TORT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

TORT - Term Paper Example The Page case established foreseeability of personal injury, whether physical or injury, as a pivotal element in tort claims. It is a legal dictum applicable only to primary or direct victims. The Alcock case, on the other hand, dealt with secondary victims or claimants suffering from psychiatric injury by reason of their exposure to the injury or death of a loved one. It established three control mechanisms: establishment of close ties of love and affection between claimant and victim, albeit this is presumed in certain cases; establishment of presence at the accident site or immediately after, and; establishment of psychiatric injury as a result of directly witnessing the accident or its immediate aftermath. In the present case, however, the police officers/rescuers were not claiming as secondary victims, accidentally witnessing their loved ones dying or being injured, but as primary victims suffering psychiatric injuries as a result of being in the rescue operation. ... The House of Lords was faced with the dilemma of granting claims to policemen/rescuers for psychiatric illness when it had earlier, in Alcock, refused similar claims by close relatives of the victims. Moreover, the prospect of expanding claims on the ground of psychiatric illness posed four issues: the complication of drawing the line between serious grief and psychiatric illness; the effect on claimants suffering from psychiatric illnesses in the event of an expansion; the floodgate doctrine – where more classes of persons will be suing on the ground of psychiatric illness, and; a lopsided liability burden on defendants vis-a-vis tortious conduct. 4 On the basis of the above, the HL was persuaded to dismiss the claims of the police officers/rescuers, observing that where the law on psychiatric injury is concerned, the Court should stop provisionally at the boundaries established by the cases of Alcock and Page until and unless Parliament itself conducts a revamp by enacting l aws that would finally settle all pertinent issues. This, the Court observed, was the prudent thing to do. Q2 Victor should institute an action for tort against William, for his broken legs and ribs, and against the hospital for mistakenly amputating his arm. William is liable for the broken legs and ribs of poor Victor notwithstanding that the slow-speed collision was supposed to have only caused bruising. Under the eggshell skull rule, a â€Å"defendant is liable in tort for the aggravation of a plaintiff’s existing injury or condition, regardless of whether the magnitude of the injury was foreseeable.† 5 Thus, in Smith v Leech Brain & Co,6 the Court granted the claim of the widow of a worker who died of cancer three years after a molten metal accidentally

Economics System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics System - Essay Example They ensure that the limited resources are prioritised and allocated accordingly. In a traditional economic system, society takes precedence over individual interests. Resources are shared equally and individuals work together. Australia is a region that uses this type of system, among the aboriginal communities. In the mixed economic system, most decisions are made by individuals in the market. The United States is an example of a nation that uses this system. In market economies, decisions on the economic standing of a region are made by individuals. The interaction of people and organizations determines how resources are allocated, for example, Brazil. In the command economic system, the government is in charge of the economic status of the region. The distribution and allocation of resources is determined by the state (Myers 2012, p. 83). Socialism is the perfect type of such a system, an example being Cuba. Free market economy A free market system is an economic system in which the state’s government does not interfere with businesses. The exchange of goods and services between individuals is voluntary. ... All factors of production are owned privately. Mixed economic systems on the other hand have regulations that need to be followed. There are price guidelines stipulated by major parties that control the movement of goods and services in the economy (Ertuna 2012, p. 76). The basic principle that surrounds this system is that the means of production are carried out by private owners as well as government agencies. Self-interests run the objectives of free markets, but they do respond to the needs of the consumers in the market. Mixed markets have the opposite objective as they aim to give everyone; consumers, the government, and even workers, what they work for in the region. No price mechanism runs the mixed economic system as with the free market system. Things change from time to time, but it is often done for the overall good of all individuals (Cowie & Ison 2010, p. 37). The free market system advocates for prices that only benefit privately run resources in the economy, which som etimes weighs on the poorer individuals in the region. How free market economy is more effective than mixed economy The free market system is believed to be more effective than the mixed economic system because more players are involved in the economy. This is because all that is offered through a free market system comes from all around the world. The free market pricing system makes the availability of goods and services from all around the world a welcome phenomenon. Entrepreneurs and business minds are given the largest scope and opportunity to risk their capital in a bid to offer resources that satisfy the needs of consumers (Cowie & Ison 2010, p. 48).

