The Great Gatsby provides many societal and political discourses from the Jazz Age United States and in a similar fashion, reflects certain aspects of the political landscape of today’s United States. The most obvious example is the recently reelected President of the United States, Donald Trump.
As the most scandalized president in modern times, and arguably the most Tom Buchanan-esque, Trump represents many similar traits relating to excessive wealth and privilege, an effort to support established hierarchies, moral corruption, dazzling social status, and idealized lifestyles. Trump’s upbringing is one of continued wealth and privilege similar to Tom’s; inheriting his father’s trust fund, Trump emerged as a successful real estate and business mogul boasting an impressive portfolio of properties and becoming a famed investor. When he dipped his hands in politics, without having any prior official government position, and after much successful campaigning, Trump was voted the nation’s 45th president in 2016 and more recently, as the 47th president in 2024.
His personality and stance regarding several positional issues and moral fallacies are some of the many reasons why his opposers claim he is a selfish and careless person, similar to how Tom Buchanan is described in The Great Gatsby. Many of the most prevalent connections relate to his racial views, sense of entitlement and selfishness, treatment of women, and image.
Tom Buchanan’s character is tainted by his personal views on infidelity, cheating on his wife Daisy with Myrtle throughout the novel; similarly, Trump has faced criticism for his private infidelities and sexual assault violations, reflecting a patriarchal mindset in his personal life and policies related to abortion, etc. His many policies proposing special treatment to the ultra-rich, including a tax cut for individuals above a certain wealth bracket, appointing billionaires like Elon Musk to oligarchical institutions and newly-created political offices, and lacking policies that support the middle class all reflect his selfish interests to upkeep and broaden the wealth gap in the nation. This is similarly reflected in The Great Gatsby’s depiction of excessive spending and the power and influence that money affords characters such as Tom Buchanan. It grants a high level of immunity from punishment or receiving the effects of their actions. In Trump’s case, famously being the only criminal elected President of the United States, boasting a staggering number of criminal cases and inciting an attack on the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021, he did not face any charges or convictions. These scandals not only cost him nothing but elevated his campaign much more in the eyes of his voters.
Many Conservative extremists who may be similar to Tom Buchanan enjoy the concept of upkeeping archaic hierarchies, patriarchy, racism, xenophobia, etc, all in the name of protecting themselves. This is reverberated many times throughout Fitzgerald’s depiction of a fractured and distracted American society, eerily reminiscent of our own today. Because of this and many other reasons, I deducted a similarity between the feature players in the MAGA era of politics and Gatsby era society.
Sanvi Singh
I really like how you linked together to similarities between Tom Buchanan and Trump, I doubt I would’ve put those two things together! It really shows how the lay out Fitzgerald made for the power-hungry rich(Tom), fits like a glove around Trump, right down to the beliefs and practices’s.
Davis Keator
Yes! I saw a lot of contemporary politics taking place in the novel and enjoyed that Fitzgerald’s ideas were still prevalent and a lesson Americans should look to and learn from. I also thought about Elon Musk as a potential point to write about in comparison to Tom.