II: Men of extreme wealth and social power

Tom Buchanan and Ha Do-yeong represent the extreme capitalists in the texts. Although they are dealt with in very different ways, the parallels between them are striking: they are married to beautiful women of a slightly lower status, they both have young daughters, and their prodigious wealth makes them social elites, protecting them and giving them enormous power. In one of those parallels that suggests similarities between these two texts go beyond the accidental, both the wealthy men at the centre of the narratives have young daughters. Pamela Buchanan is introduced to the readers – and to Jay Gatsby – in chapter 7. When her mother prompts “the bles-sed pre-cious” (p.111) to admire their guests, Pamela simply asks, “Where’s Daddy?” (p.112). In episode 4, Ha Do-yeong greets his daughter, Ye-sol, as “my sweet angel. My treasure”. Do-yeong is humanised by his adoration of her. His violent tendencies which eventually become obvious are represented as being driven by his determination to protect Ye-sol, and thus are made palatable, even laudable, to the viewer.

Money is power

Their wealth is probably the most striking aspect of these characters. Tom Buchanan’s “family were enormously wealthy – even in college his freedom with money was a matter of reproach” (p.11). In chapter 1 Nick notes that Tom had “come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance, he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that” (p.11). Tom himself is described as “remotely rich” (p.24). As a wedding gift, he gives Daisy Fay a string of pearls worth $350,000 in 1918-1919. Ha Do-yeong is “the CEO of Jaepyeong Construction” (ep3), with huge offices on the top floor of one the tallest high-rise buildings in central Seoul. Clearly, he is a member of a chaebol (ie a rich business family or conglomerate). He has a palatial family home in Semyeong. Do-yeong is almost always surrounded by staff, from lawyers and secretaries to drivers and domestics. His wedding in episode 2 to Park Yeon-jin, like Tom’s to Daisy, is a significant social event reported by local as well as national media. In episode 8 Yeon-jin points out to her husband, “When you choose something, you always choose the thing that’s the most aesthetically shiny”, noting that he likes her voice, her body, her jokes, and her background. His decision to choose her as a marriage partner was, in part, because when they first met, she was wearing the least amount of clothing of the three candidates – but it was all Dior. Do-yeong assures his wife that “a problem that can be solved with money is the easiest one in the world” (ep2), an attitude only those who are very wealthy can afford to have. With this degree of wealth comes confidence, if not arrogance. Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, complains that “Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square” (p.16), later referring to the “supercilious assumption… I had nothing better to do” (p.27) than to keep Tom company. Moon Dong-eun, the revenge-fuelled central character of The Glory, understands Ha Do-yeong’s wealth and power when she tells him, “you’re Yeon-jin’s glory, Mr Ha” (ep11), wary of his ability to protect his wife from her vengeance. The young surgeon, Dr Joo Yeo-jeong, who befriends and becomes an ally of Moon Dong-eun, offers another representation of the moneyed heir in The Glory. In episode 3, Dr Joo knows that the young woman whom he has taught baduk is on a mission of some sort; he tries to find out what Dong-eun intends to do, asking “Are you trying to buy a building?” She acknowledges that owning real estate is out of her league. He agrees, noting “Buildings are usually gifted”, or inherited. This casual comment suggests that access to the property market is unobtainable for all but the wealthy. Later in the same episode, Dong-eun rebuffs Yeo-jeong’s offered empathy for her struggles, pointing out “Your mother is the director of Seoul Joo General Hospital. You’re at your destination, aren’t you?”. To the battle-weary Dong-eun, the wealthy, who are always safe and warm, have no idea how cold it is outside for those less fortunate. In episode 8 viewers learn that each year Yeo-jeong’s parents gave him as a birthday present whatever appeared on page 16 of GQ’s January edition; one year it was a coffee machine and on another, a sports car. In both The Great Gatsby and The Glory, the wealthy elite are natural allies; this also means they act as gatekeepers against any attempted incursions from interlopers. In chapter 6 of the novel, Tom and a couple of friends arrive unexpectedly at Gatsby’s house; while Gatsby is delighted and takes seriously an off-handed invitation to join them all for dinner, everyone else knows he is not welcome. Tom is appalled: “My God, I believe the man’s coming” (p.100). In Episode 13, Yeo-jeong sees Do-Yeong at the Go Park. The CEO of the Jaepyeong Construction Company and the plastic surgeon had never met before, yet they play baduk together as if friends. In the world of the extremely wealthy, like recognizes like. 

