What do we learn about Tom in Chapter

What do we learn about Tom in Chapter 1, and how does the narrative perspective shape this? • • Incongruence between what he says and what he thinks – he has a constructed personality – cautious about what he says. Seems superior – a psychopathic trait. – “Charley had been in a complete muddle” – demeaning. – Mr Greenleaf “pathetic hungry expression” – biased narrator… 3 rd person limited. • • Tom’s thoughts are revealing – his reflections on what is said, and also his fears and anxieties. He appears to be a compulsive liar – lies to please. He is materialistic – interested in income, house, boat etc. Bored easily and quickly – narrative repetition implies instability. Childish. – – – – He’s 25 He’s a criminal… larceny, tampering with the mails Doesn’t want to say that he works for the department of inland revenue… BUT “present job: nil” He’s a liar. He lives in New York Has moved out. Used to live with “Mark”. He has an Aunt Dottie who sends him checks.

Chapter 2; key points • • • He is “profiling” people. Picks his targets. He has no empathy for the people he calls up. A comfortable, confident liar. He is a manipulator. He is an actor – he puts on roles. (NB “manically polite” implies mania)

Chapter 3: Tom’s pathology, and Tom’s Methodology • “That was true. ” Tom telling the truth is remarkable. • He is able to appear worldly due to what he’s heard. He can remember and take on other’s memories. Takes on other people’s identity as his own, and feels it: “Tom felt as if he had gone there too. ” His fraudulence is both within and without. • Very tactical – completely in control. • Judgemental of intelligence. • Homosexual – “The album was not very interesting to him until Richard got to be sixteen or so, long-legged , slim, with the wave tightening in his hair. ” a feminised view of Dickie? – Harsh view of “Marge Sherwood” – then moving on to describe Dickie again. We sense where Tom’s interests lie.

• • • When Tom is left alone – after Mrs Greenleaf goes to bed, before Mr Greenleaf comes back in… A psychological analysis. Phallic Mr Greenleaf “seemed to pulsate and grow larger and larger” Fight or flight responses (THIS IS A THEME) Lacan… the mirror… self-alienation. Surprised with himself by doing the right thing – doesn’t feel right. Childhood pathology is mentioned. Orphan. Lacks father figure. Feminised. He is most uncomfortable when NOT lying…

p. 23 the psychopathology of Mr Ripley • “gave his hand a long suffocating squeeze” – issues of homosexuality? More likely issues with touch, having been deprived this as a child (orphan) and issues of Mr Greenleaf fitting into the father archetype (Jung) which causes discomfort in Tom • “pained, frightened expression… Tom saw” – sees rather than feels his emotions… emotive disconect. • “as if the city was putting on a show just for him” – delusions of grandeur. Narcissism. Links to his ACTING (“show”). Detached – a spectator. Feels that the world revolves around him… also, a lack of empathy.

P 25 Can you link the details about Marc Priminger to earlier points made about Tom? • “Stern Father” – Tom has father issues… • “stuck up for himself for once” – Tom is weak? • “hobby of helping out young men” – homosexual? Old-fashioned view of homosexuality and paedophilia being linked? • “stupid, piggy eyes” – aesthetic judgements. Looks down on people, especially the unintelligent. • Running away again.

Examine Tom’s Relationship with Cleo; what does she reveal about Tom’s Character? • “Cleo was enthralled as he knew she would be” – link to self-esteem. Likes to impress her. NB he feels secure with her. • Platonic relationship. • “never wanted or expected him to make a move” – does she know he’s gay? Is she? • VERY romantic, sexy image, by the fire, bearskin rug… but asexual. • Pat Highsmith said men have all the fun – Cleo voices this. • “young man” vs “girl” – infantalisation of women. • “velvet thighs” “silk shirts” Tom not interested in this sexy dame. He is gay, readers, if you hadn’t noticed, says the writer. • “red lips” “ivory cheek” – ivory implies purity and virginity. • She validates him. • “Cleo fussed around him all evening… klenex… socks” she is a motherly figure. He confides in her too. He tells her his news.

p. 28: what do Tom’s attitudes reveal? • “blood curdling whoop” - socially uncomfortably and awkward • “riff-raff, vulgarians, slobs” - snobbish. • “couldn’t bear to look at [Ed’s girlfriend]” gay?

Chapter 6: Motivations; Freudian/ Psychoanalytic construction of character. • “play the role” – actor. Constructing his own character. • The mirror – the disconnect between his understanding of his own face – lack of empathy. • A reverse immigrant – to Europe from America – makes him inverted. He is an invert (homosexual). • Letter to Mr Greenleaf; he is a fantasist – builds delusions. • The cap works as a disguise. He is an actor.

Memories of Aunt Dottie • “bumper to bumper traffic” – sexual image? ? • In Freud, cars symbolise vaginas. There is a trauma attached to the memory. • Working with cars is archetypally masculine, so arguably the trauma concerns masculinity as much as femininity. • ALSO, he can’t get IN the car… a male failure (as a mechanic) also a symbolic sexual failure (Freud) • “sissy” – supression? • Why 3 rd person rather than 1 st person? Because he is so deluded that 1 st person wouldn’t work as a narrative form here.