Economic Issues Simulation Paper Essay Example for Free

Economic Issues Simulation Paper Essay The Financing of Health Care Economic Issues Simulation Paper Health care system has evolved tremendously in the last few years, with many changes with the health care laws including but not limited to Universal Health Care, many individuals have choices when it comes to their coverage. According to healthcare. gov, in January of 2015, an employer with 50 or more full time employees will have to make an Employer Shared Responsibility Payment if a full time employee gets a lower health coverage premium cost if insurance is purchase in a marketplace. However, employers are not subject to this law if the numbers of employees are lesser than 50 but are still expected to offer coverage for their employees. (healthcare. gov) Employers must make sure that when choosing coverage for their employees, these should be within their needs; within health care requirements as well as inexpensive keeping in mind that lower cost may not necessarily mean better. With many varieties in health care plans such as Preferred Provider (PPO), Point of Service (POS), and Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO); the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) is the most preferred and utilized group health insurance plan. As a HMO representative of Castor Insurance, health care coverage will be built, including the potential utilization of the services by different enrollees. Castor Collins Health Plan Castro Collins Health Plan is a regional HMO that was founded in 1999. As a HMO, they provide health care services as well as health insurance to individuals in its statewide network of physicians and hospitals utilizing a capitation model to compensate their network of providers. Currently, there are 100,000 enrollees and these numbers are increasing. The responsibility of a Vice President in Strategy and Financial Planning is to interact with new clients and formulating health plans that will suit their needs. With the help of colleagues such as the Chief Financial Officer Helen Fouerman, the Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Wikes, and the Executive Vice President of Planning and Development, Adam Hunter, a plan will be put together that will include pricing and setting insurance premiums. In January of 2006, Castro Collins was approached and met with two groups of people for health insurance coverage. These groups are Constructit and E-editors, neither of them have group employer’s insurance. Constructit have 1000 people and they are willing to pay a maximum of $4000 per person as an annual premium, meanwhile E-editors will pay a maximum annual premium of $4500 per person with 1,600 people. Castor Collins offers three types of health plans: Castor Standard, Castor Enhanced, and the customized plan called Castor Enhanced Minor. The standard plan does not cover pre-existing medical conditions, the enhanced plan, however, cover pre-existing medical conditions and offers more services. Castor Enhanced Minor is a customized plan that is almost equivalent to Castor Enhanced with somewhat lesser services that requires high utilization. Demographics  and Health Care Risk Factors There are 550 men and 450 women employees in Constructit with ages 26 to 45 and 60 percent from this age group ranging from 26 to 42 are married. This means, spouses and children need to be considered in getting health plan. Also, great physical activities are involve within thirty- two percent of the people at Constructit, while 25 percent of the people has moderate physical activity. The remainder which is 43 percent of the people involves activities that are sedentary. There are no major health risks out of the thirty-eight percent an equivalent of 170 men and 210 women in the workforce. Injuries, respiratory system diseases, digestive disorders, migraine and allergic conditions are the major causes of absenteeism in Constructit. Obesity related diseases such as hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases are moderately high for this workforce that consists of 36 percent of men and 43 percent of women. In E-editors, there are 750 men and 840 women with ages 35 to 54 and most of them are married. For the past ten years, ninety-five percent in the workforce have largely been sedentary; their job involves sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time. Only five percent are required moderate activity. Stress related injury (SRI) and problems with vision were acquired by at least 95 people who had this job for a while. There are no major medical health risks for the 170 men and 182 women (22%) from this group. Respiratory disorder is the 26 percent of the group problem because they are heavy smokers. There are 720 people who are obese in this group because of the heavy sedentary lifestyles, eating habits, and lack of exercise. This also means that there are increased risk of diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases. Plan Analysis Based on the plans, I would recommend Castor Standard to Constructit and not to provide insurance to E-editors. Since Castor Standard does not cover pre-existing conditions, the risks of providing this plan are low. The premium that Constructit will be responsible annually is $3,428, with Castor Collins Health Plan earning $3. 43 million. Given the health profile and the expected utilization of services for E-editors, I think that not providing insurance is the right decision. There is a high risk of insuring this group and whatever Castor Collins earns from this group are inadequate to cover those risks. The goal is to maximize earnings. If E-editors are willing to pay a different premium they will be considered by providing an appropriate plan that minimized risks and increased earnings. Risk-averse consumers buy health insurance to avoid losing income or wealth when they are unwell. In other words, consumers pay insurance premium to transfer their risks of medical expenses to the insurance company. The premium that Castor Collins receives is a source of revenue. It is compensation for bearing risk and for bearing expenses such as payment to health care providers. If Castor Collins know that a particular group of enrollees is more susceptible to a particular disorder, its risk for providing coverage for that disorder is higher. However, if, as in the case of Constructit and E-editors, a group of individuals is not willing to pay a higher premium to cover greater risks, Castor Collins may not be able to provide coverage for greater risks. Therefore, while selecting a plan and the services to provide under that plan, Castor Collins has to weigh various considerations – the premiums that enrollees are willing to pay, the risks of providing a particular plan or service, the expected utilization and hence, the costs, of providing various  services in the plan, and the premium Castor Collins needs to charge to maintain profitability.