Social capital is power too

The social capital wielded by Tom Buchanan, Ha Do-yeong and other rich characters, ensures that in their interactions with authorities, the authorities cater to the schedules and needs of the wealthy, not the reverse. In the immediate aftermath of death of Myrtle Wilson, when Tom is at the Wilson garage, the police officer interrupts his own interviews of witnesses to obediently tell Tom everything he has learned so far, including details of the suspect car involved in the collision (pp 132-134). Rather than being called down to the police station, in Episode 9 Do-yeong is told by a secretary that the police wish to interview him about the mysteriously missing Son Myeong-o. The wealthy Dr Joo Yeo-jeong is interviewed by the police in his office at his surgery (ep10). When he mentions that “the previous and current directors of Joo Hospital are my parents”, Detective Choi pauses then stops asking questions. Yeo-jeong requests “Could you text me if you have any other questions?”, then politely but abruptly ends the interview, indicating that he is busy; the detective seems to reluctantly acquiesce. Despite this reticence to give information, wealthy characters act as if they are entitled to know the background information of anyone they encounter. In episode 8, the CEO Ha Do-yeong meets Dr Joo Yeo-jeong informally over a game of baduk (also referred to as Go); as part of their introductions, Yeo-jeong hands over his business card. In a flashback in episode 14, Do-yeong’s lawyer gives him background information on Dr Yeo-jeong, saying: “Here. It’s what you asked me to dig into the other day”. The dossier includes media articles about the doctor’s family and details of his employment, and reinforces the impression that the wealthy are entitled to know exactly with whom they interact, even casually. Probably the most extreme example of this sense of entitlement in The Glory is from another character of great wealth and therefore social capital – the mother of Tae-uk and potential mother-in-law of Choi Hye-jeong. As part of her vetting of Hye-jeong, she expects full access to all aspects the young woman’s life. In episode 7 Hye-jeong submissively delivers to Tae-uk’s mother her Family Relations certificate, her College Graduation Certificate and her gynaecological examination results. At this, the older woman then demands to know which bank Hye-jeong uses, saying that she won’t need the account details – by implication she will get them herself – so she can check Hye-jeong’s financial situation. In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan also acts as if he is entitled to know the private dealings of those around him. As the novel progresses, Tom becomes deeply suspicious of Mr Jay Gatsby. By chapter 6 after he and Daisy have attended a Gatsby party, Tom declares: “I’d like to know who he is and what he does…. And I think I’ll make a point of finding out” (p.104). In the following chapter, Tom tells Nick and Jordan Baker, “I’ve made a small investigation of this fellow” (p.116). Later he announces to Gatsby himself, “I’ve made a little investigation into your affairs – and I’ll carry it further tomorrow. … I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were” (p.127). 

And knowledge is power

This information – financial, legal and medical – gives these rich characters enormous advantages, ensuring that the wealthy ultimately win in these texts. In episode 8 when Ha Do-yeong wants to find out details of his wife’s childhood behaviour, he uses social contacts to not only identify a source for that information but also what lavish gift will work as leverage with that source. Do-yeong dismisses the Hermes bag he buys for Choi Hye-jeong as “like a fruit basket” (ep8) – a commonplace gift one offers to be polite – but he knows that this item is both significant and symbolic to those desperate to access wealth, like Hye-jeong. Tom Buchanan uses the results of his “little investigation” (p.127) into his rival’s economic position to convince Daisy that Gatsby can protect neither her nor her role in society. As noted earlier, Tom Buchanan is told which vehicle is involved in the hit and run which kills his mistress, Myrtle Wilson; he is later able to use that information to direct George Wilson to take his murderous revenge out on Gatsby. 