“stabbing her a million times in the throat” • ID vs Ego – his Ego is disobedient to the superego. • BASICALLY: Tom does not conform to his psychological map of social norms (superego). His ID (full of primal desires and emotions) overpowers his desire to be normal and makes him do and imagine bad things. • A VERY OEDIPAL SCENE! • Strangely, perhaps uncharacteristically, self aware (“as if… he had no time to grow”); however, he is very introspective…. He doesn’t understand/empathise with his own emotions, so perhaps he looks at the mechanics of his personality through memory analysis.

Ch 7 • “Revealing” bathing suit – subtle phallic imagery. Tom likes to be in disguise, but here everything is on display. “hardly bigger than a g-string” – effeminate imagery. • Marge: Point about her looks and figure comes last… not a priority for Tom (he’s gay) – “tomato coloured” bathing suit – a somewhat asexual simile. Focus on clothes. Not the typical male gaze.

CH 8 • “Tom envied him” – doesn’t look down on Dickie. He craves his approval “he wanted more than anything else in the world” • “she must have clothes a Dickie’s house”- like a detective – builds a picture from inferences and details. • obsessive

What do we know about Tom from Ch. 1 -8 He is a petty criminal (larceny) His personality is made up on the spot at times He is deceptive He is a fictionalist He had a feminised upbringing He yearns for a father figure Is he autistic? Psychopathic? Sociopathic? He done got somethin’ wrong wid him. • He has issues surrounding Aunt Dottie • He is a compulsive(? ) liar… certainly an opportunistic liar. • •

Attitudes to Marge & Dickie • Tom wishes to distance himself from her. Misogyny? • “The feminine touch represented by her tomato coloured bathing suit” – not really understanding what a feminine touch is. Derogatory? Judgemental? • He feels she is an obstacle, somewhat hypocritically. • Sucks up to Dickie. • Idolises him. Wants to idolise him. • “He was waiting for something profound and original from Dickie” • Freddie Miles – Tom takes a very aesthetic view of him. Probably jealous of their friendship. Perhaps a sign of homosexuality. • “…had formed a closer bond with him in twenty-four hours, just because he was another man, than she could ever have with Dickie”

Pick up again from the mirror section.

Key Essays to read • Chris Straayer, “The Talented Post Structuralist; hetromasculinity, gay artifice, and class passing”, in Peter Lehman Ed. , Masculinity; Bodies, Movies, Cculture, New York: Routledge, 2001. • http: //www. blackwellreference. com/subscriber/uid=3/toc node? id=g 9780631230533_chunk_g 978063123053323 • Fiona Peters, “Introduction”, Anxiety and Evil in he Writing of Patricia Highsmith, Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. , 2011. – https: //books. google. co. uk/books? id=6 Pah. Ag. AAQBAJ&pg=PA 1 &source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

Other reading: • https: //www. theguardian. com/books/2015/ju n/02/tom-ripley-the-likable-psychopathpatricia-highsmith • http: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/magazine 22551083 • http: //www. crimeculture. com/Contents/Articl es-Winter 09/post. html

• Some interest here: https: //books. google. co. uk/books? id=ny 64 Cg AAQBAJ&pg=PT 12&lpg=PT 12&dq=the+talente d+mr+ripley+homosocial&source=bl&ots=v. YH ro 9 zmx. N&sig=ASn 4 Jak. Hj. QKXJ 4 MH 1 RGJu. Tre. Fg M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0 ah. UKEwjmn. Jb. E 5 Pz. NA h. Vj. DMAKHe 2 MAEYQ 6 AEIMDAD#v=onepage& q=ripley&f=false

• LOOK FURTHER!!!! • Remember, there is a definite mark in your coursework for using critical viewpoints. These will help inform your own readings of the text, and they will also give shape to your essay. Agree with and disagree with the critics. Reference them to prove a point. Weigh them up against each other. Look at one text through a critic’s reading of the other (for example, apply some of the psychoanalysis from Tom Ripley to Streetcar if possible). • Your ability to read and digest what critics have to say is integral to your identity as an A Level student as opposed to GCSE. It is what will make you academic, rather than pedestrian; thoughtful rather than box-ticking. • How many references do I need? Let’s say at least three – one for each, plus a bonus, if you do something good with them…. You could do with about one per page in an ideal world – some made more use of than others. • NOTE: knowing how Freud might view something is different to knowing what Chris Straayer explicitly said about something. Both count.

AO 5 • When you write your coursework, you will straightforwardly shoot yourself in the foot if you don’t: 1. Reference through footnotes some critical viewpoints and quotations. 2. Have bibliography at the end. If either of these is missing, you’ve done it very wrong.

Example Questions 1. Compare the presentation of disturbed minds in Ripley and Streetcar. 2. Compare the presentation of sexual dysfunction in R & S. 3. Compare how women are presented in R & S. 4. Compare the presentation of men in R & S. 5. Margaret Drabble said A Streetcar Named Desire is “a study of sexual frustration, violence and mental aberration. ” How far can this view also be applied to Ripley… (reword this) 6. Insert your own question here