Butch and femme roles of lesbians

Butch and femme roles of lesbians Butch and femme roles were extremely important to the community in the forties and fifties; it was the butch role that was the most visible, and therefore the most likely to cause public scorn (Weissman and Fernie). The two sources, The Reproduction of Butch Femme Roles by Madeline Davis and Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy and Forbidden Love by Aerlyn Weisman and Lynne Fernie focus particularly on the function of the butch role among working class lesbians in Buffalo. These sources draw on articles, oral histories and interviews of lesbians from the early twentieth century. Both the resources state that, although gender-appropriate styles and behaviors were rigidly enforced in order to maintain a clear distinction between the sexes, butch womens choice to not only reject traditional femininity but to also actively adopt masculinity was perceived as a threat to the very order of society and a prelude to social chaos. Despite the fear, and likelihood of harassment by police and other strai ght men, the courage of butches to claim their identities in many ways prepared the way for later generations of lesbians to break free from the narrow conventions of socially constructed womanhood and claim access to a kind of power traditionally held only by men (Weisman and Fernie). As a result, male representations of lesbian sexuality have had the most influence in shaping attitudes towards butch and femme identities throughout the twentieth century. Such representations have almost always assumed the lesbian role -playing is an imitation of heterosexuality. The main theory underlying the feminist disregard of role playing is that roles depend on sexual difference, which is naturally hierarchical, polarizing, and oppressive. Sexual difference is the grounds on which heterosexual roles are built, and thus contains within it an inherently unequal distribution of power. In the relationship of a butch and femme, since the identities of both are built on popular cultural stereotypes of male and female behavior, they tend to reinforce the inequality in power inherent in this dichotomy. In addition, in most cases one of the partners is active, strong, dominant, and initiating whereas the other partner is passive, weak, submissive, and enduring. The partner who is dominant in this equation mimics the role of a male in a heterosexual relationship, whereas the passive, weak and submissive characteristics belong to that of the female. Thus, because the butch- femme roles have the potential for being just as sexist as heterosexual roles, they imita te the latter, especially when talking about power relations between two partners. (Weisman and Fernie) According to Judith Roofs article, The Match in the Crocus: Representations of Lesbian Sexuality, the representations of lesbian sexuality in the dominant discourse often evoke the phallus by calling attention to its absence or substitution in sexual relations between women, so that it appears and seems necessary, at least symbolically, because of the inconceivability of sexuality without a phallus present. Therefore, lesbians are often depicted as having appropriated the penis, masquerading as though they really had it, and thereby assuming male privilege and acting upon it. This evokes the stereotypical image of the lesbians by phallocentric discourse and is seemingly embraced by the lesbian community in the form of butch roles. What Roofs analysis makes possible is an understanding of the ways in which the dominant ideology has a vested interest in making the butch femme role playing appear to be a mere replica of heterosexuality, as a way of calming male anxiety over the threat of female appropriation of male dominance. Thus, because the absence of the phallus requires them to achieve the balance through role playing, they merely are merely imitating the heterosexual norms. Butch femme roles were particularly prominent in the working-class lesbian bar culture of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, where butch-femme relationships were the norm, while butch-butch and femme-femme were taboo (Kennedy and Davis 244/81). Most of the lesbian community existed primarily in bars, since these were the only places where people could gather publicly, break the isolation of lesbian life, and develop both friendships and lover relationships (Kennedy and Davis 243/80). Just as in straight