Ripley Gets Bored Easily

I was reviewing a couple chapters in the The Talented Mr. Ripley when I noticed a trend in his behavior. When Tom's facades and costumes become of Dickie become so believable, he becomes bored with the people he is interacting with. This can seen in several instances in particular when Tom is being interrogated by the police and has exchanges with hotel employees. When the American detective is questioning him about Dickie, Tom becomes bored because he can not only predict the questions McCarron is going to ask him, but Tom has to remind himself to convey expressions of remorse, confusion, and naivete. I think his boredom also adds to his fascination with acting and trying to pretend to be others. Tom seems like the type of individual, because of his constant moving around from providence to providence, that cannot only stay in one place for an extended period of time, but remain the same person for an extended period of time. Once his costume has become so effective that acting like Dickie has become second nature, he expresses feelings of solemness and gloom. As a result he tries to shake things up by continuing to take greater risks, like forging signatures and flipping back and forth between identities even while interacting the same people.