After completing this novel, I sat on my couch thinking about what exactly made this novel so different from the ones studied previously in the course, and why I was unhappy with the ending...it came down to two main differences: one, that I wasn't rooting for Tom after the murder of Dickie, and two, that he never learns his lesson!
During the last half of the book Tom was literally a half step in front of the police, and I was just WAITING for it to all come undone. Tom had this keen sense of entitlement that really turned me off to him, and when he discussed his past concerning his Aunt and his feeble attempts to make an honest living, I knew that he felt that the world owed him something (specifically the part about stealing a loaf of bread after he gets fired from his job).
And let's be honest, his obsession with Dickie is beyond intense. Right from the start, it was as if his whole purpose in life would be shattered, if he didn't get himself well-liked by Dickie. He was also resentful and jealous of the time he spend with Marge, which raises the question of homosexuality. I'm unsure if his obsession was based on love, sexual attraction, or just an unsound mind, but it also made me unable to empathize with Tom's plight.
So all of this is going on, and I'm expecting that at any point, Tom is finally gonna get what he deserves....but it doesn't happen! For almost all of our other Noir characters, the mistakes they've made lead to their eventual destruction, but not for Tom. He's able to get away scot-free and rich, and it leaves you wondering....is it really that easy?
I agree, I wanted something more out of the ending! I guess it could be looked at that his 'punishment' at the end is that it seems he'll never be able to live without the fear that he's the target of police. That in itself is very unsettling! But on another note, I guess that feeling of paranoia would die down a little after he gets away and goes a while without police involvement in his life.
ReplyDeleteI can see how you woudn't want to root for him- he's a strange character.. not really sure if he has many good attributes (if he did it would be hard to tell what's part of his personality or just if it's a copy, anyway). I think I was hoping he wouldn't get caught- just because of the suspense- not that I liked him as a character, I guess I just wanted to see him in action more- maybe in hopes of him redeeming himself.
As for his obsession with Dickie- I do think it's some sexual infatuation-turned destructive. I think the story as a whole does imply a lot about sexuality but not so overtly- I'm guessing because of the time it was written.
I'm not sure about wanting Tom to "get what he deserves." It's pretty clear that Tom's childhood was atypical and maybe even abusive - I think he mentions his Aunt treating him horribly. So even if the world doesn't necessarily owe him anything, the people in his life who did certainly came up short.Also, you mention Tom being having a sense of entitlement, but I think that this applies to Dickie as well, and probably all of the other American expats in the novel.None of them actually seems to work for a living, what separates them from Tom is that they don't have to. It seems like Ripley may be harboring some "ressentiment."
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that Tom is crazy unsettling at the best of times, I found myself rooting for him the entire way through the book. Even after he had killed two people, and even after his obsession was revealed to be really unhealthy. I'm not sure I could tell you why. It might have something to do with the feeling that Tom is an outsider, someone who is just struggling to get in with the in crowd. That's something that we can all relate to, surely. The real thing I can't figure out is why I didn't want him to be caught, even though, morally, he definitely deserves to be. It's not exactly morally permissible to go off killing people and stealing their identities, after all.
ReplyDeleteYes, he does get to "get away" with the crimes in the end, but he is going to constantly have to watch his back from there on out. I feel like just with the ending alone, we get to see how Tom is still, in fact, really nervous and anxious whenever he sees police officers. The story concludes with, ".....was he going to see policemen waiting for him on every pier that he ever approached?" showing Tom's paranoia and fear of getting caught. I know he never physically got caught, but perhaps the guilt will eventually eat him up?
ReplyDeleteI think the ending of TTMR is an ending only a person like Patricia Highsmith could provide. I found Dickie to be just as unlikable as Tom; Dickie abused his privileged background, was self-indulgent (made evident by his move to Italy to go on a permanent vacation to work on his mediocre painting skills and his ungrateful attitude towards his father), and was a coward. While I do admit that Tom was creepy and overbearing, Highsmith seems to be attacking the elitism of the upper classes through the ending. Whereas Tom was the one who always had to conform to the norms of Dickie's upper class friends, he is the one who survives, and he does so through his creative talents at acting. Tom thought he could be a better version of Dickie because he actually had creative talent (unlike Dickie) and would use his money to have adventures rather than sit around and do the same things everyday. Maybe Tom's talent for acting parallels Highsmith's talent for writing, and Highsmith is trying to demonstrate, through her own novel writing, how subverting conformity can lead to success on one's own terms. Most people who made their money in America did so through highly questionable means; even though Tom murders, he is probably not that much different psychologically from other successful, corrupt business leaders.
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