bars, picking up another type in lesbian bars was often the reason for attending the party. Although there are a few exceptions (like Nairobi in Forbidden Love who sent a rose to her desired person), the butch was typically the one who made the first move towards the femme who just sat and looked pretty. This idea of the male butch having to make the first move, replicates the role of a heterosexual male who usually is the one to make the first move at a club. The objective of a butch was to satisfy and keep his femme safe (Weisman and Fernie). This reiterates the notion of one of the partners being in control, strong, and dominant, whereas the other is weak, and needs the help of a man to keep her safe (Weisman and Fernie). This goes hand in hand with the notion of the society that perceives women to be inferior to men because they need a man to look after them. It was always the butch who put up with the discrimination, and bashing to keep their woman safe. Further, the butch is never attracted to another like herself. Rather, she is always attracted to a more feminine type of person (Kennedy and Davis 251/84). This can be paralleled to the idea that heterosexual males are not supposed to be attracted to the same type of person, but of the opposite sex. Therefore, though they are trying to show a discourse to heterosexual relationships, the fact that society is predominantly heterosexual subjected them to the widely known heterosexual st ructure. The role playing in the bedroom does not strictly and always follow pleasure being received only by one partner. Just like the sex life of heterosexual couples butch and femme complement each other in an erotic system in which the butch was expected to be both the giver and the doer (Kennedy and Davis 244/81), however not always. In simpler terms, as shown in Forbidden Love it was always the butch on top, and the femme on the bottom. Though this earned them a destruction of taboo around the sexuality of lesbians, it can be taken further by the notion that in the sex life of heterosexual couples, the female is the one on the bottom, and the male is the one who is taking charge, and dominant, and therefore on top. In contrast to a butch, a stone butch is a woman who is strongly masculine in character and dress, tops her partners sexually (and sometimes emotionally), and who does not wish to be touched genitally. Not all stone butches identify in female terms; some are known to identify with male pronouns, while many stone butches do not even identify themselves with lesbian or within the lesbian community. A common partner for a stone butch is a stone femme; a femme who bottoms sexually or who wishes not to touch the genitals of her stone butch partner. Moreover, the characteristics of stone butches can be found in many men, who wish to pleasure, but do not expect anything in return; that is to be total givers. These men get their zing from pleasuring their woman, identical to the role of a stone butch. (Weisman and Fernie) By wearing the attire of a man, the butches earn privileges that a heterosexual man would have. The femme, or the woman, who wears feminine clothes, does not have the same privileges of that of the males. Wearing manly clothes gives a lot more mobility and freedom to the butches, which parallels the liberation that heterosexual males get and their females do not. Moreover, the only way for women to achieve independence in work and travel and to escape passivity was to pass as men (Kennedy and Davis 245/81). Wearing manly clothes therefore also permitted these men to earn higher salaries and get better jobs (Weissman and Fernie); similar to how getting a job was known to be a mans responsibility in the heterosexual structure. Though there have been ongoing debates on the roles of butch and femmes, there is no doubt that their role playing imitates the functions which are evident in a heterosexual constitution. There are many reasons that have compelled these lesbians into taking up these heterosexual identities; one being the identification and visibility of the role of females in a society dominated by heterosexual notions of relationships, and another being that taking up the male characteristics, was the only way to let the society view their homosexual relationships as somewhat heterosexual. Thus, butches and femmes took on the notion of the heterosexuals by imitating their masculine style of clothing, sex habits, stratified positions and social behaviours.

