Yes, Patricia Highsmith's life informed her creation of Tom (I believe she sometimes even signed her own letters as "Tom"). I know a bit about her from biographical articles and her own book on writing (which I mention here), but I didn't want to head in that direction with this piece. It's long enough as it is :-)
I read the first book years ago, not long after it first came out, and the thing that stuck with me was what a bundle of anxiety Ripley was. I also had a moment of psychological insight that Highsmith later flatly contradicted in an interview. She said that the perpetual fear of being found out, which would haunt him the rest of his life, was the punishment he would suffer even while, as far as society was concerned, getting away with it.
I didn't see it that way. When we first see Ripley, he's running a scam which involves intimidating his marks into mailing him checks. He hasn't dared to cash any of the checks but he is still running the scam. A person who was running the scam for money would have stopped after discovering that they could not bring themselves to actually collect the money. So why is Ripley still doing it? I hypothesized immediately that, on a subconscious level, he craves the fear, like childhood victims of domestic violence who grow up to marry batterers because that's what they're used to. Then when I read the last scene in the book, where he's approaching a customs officer at an airport and he fears being arrested, my thought was that he'd done it. He'd set up a situation where he'd get to spend the rest of his life in fear, without having to make any more effort or take any more risks.
There's nothing like fear to make ordinary decent people ditch their moral values. Tom Ripley didn't seem empty to me. He seemed full to the brim with fear.
That’s an interesting insight, Joan. I was going to say more about the IRS scam he’s running in the opening of the book, which is different from the scheme portrayed in the new series, but cut that for reasons of length. When he can’t cash the checks, he appears to shrug it off as a “practical joke” - and he keeps at it anyway. You can take what he thinks at face value, but it’s more likely he’s unaware of what’s driving him subconsciously, as you say.
Is it all about fear, though? If he is full of fear, it’s the kind of fear that leaves him empty of all else. I’m not sure I read it this way, especially given how coldly he proceeds in the second and third novels, but there are many layers to his thoughts and self-justifications in the opening chapters.
More than anything, his thoughts seem dissociated from his feelings. For me, it’s not that he has no feelings but seems to have no access to them.
I haven't read these or watched the series. The Books have been on my radar for years but life is finite and I haven't figured out a way to read everything! Thanks for the great article.
Matthew, I haven't figured out a way to read everything, either, so I just read what hooks my attention or gets me thinking or whatever comes my way in the moment. And a lot of books I don't finish (life is too short), so that's one thing I can say for these novels by Highsmith. I did finish them :-) And they did make me think, but their perspective is not one I want more of right now. That's what the Ripley series encapsulated for me — a point of view that accepts or excuses fakery too easily, just as those who promote generative AI do.
The more you know and understand about Patricia Highsmith, the better you'll understand parts of Tom.
Yes, Patricia Highsmith's life informed her creation of Tom (I believe she sometimes even signed her own letters as "Tom"). I know a bit about her from biographical articles and her own book on writing (which I mention here), but I didn't want to head in that direction with this piece. It's long enough as it is :-)
I read the first book years ago, not long after it first came out, and the thing that stuck with me was what a bundle of anxiety Ripley was. I also had a moment of psychological insight that Highsmith later flatly contradicted in an interview. She said that the perpetual fear of being found out, which would haunt him the rest of his life, was the punishment he would suffer even while, as far as society was concerned, getting away with it.
I didn't see it that way. When we first see Ripley, he's running a scam which involves intimidating his marks into mailing him checks. He hasn't dared to cash any of the checks but he is still running the scam. A person who was running the scam for money would have stopped after discovering that they could not bring themselves to actually collect the money. So why is Ripley still doing it? I hypothesized immediately that, on a subconscious level, he craves the fear, like childhood victims of domestic violence who grow up to marry batterers because that's what they're used to. Then when I read the last scene in the book, where he's approaching a customs officer at an airport and he fears being arrested, my thought was that he'd done it. He'd set up a situation where he'd get to spend the rest of his life in fear, without having to make any more effort or take any more risks.
There's nothing like fear to make ordinary decent people ditch their moral values. Tom Ripley didn't seem empty to me. He seemed full to the brim with fear.
That’s an interesting insight, Joan. I was going to say more about the IRS scam he’s running in the opening of the book, which is different from the scheme portrayed in the new series, but cut that for reasons of length. When he can’t cash the checks, he appears to shrug it off as a “practical joke” - and he keeps at it anyway. You can take what he thinks at face value, but it’s more likely he’s unaware of what’s driving him subconsciously, as you say.
Is it all about fear, though? If he is full of fear, it’s the kind of fear that leaves him empty of all else. I’m not sure I read it this way, especially given how coldly he proceeds in the second and third novels, but there are many layers to his thoughts and self-justifications in the opening chapters.
More than anything, his thoughts seem dissociated from his feelings. For me, it’s not that he has no feelings but seems to have no access to them.
I haven't read these or watched the series. The Books have been on my radar for years but life is finite and I haven't figured out a way to read everything! Thanks for the great article.
Matthew, I haven't figured out a way to read everything, either, so I just read what hooks my attention or gets me thinking or whatever comes my way in the moment. And a lot of books I don't finish (life is too short), so that's one thing I can say for these novels by Highsmith. I did finish them :-) And they did make me think, but their perspective is not one I want more of right now. That's what the Ripley series encapsulated for me — a point of view that accepts or excuses fakery too easily, just as those who promote generative AI do.
As always, a fascinating read Martha, and food for thought. Thank you!