Does Wealth Determine How Dignified People Are?
The Talented Mr. Tom Ripley written by Patricia Highsmith is a crime novel about a young New Yorker named Tom Ripley, a con man and master manipulator with very little sense of morality. Tom Ripley lies and murders people to steal their money and even their identity. He values objects more than people and his supposed friends, yet he fears loneliness most of all. He does not understand family and still he has a longing for family to take care of him. In contrast to Tom’s twisted idea of world, Dickie Greenleaf shows generosity in friendship, he values people more than objects. Dickie is sociable and kind he lives a simple life and enjoys simple things like painting and company of his friends. …show more content…
Tom does not see the wrist watch just as an object, he cares who has given it. Tom may be missing his family however; he does not understand the strength of the bonding between family members. When he says, “Dickie was probably having the time of his life over there. An income, a house, a boat. Why should he want to come home” (11) he insinuates that income and owning valuable objects would be a good reason to abandon family. The root cause for Tom’s view of family could be found in the way he was raised by Aunt Dottie. As a child he was frequently reminded that “… his upbringing had cost her more than his father had left in insurance” (38). Dickie however has a very different reason for ignoring his father’s request to come back and join the family in New York because “… my father would be after me to work in Burke-Greenleaf. I couldn’t possibly paint” (54). Dickie values his independence and he believes he could not continue painting if he joins his father’s