Talk:Tom Ripley

Regret or Remorse?

In the paragraph on Tom Ripley's mental status, which discusses whether or not he is accurately portrayed as a psychopath, this sentence is bothersome:

"He has had friendships with many of his victims, particularly Greenleaf, and has later regretted resorting to murder."

Neither of the points in the sentence have anything to do with psychopathy. Psychopaths are perfectly capable of friendship - even though they typically abuse their friends - and they frequently regret their misdeeds. I haven't read these novels, but I wonder whether Ripley is portrayed as simply regretful of crimes, which implies that he wishes they hadn't happened for whatever reason, or if Ripley is actually remorseful, which would means he deeply feels sorry for them. Many psychopaths regret their crimes, but none feel remorse for them. I'll be reading the Ripley novels soon and fixing this paragraph afterward.

--Arkhamite 20:46, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

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i don't see any mention that alot of readers think Tom is gay or at least bisexual.

sexual orientation

I don't think so, if you listen to the interviews Highsmith gave at the end of her life, she clearly states that Tom Ripley was not gay but simply enjoyed how men lived, played, dressed and acted in general. 72.244.25.254 21:07, 13 April 2006 (UTC) http://www.geraldpeary.com/interviews/ghi/highsmith.html

Sexuality is not a direct, or even explicit theme of the Ripliad. I don't think this article has any special place in the LGBT project, nor does the Ripley character have, admit or profess to any same sex relationship. In interviews the author stated that he was some mild attraction to men in his youth, but this was never understood, let alone acted upon. He is not gay or even bisexual. In general we need more published sources for this aspect to be written about, it probably already has too much space.AleXd (talk) 12:45, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

spoiler in the opening summary.

Is it necessary to state that he escapes every single time in the summary already? Wanting simply to know one bit about the character and being fed the ultimate conclusion to every single novel, is very disappointing. 2001:9E8:E66B:4700:9D81:1C7A:CDB0:98F5 (talk) 18:43, 14 April 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia's general policy is to not hide spoilers when they're relevant to the sections of the article - but I've made the edits you're suggesting because: the plots for the individual stories are detailed in the paragraphs below where readers expect them to be; because the phrasing of the sentences was too sensational/editorial to be fitting; and because the info is arguably not pertinent enough for the lead paragraph. Bugghost🎤:🐛👻 11:33, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Lacks serial killers' motivation

Ripley does not fit the definition of a serial killer. Yes, he has killed, but not out of an urge to kill. Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy killed because they were psychologically motivated to kill. Their focus is on killing people and that is often the only crime they commit. Ripley, on the other hand, kills as a last resort to remove obstacles that stand in the way of his goals, which usually involve living a life of ease and pleasure without having to work. The use of the term "serial killer" to describe Ripley is a misuse of the term. 96.227.143.58 (talk) 11:00, 9 October 2024 (UTC)