Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith, is an intriguing story that starts out with Tom Ripley being approached in a bar by Mr. Greenleaf. Mr. Greenleaf’s son, Dickie, moved to Europe, and the Greenleafs’ are desperately trying to get him to come home. Tom had met Dickie a few times, but was not very close to him, but because Tom is so incredibly bored with his own life and everyone that surrounds him, he agrees to help in any way that he can. "'Mrs. Greenleaf,' Tom said gently, 'I want you to know that I'll do everything I can to make Dickie come back"'(20). Tom then ventures to the small town of Mongibello, Italy, the town in which Dickie is staying. Tom discovers that Dickie is close friends with a girl named Marge. At first, Dickie does not seem to like Tom much, but after a little while, they become quite close and Tom begins to live with Dickie. Dickie makes it quite clear that he will not return home, but Tom still tries to provide hope to the Greenleafs’ in his letters, even though he has given up on the idea entirely. They become closer and closer and Marge, who is in love with Dickie, is very jealous of their relationship. Tom feels such a strong bond with Dickie, that one day, while Dickie is at Marge’s house, Tom begins trying on Dickie’s clothes and impersonating him in the mirror. “He chose a dark-blue silk tie and knotted it carefully. The suit fitted him. He re-parted his hair and put the part a little more to one side, the way Dickie wore his”(78). Tom realizes that they look quite similar to each other. Dickie returns home and catches Tom in the act. Dickie feels that it is quite a strange thing for Tom to do, and their relationship is never the same. Dickie separates from Tom and begins to hint that Tom should return to America. They begin to despise each other, but they had made plans to take a trip to San Remo, so they go. On the train ride there, Tom imagines killing Dickie, he forms a plan in which he kills Dickie and then becomes him, and that is exactly what he does. Tom must plan everything perfectly after that in order to avoid suspicion and get away with his lie. All is going well until an old friend of Dickie’s comes to visit him in the house in Rome that Tom is now living in. Tom must kill this man in order to continue his impersonation. This begins police questioning and a long series of events in which Tom must navigate through to be able to get away with all his bad deeds. Will he get caught, or will he be able to lie his way to becoming a free man?
Discussion Question:
Have you ever wanted to become someone else? Obviously not going so far as killing that person to become them, but wanted to be able to live the lifestyle they lived?

12 comments:

Deanna K 5-6 said...

Yes, of course I've wanted to become someone else. Sometimes other people's lives look better, because you don't know all their problems. From the outside, things look better than they usually are and this is still true for another person's life. This this in mind, I would never go as far as Tom and kill someone in order to have the lifestyle they lived.

Alexander C. [13-14] said...

Even though this book review is a little spacey (sorry Katherine, I'm just in a cynical mood right now) I believe I have wanted to be someone else at one point in my life. I idolized this person for what they were, not actually who they were as a person. I was seeing the outside image that everyone sees and failed to comprehend the fact that their personality and other non-physical traits had little ethical significance. I would never go so far as to commit a homocide to be someone because I love being who I am. I love the fact that I am an average high school kid rather than try to focus on something that I may never be.

Mike B 13-14 said...

I think everyone wishes they were another person at some point in their lives. People see the good things other people have or achive and forget that hey also have problems. I think the grass always looks greener so someone elses lfe may seem better but that does not mean it is. I think people should love who they are and live the life they were given to the fullest.

MaryL11-12 said...

Yeah obviously other people have things, and no just material things, social status and friends and such, but they have things that I'd like to have. Not saying I'd ever want to be all those people but I think it would be interesting to live a day in the life of someone else. It's always nice to kind of think about escaping your own problems for a while even if that means having to deal with someone elses.

Rachael B MOds 5-6 said...

I have definately wanted to be someone else. Sometimes it is so easy to find something that you admire or wish you could be in someone else simply because it isn't you. Normally people don't spend hours introspectively looking at themselves and making lists of the things that they admire and want to stay the same. Reality is, most people criticize and are indefinately hard on their own work and lifestyles. I personally have looked at some child prodigies when it comes to piano and wondered, how is it that I can be so advanced at an instrument and yet still have to work tirelessly to get the end product of a piece that a two year old from Japan can play effortlessly?

Matt P. 13-14 said...

There will always be a time in one's life where they are envious of another person for something, myself included. It is because there is something happening to that person that isn't or couldn't happen to you, so you wish it was you so that whatever was happening to them happened to you. However, in the end, one should be happy with who one is, rather than focusing on things that others have. If you want something, try to strive for it rather than wishing you were the person who already has it.

KatherineS13-14 said...

I agree with most of you in saying that there will always be people that we are envious of and wish that we could be. There will always be people that have seemingly no problems and can just live life as they wish.

KatherineS13-14 said...

I would also like to comment back to those that spoke of actually wanting to become someone else. Although I am often envious of other people's lives and lifestyles, in the end, I would always choose to stay who I am and I would not want to change that for anything in the world. Although I think it would be cool to be able to live the life of someone else for a day or so, I would never want to replace the life that I have now.

PS to Alex. Sorry for the "spacey"-ness of the summary. I agree that it is not the best decription of the book, however, the plotline is a very complicated one to decribe without giving everything away. So, this was the best I could do.

LibbyS5/6 said...

To live someone else's lifestyle for a limited time would be interesting, but it isn't a permanent change I would ever want to make in my life. There are times when I become envious of the opportunities and accomplishments of others, but I'm never envious enough to want to give up what I have in my life for someone else's.

Kara K. 5/6 said...

I have one time or another wanted to be someone else at least for a day. It would be awesome to see what a day like is in a stars shoes. To see what they have to go through every day. I would never want to be someone else for the rest of my life, because I am happy with myself, but it would be cool to see how other people live for a day or so. I feel that people should be happy with what they have because everyone is not going to be perfect or rich. As long as one has a family, that is all they should have to worry about. Stars may have cool lifestyles, but most do not have time to be with their families.

Nick E. 13-14 said...

I think everyone wants to live the lifestyle of someone else at one point in their lives. Besides, we are Americans and we all know that Americans are never truly satisfied with what they have. We always want more. I live a pretty decent life and have almost everything I could practically ask for. However, I've always wanted to live the life of a professional musician... a rockstar. No care in the world, playing music for a living and getting paid a sh**load of money. But in the end I wouldn't want my whole life to be like this. A lot of bad things come along with being a rockstar. Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol. It would get to the point where it was overwhelming. I'll stick with Nick Edgington and play guitar in my room :)

Mrs. Sherwood said...

thread graded