Challenge vs privilege

One significant point of distinction between Tom Buchanan and Ha Do-yeong is that this stratum of society is challenged in The Great Gatsby, while it is privileged in The Glory. This is evident in the focus on the benefits to society that flow from the entitled and entrenched high-class in the television series, contrasted with the representation of Tom as a spoilt, useless drain on society in Fitzgerald’s novel. In The Glory the extremely wealthy work and contribute to society, notably in the fields of construction and medical care; this text privileges capitalism and the social capital that those at the top acquire and wield. This is foregrounded by the occasions viewers see Do-yeong at work: in episode 5 he struggles to hear a phone call over the noise of the machinery then takes off his ‘site’ jacket as he enters his office; later in episode 12, at the conclusion of a meeting, Do-yeong says he’ll head back to a building site. He is shown working long hours. His development of the Go Park – a gift to his community – is an indication of his philanthropy. Tom Buchanan, in contrast, is “the polo player” (p.101). In many ways, Tom acts more in keeping with the ‘aspirational’ Jeon Jae-jun – a man who merely inherited his wealth who became a playboy with no responsibilities. 

Interactions with staff

To the wealthy elite, staff are seen as useful, inanimate objects; employees are generally ignored when not being used. In episode 4 when his driver asks him to hold his own umbrella, Do-yeong pauses deliberately, takes the umbrella and then holds it over himself, all while having a conversation with his driver in the pouring rain, resulting in the driver being drenched. When the driver tries to give Do-yeong a gift, he refuses it saying, “I don’t have a spare hand”. He is impersonal, unemotional and uncompromising; he treats these people as if they are pieces of furniture. Do-yeong not only does not offer warmth or intimacy to the people who work for him, but he also rebuffs any attempt from staff to engage with him in any depth. Near the end of Episode 15, Do-yeong collects his daughter’s belongings, having decided to close his house and move overseas; when a domestic staff member asks what is happening, he ignores the question and informs her that, “Your wage and severance pay will be deposited. Thank you for everything”. At this, he gives a subtle, polite tilt of the head, and walks past her.  In Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby, the Buchanans’ staff are almost invisible. Fitzgerald describes their actions but in essence erases them from the text: “‘No, thanks,’ said Miss Baker to the four cocktails just in from the pantry” (p.16). The use of passive forms of verbs also achieves the same goal: a little later, “dinner was announced” (p.16). A short time after Daisy snuffs out the dining room candles on page 17, Nick “remember[s] the candles being lit again, pointlessly” (p.20). In chapter 7, just before the ill-fated trip to New York, “Tom came back [into the room], preceding four gin rickeys that clicked full of ice” (p.112). To the economic elites, staff are useful yet invisible. 