Friendship in The Pact :: The Pact Relationships Essays

Friendship in The Pact Friendship is a huge part of everyone's life, whether they know it or not. In some way shape or form everyone needs relationships. In the book The Pact, friendship is huge. Three boys George, Sam, and Rameck become best friends and you could say that they save each others lives. Not physically but in a sense that without the pact they made there lives might not be where they are today. I can relate this book to a very good friend of mine that got caught up in a bad situation. I’ll use the name â€Å"Bob†. We live in the small town of Cape May, NJ and everyone knows everyone. Not always the best situation for people like Bob. He and I became friends before any of these awful things started to happen. Bob got caught up in the wrong crowd one summer and begandealing cocaine. At the time I was un- aware of this. I began to notice a change in him around the middle of the summer, I asked him if there was anything wrong or if I could do anything for him. Bob wouldn’t tell me what was going on, he said, â€Å"I don’t want to hurt you.† With this statement, â€Å"I don’t want to hurt you.† I immediately knew that something was seriously wrong. At the time I didn’t know what, but I was going to find out. So I started snooping around, and I did my own investigation. Some may say that it was me being nosy, but I know that I’m sure glad I was. It’s a good thing I did too. In my snooping around I found out that Bob was dealing cocaine. It was at this time that I realized Bob’s situation was real, and I would have to do something about it. I thought Bob simply needed to get away from where he knew everyone, and drugs were so easily accessible. Bob and I then sat down to talk. This was not easy for me to do and I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him to hear. I mean, picture someone you think of as a little sister sitting you down and saying, â€Å"Bob, I know all about you dealing cocaine.† It takes a lot to stand up to your friends, but it takes a lot more to just sit and watch their lives go down the drain.

The Greek Column :: Architecture Architectural Essays History

The Greek Column A French champagne cognac with a Centaur trademark, called Remy Martin, is featured in several magazine advertisements resting on a column in various positions. The one being analyzed in this article shows the bottle of Remy Martin and a pair of glasses placed on top of a column so tall that it reaches above the clouds. It invites the viewer: "Want to come up for a drink sometime?" At the bottom right corner, the Centaur logo is repeated, along with a short description of its origin and a complimentary video offer. Found in the October issue of Vanity Fair, it targets adult women readers who, perhaps, want a fashion enlightenment. Both the column and the slab on top of it appear to be made out of concrete, covered with plaster, whitewashed, and then it was given a chipping effect. Its purpose is to support the bottle of Remy Martin and the glasses for someone who can reach high enough for a drink. The use of the column in ancient architectures, however, do not include exhibiting a beverage. From the remarkable Roman Pantheon, dated from the second century B.C., to the Chartres Cathedral in France, which began construction in the mid-twelfth century A.D., the column is widely used according to different tastes and architectural purposes. It is a Greek creation emerged from the Archaic period between 6oo-480 B.C., during which the two elevation designs from Greek temples, called the Ionic and Doric orders, came into form. The Corinthian order is the third classical Greek architectural order originally used in interiors, which began to appear around 450 B.C. The Greeks used columns in architectures including the Parthenon, the Tholos and the mausoleums, sometimes in pairs and sometimes in colonnades. All three orders, occasionally with various different modifications, were adapted by other civilizations such as the Romans and the Etruscans. They were erected in temples, Cathedrals, Forums, on city streets or even in residents as a supporting device for arches, entablatures , ceilings or roofs. They are also incorporated in reliefs for tombs and cathedrals and expressed in Roman wall paintings. For example, the bedroom walls in the House of Publius Fannius in Boscoreale were decorated with images of columns in fantastic Roman cityscapes. (Stokstad, p.162-213, 223-283, 553-556.) The column used in the Remy Martin advertisement does not clearly belong to any classical Greek order or its later variants. However, it resembles a down-sized column of the Doric Order because of its recognizable Doric-like capital, though its components are only representative.

By what methods does Fitzgerald present the Jazz Age Society’s preoccupation with wealth and materialism?

