Download Practical Advice for Work Breakdown Structures.pdf and more Exercises Philosophy in PDF only on Docsity! Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley tells the story of a struggling young New Yorker named Tom Ripley who, tasked by Mr. Greenleaf with going to Italy to bring his son Dickie home, jumps at the chance to start his life anew in Europe. I wouldn’t start with a summary of the book, but rather a summary of the prompt being asked. Over the course of the novel, Tom often thrusts himself recklessly into the face of danger, committing unnecessary crimes ranging from forgery to murder, particularly when responding to pressure and adversity. This behavior is due in part to his inability to fit into society and his terrible family life growing up, especially the taunts Tom received from his Aunt Dottie briefly include what the taunts were about, which often pop up in his mind even as an adult. Highsmith uses these flashbacks to Tom’s youth—a life he is desperate to escape at any cost—and Tom’s inner thoughts before, during, and after his crimes to assert that the negative environments Tom lived in were the primary cause of his evil actions. instead of saying that the flashbacks are the reason for why he was evil, state that the flashbacks were the reason why he is running (add to theme of pursuit and evasion). Include the third story of the thesis here (so what?) When Tom finds himself in danger and needs to make a quick decision, he tends to take risks. At the very beginning of the story, Tom thinks suspects he is under pursuit being pursued as he leaves the Green Cage, yet he still opts to “take a chance and go in for another drink” rather than “beat it over to Park Avenue and try losing [his pursuer] in a few dark doorways” (7). At the story’s end, Tom puts his freedom in jeopardy by forging Dickie’s will to transfer all of Dickie’s riches to himself—rather than being satisfied that he had not been caught, he does the unthinkable all because “that was the mood he was in” (258). Furthermore, when Tom decides to kill Dickie and Freddie, he hardly second guesses his choices or stops to think rationally.
