settles for Tom, in all his self-indulgent glory, over the starkly different Gatsby who dedicated his adulthood to recapturing her heart speaks volumes about her materialistic obsessions.