Response to wives’ crimes

Both Tom Buchanan and Ha Do-yeong are horrified at the crimes committed by their wives. In chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, the unfortunate Myrtle Wilson is killed in a hit-and-run. Tom’s immediate reaction is one of shock; Nick describes him as “staring around the garage with glazed eyes” (p.132) while avoiding the sight of his mistress’s body on the table. Although Nick – and the reader – soon discover that it is Daisy Buchanan driving the yellow car at the time of the crash, her husband quickly decides that his rival for Daisy’s affections, Gatsby, is the one responsible. Later, as Tom, Jordan Baker and Nick drive away from the scene, Nick “heard a low husky sob, and saw that the tears were overflowing down [Tom’s] face. ‘The God damned coward!’ he whimpered. ‘He didn’t even stop his car.’” (p.135). Months later Tom’s grief and anger are still evident; when they meet in the street, he says to Nick about the actions he ascribes to Gatsby: “He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog” (p.169). Ha Do-yeong is similarly horrified by the crimes committed by his wife, Park Yeon-jin. These include the bullying of Yoon So-hee and being responsible for the young student’s death, and the physical torture and bullying of Moon Dong-eun, both of which occur 18 years before the main action of the narrative, and then later, Yeon-jin’s involvement in the murder of yet another school associate, Son Myeong-o. Episode 1 focuses the viewers’ attention on the violent bullying suffered by both So-hee and Dong-eun. Jumping forward nearly two decades, in episode 10, Do-yeong sees the scars on Dong-eun’s arms and shoulders, evidence of his wife’s violence in using a heated hair straightener to repeatedly burn her. Viewers see his eyes widen in horror as well as the reactions from staff and other patrons at the restaurant. These scars are described as “the work of the devil” by another character in episode 14. At the end of episode 12 accusations are published online that Yeon-jin had been a perpetrator of school bullying years before. Her husband immediately gathers his legal team and Yeon-jin is questioned as to the veracity of these accusation. Do-yeong is shocked by her off-handed and defiant response; his horror grows when he reads the detailed accusations regarding So-hee’s death. In Episode 14, Do-yeong reluctantly meets his wife’s childhood friend and long-time lover, Jae-jun, in the fitting room at Siesta. At this meeting Jae-jun hands him a copy of the recording Myeong-o made on the last day he was seen alive; Jae-jun explains that “the last person to see him was Yeon-jin”. He then points out that he has noticed a liquor bottle is missing from his bar in the fitting room. This, the younger man has worked out, is the murder weapon. He sarcastically asks Do-yeong, “Do you mind asking Yeon-jin where it is? Please say to her ‘What an expensive murder, Yeon-jin’”. Again Do-yeong’s shock is evident as he seeks to confirm what Jae-jun is implying: “So you’re saying-”. Jae-jun interrupts him: “Yes, exactly. Yeon-jin’s a murderer.” Do-yeong does not initially take the accusation seriously and responds as if this is an attempt at blackmail, demanding “Cut the crap. What do you want, then? For me to report her?” Jae-jun laughs and informs Do-yeong that his wife is implicated in the deaths of two people. The camera and thus the viewer focuses on Do-yeong’s horror and revulsion at these revelations. 

Becoming ‘killers’

Despite their obvious disapproval of their wives’ crimes, these characters involve themselves in murders near the end of the narratives. Tom Buchanan and Ha Do-yeong are both responsible for the deaths of their wives’ lovers; they murder the less affluent men either by proxy or in person. Despite these similarities, the murders are presented in starkly different ways: the death of Jae-jun in The Glory which the viewer witnesses is presented as far more morally acceptable than the murder of Jay Gatsby which happens ‘off-stage’ as it were in the novel. George Wilson shoots Gatsby in revenge for the hit-and-run which killed his wife; his decision to target Gatsby and hold him responsible for the death of Myrtle is entirely due to Tom’s urging. Tom knows which car was involved in the incident and he knows who owns that vehicle. George’s movements on the day of the murder are accounted for except approximately three “missing hours” (p.169). In the final chapter of the novel, Nick confirms his suspicions that Tom was the person who told George “who owned the car” (p.169) and by implication who had collided with Myrtle. Tom is defiant in the face of Nick’s “provincial squeamishness” (p.170) and disapproval: “What if I did tell him? That fellow had it coming to him” (p.169). Neither Nick nor the reader agree; we know the ‘fact’ Tom’s decision is based on “wasn’t true” (p.170) and that although “what he had done was, to him, entirely justified” (p.170), it is totally unfair that Gatsby should pay for Daisy’s actions. Tom is viewed as cowardly, manipulative and conniving, getting a vulnerable powerless person to ‘do his dirty work’. In contrast Do-yeong is presented as morally righteous; the murder he commits in episode 16 is seen as justified, and viewers applaud his cleverness in getting away with it. Unlike Tom Buchanan, Do-yeong does it himself and manages to make his rival disappear. He silently but relentlessly pushes the biological father of his adored daughter into a concrete grave. This murder is efficient: Jae-jun is pushed from a great height into a ‘slab’ of freshly poured concrete, to sink, drown and disappear. Do-yeong’s deliberate and premeditated actions stand in stark contrast to the ‘murders’ committed by his wife. The viewer sees only the tie of the murderer of Jae-jun; this same tie is worn by Do-yeong in the very next scene as he leads his daughter through the airport. As the killing is juxtapositioned with images of a happy and carefree Ye-sol, viewers are positioned to view the murder of Jae-jun as a ruthless but responsible act of a protective father.