The â€Å"Great Gatsby† was published in 1925 and was set in the ‘Roaring Twenties’. This was a glamorous decade marked by cultural, artistic and social developments, but it was brought to an end by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which triggered the Great Depression of the 1930s. In the 1920s, America became very prosperous as the country recovered from World War I. There was a policy of Prohibition. This meant that alcohol was illegal, but the continued demand meant there was a lot of money to be made from bootlegging. It was a time of social change; the younger generation started to rebel against tradition. For many people, and particularly women, the war provided new experiences and freedom. After the war, there was a strong desire to try new and exciting things and to break from tradition. Jazz music became popular because it was more energetic than earlier music styles. Fitzgerald coined the term ‘Jazz Age’. Flappers began to challenge traditional gender roles. Flappers were women who behaved in a way that was thought to be inappropriate by the older generation; they drank, smoked and wore revealing clothing. Fitzgerald sets â€Å"The Great Gatsby† in an altered version of Long Island and Manhattan. Great Neck and Manhasset Neck become East and West Eggs, and the large landfill site Flushing is renamed the ‘valley of ashes’. The main sites represent different elements of the 1920s east-American lifestyle; Manhattan’s skyscrapers and luxurious hotel suites but it is also filled with lonely clerks who spend all their time working, and gangsters who meet in seedy bars. The valley of ashes is a stretch of wasteland which sits between the other sites and connects them. The valley illustrates that the excesses of wealth can’t be achieved without exploiting another part of society. The wealthy upper classes who inherited their money live in East Egg, West Eggs hosts ‘new money’; people who have earned their money. The people who live in East Egg come from old, wealthy families and have inherited money. They see themselves as elegant and well-mannered. West Egg is the home of the ‘new money’; people who have recently made their money through business. The people of East Egg look down on the people who live in West Egg because they consider their family backgrounds to be ‘inferior’ and their ostentatious displays of wealth to be in bad taste. Gatsby realises that money isn’t enough to cross the social divide between himself and Daisy; he needs to be upper class to be seen as her equal. His affected speech and imported shirts are an attempt to imitate the upper classes. Religion has been replaced by consumerism and the pursuit of pleasure. The characters live aimless lives that revolve around pleasing themselves and acquiring new possessions. For example, the guests at Gatsby’s parties focus on drinking, looking for new lovers, and trying to make ‘easy money’. The conversation between Michaelis and Wilson in Chapter eight suggests that consumerism has replaced religion; ‘You may fool me, but you can’t fool God! ’†¦Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Wilson mistakes the eyes of the advertisement for God. This shows that the eyes actually have no meaning except for the meaning that the characters give them. This could reflect the feeling of the ‘lost generation’ that life is essentially meaningless and is defined only by the values the people give it. Consumerism promises that material objects will make you happy and give your life meaning. However, material possessions don’t make people happy; in the novel this is symbolised by the fact that cars, a desirable consumer item, cause death and destruction. The idea that consumerism has replaced religious value in reinforced throughout â€Å"The Great Gatsby†; Fitzgerald mentions the ‘Presbyterian nymphs’ in the speakeasy, a place where people could illegally buy and drink alcohol during prohibition, in Chapter 4. This use of religious language could suggest that religious symbols have lost their power, and are at home in places of corruption. Weddings are a religious and legal union of a couple, but Daisy’s wedding to Tom is used primarily to display their extravagant wealth. Tom brings ‘four private cars’ and hires ‘a whole floor’ of hotel. Gatsby’s car ‘scattered light’ across the landscape and has ‘fenders spread like wings’. These descriptions give the car qualities often associated with religion; it’s source of light and is winged like an angel. Most of the characters in the novel are very wealthy and live a life of luxury. The rich and glamorous atmosphere defines the noel’s tone; the focus on the upper-class lifestyle gives the novel a mood of lively extravagance. For example, Gatsby owns a beach, motor-boats and a Rolls-Royce and his parties are full of ‘faces and voices and colour’. However, this society is contrasted with the poverty of those living near to the valley of ashes. The location of the valley of ashes between the wealthy Egg communities and New York makes the contrast stronger. There is also a constant sense that the glamorous lives of the upper classes are essentially meaningless; beneath the surface, everyone is bored because they have no purpose; Daisy seems to realise this when she asks what they should do ‘this afternoon†¦and they day after that, and the next thirty years? . Many friendships appear superficial. For example, Gatsby’s parties are full of ‘enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names’. This shows that the society is full of