Tom Buchanan is an example of the lowest level of moral development in The Great Gatsby. His decisions are shown to be motivated by power, dominance, and self interest rather than ethical principles. Unlike other characters who struggle with guilt or reflection, Tom shows little to no moral awareness and constantly uses wealth, gender, and social status to justify harmful behavior. His actions violate almost all ethical standards talked about by both the Kohlberg’s scale and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
Compared to Nick Carraway, Tom is a really bad apple. Tom operates at the preconventional level, where moral decisions are based on avoiding consequences and maximizing personal benefit. He acts without caring for rules unless they protect him, he blames others to escape punishment, and he shows no remorse when others suffer due to his actions
On page 41, Tom lashes out on Myrtle, his mistress, "Making a short, deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand".
Already we can see that Tom’s cruelty and complete disregard for Myrtle as a human being is obvious. He uses violence to assert dominance and silence her, showing that he views others, especially those of lower social status as objects he can control rather than people deserving respect. The casual nature of the act emphasizes how normalized this violence is for Tom and his disrespect for women.
On page 190, Tom says "“I told him the truth,” he said. “He came to the door while we were talking, and I told him"".
From this, it is clear that Tom's statement attempts at hiding deception as honesty. By directing George Wilson toward Gatsby, Tom shifts blame to protect himself, knowing it will probably lead to a further altercation. This moment highlights Tom’s shameless willingness to sacrifice others’ interests and lives to preserve his own comfort and power, which really shows his lack of guilt or responsibility.
These moments from Tom can show us something important. The Kohlberg’s moral development scale and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics lenses says that Tom Buchanan’s actions place him at the lowest level of ethical reasoning in The Great Gatsby. His physical abuse of Myrtle shows preconventional morality, as he uses power to satisfy his own desires without regard for right or wrong. Through the Markkula lenses, this act violates virtue ethics by showing cruelty, rights ethics by denying Myrtle’s dignity, and society by normalizing violence. Likewise, when Tom directs George Wilson toward Gatsby to protect himself, he again functions at Kohlberg’s Stage 1-2, prioritizing self interest over moral responsibility. This deception fails the justice, utilitarian, and societal lenses because it causes lots of harm to others while allowing Tom to escape consequences, again cementing him as the least morally developed character in the story.
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