Who Is Tom Ripley In The Talented Mr. Ripley

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Tom Ripley is the main character of The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Ripley is extremely committed to becoming somebody he is not. He wants to become part of a wealthier group of people or family. In the film, Tom says to Dickie: “I’m not pretending to be somebody else and you are. I’m absolutely honest with you.” (The Talented Mr. Ripley) The true darkness of Tom Ripley is revealed throughout the story as he stops at nothing to achieve the luxurious lifestyle that he thinks he deserves. Tom was orphaned at a very young age when his parents were killed and raised by his Aunt Dottie, who called him a sissy his entire life. (17, 29) As Tom and Dickie's friendship grows, so does Marge's jealousy. In an attempt to separate the two, Marge implies to Dickie that…show more content…
I believe that Tom is not interested in the gender of a person, but more of their financial status. Tom was pretty poor in a way, but he pretended to be an accountant and took people’s money. He told people that they weren’t paying the “services” they needed to be paying. When they decided to pay them, Ripley just takes the money for himself. (29) Mr. Herbert Greenleaf approaches Tom and asks him if he would take a trip to Italy, to try and bring his son, Dickie, back to America. In the novel, bringing Dickie back to America and to his parents became a secondary priority to Tom; all he wanted was a free trip overseas and the money that Mr. Greenleaf was going to give him. Tom tries to convince himself that he has good intentions. In a sense, Tom buys a new self and a fresh start. Happy and optimistic for the first time in many years, Tom feels reborn and celebrates the blank slate he has been given. Tom and Dickie were very similar in looks. Tom had glasses, so they weren’t exactly identical. Tom would carefully watch Dickie and follow his daily

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