"smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made" (180-181). Tom Buchanan, in contrast to Gatsby, was born into a wealthy family. He has no problem with showing off his elevated social status, and as a result he is often depicted as being arrogant, impatient, and pushy with his friends. For example, it is noted that Tom's voice had "a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked" (Fitzgerald 7). often, when asking his friends simple questions, Fitzgerald has Tom "demand" an answer from them. Near the end of the novel, Tom plays a role in Gatsby's murder. This is just one of the ways in which the novel indicates that Tom's family-based wealth is not above corruption. As noted by Miller, "in many ways Tom Buchanan is the most sinister character in The Great Gatsby, as he seems to typify the American business man (man of power) who remains the perpetual adolescent intellectually" (251).
Other wealthy characters in the novel are depicted as either corrupt or somehow misguided in their values. For example, Nick's friend Jordan Baker is described as having a "contemptuous expression," much like that of Tom Buchanan (Fitzgerald 19). Jordan is also described as a "dishonest" person who frequently cheats at golf (Fitzgerald 58). Even Nick Carraway, the impartial observer of the novel, is shown to be somew
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