pretence and loneliness. Many of Gatsby’s guests had tragic fates. For example, ‘drowned’, â €˜strangled his wife’, ‘killed himself’. This reinforces the message that behind the light-hearted partying, much of society was deeply unhappy. Fitzgerald’s portrayal invites the reader to be critical of the character’s empty, materialistic lives while simultaneously making those lives seem exciting and beautiful. This reflects his own attitude towards wealth. The characters are defined by their relationship with money; it affects how they act, how they see themselves and how others see them; Nick is confused about how to respond to wealth and decadence. When he begins his banking career he suggests his role models are ‘Midas and Morgan and Maecenas’. At the same time Nick says that Gatsby’s empty display of wealthy ‘represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn’. Daisy and Tom take their wealth for granted. Tom assumes it is his natural right to be at the top of society, and Daisy was ‘casual’ about the beautiful house she grew up in. this attitude makes them ‘careless people’; they never worry when they hurt other people, they can retreat ‘back into their money’. Gatsby used to be ‘extravagantly ambitious’ and focused on financial gain. However, the Gatsby that Nick meets doesn’t get involved in the decadence of his own parties. This suggests that he has grown to be indifferent to his wealth; he just sees it as a means towards winning Daisy. For Myrtle, money buys happiness; she gets pleasure from her cold cream, pet dog and magazines. Her opinion of her husband was damaged by the realisation that he couldn’t afford to buy a suit for their wedding. Money takes on a meaning beyond its financial wealth. For Gatsby, money is confused with love. He says Daisy’s voice is ‘full of money’, linking his longing for her with his longing for the wealth and status that she represents. Gatsby understands the relationship between love and money. Daisy’s voice, he says, is ‘full of money’; it is the seductive, thrilling aspect of her. What Gatsby, with surprising consciousness, states is that Daisy’s charm is allied to the attraction of wealth; money and love hold similar attractions. Gatsby, with his boundless capacity for love sees that the pursuit of money is tied to his love for Daisy; and he knows himself well enough to see this. That Daisy’s voice is ‘full of money’ is a remark only Gatsby could make. It is a statement of someone attune to the possibilities of love and money and sensitive to them; perhaps too much. Tom could never have provided this description of Daisy; his attraction to her has nothing to do with wealth. Tom is accustomed to having money; money holds no interest for him because it does have to be chased after; his is old money simply there to be used. Tom may buy anything he wishes; from polo ponies to cufflinks; but he understands that polo ponies or cufflinks are all he is buying. Myrtle only cares about appearance and material possessions. Myrtle claims not to care about clothes; ‘I just slip it on sometimes when I don’t care what I look like’, but actually she’s obsessed with her appearance; she changes clothes regularly and buys cold cream and perfume. She wears bold colours, in contrast to Daisy who wears white but when Myrtle changes into a cream dress, her ‘vitality’ changes to ‘hauteur’. This shows that she thinks breeding is all about appearance. She’s also concerned with other people’s appearances. She was seduced by Tom’s clothes the first time she met him, mentioning that he wore ‘a dress suit and patent leather shoes’ as well as a ‘white shirt-front’. It’s significant that Myrtle pretended to be ‘looking at the advertisement’ instead of looking at Tom, because both Tom and the advertised product represent Myrtle’s greed for material objects and wealth. Tom Buchanan represents the immorality and materialism of the ‘Jazz Age’. Fitzgerald thought that the ‘Jazz Age’ was hypocritical and this is reflected by Tom’s behaviour; he is appalled when he learns of Daisy’s affair with Gatsby, but he has lots of affairs himself. He criticises Gatsby for ‘sneering at family life’, but ‘was God knows where’ when his daughter was born. He also criticises Gatsby for knowing criminals and for being a bootlegger, but Tom also knows criminals and he likes to drink, which shows that he doesn’t follow the prohibition laws either. He sets a high moral standard for other people, such as Gatsby, but has no morals himself. Nick notes that he moves ‘from libertine to prig’ to suit his needs. Tom’s wealth and sense of superiority makes him ‘careless’ and uncaring. Nick summarises Tom and Daisy’s behaviour when he says ‘they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money†¦and let other people clean up the mess†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. They run away from their problems and never face the consequences. He acts as a foil to Gatsby; Gatsby is loyal, sensitive and caring whilst Tom is more or less the opposite. For example, he only seems to start caring for Daisy when he sees he could lose her. This suggests his reaction is as much about pride and possessiveness as about actually caring for her. The fact that Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby highlights the shallow and materialistic nature of the ‘Jazz Age’ society. Like Daisy, Tom is materialistic; he has to appear to have the best of everything. For example, he was married with ‘more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew’.