The Talented Mr. Ripley

A detailed Summary of The Talented Mr. Ripley


Particia Highsmith explores the mind of a lonely psychotic man in her novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Tom Ripley is a man who has spent most of his life uncomfortable in his own skin and in desperate search of the right script (in this play that we call life) to follow. In a way, and in different degrees everyone past the age of seven goes though that. Just as Tom dreamed of living the type of life Dickie lead, I know that when I was younger, I would stare at myself in the mirror and imagine myself to have red hair and green eyes, to be thinner and to have a more popular status with my peers.

At that point, the life I lead wasn't good enough for me. My parents, most of my friends, my clothes- everything was sub-par and I hate that. No matter where I was or what I was doing, I would always keep an eye out for an outlet to get me away from that which was me. That's why in a ver


y twisted and convoluted way, Tom's assumption of Dickie's life makes so much sense to me. I've always believed that a life in which you have no identity is one that isn't worth living.

Trying to become an individual was hard and exhausting. Just as Tom's transition to himself was choppy, mine was too. I was 12 years old without a script in life to call my own. Granted I was still young, but still it was awkward not planning my next move without my friend in mind. I was a foreigner to myself, and that alone made doing daily routines such as picking my clothes out for the day exponentially more difficult. At the end of that stage in my life, I still had some mannerisms of hers but instead of holding fast to those characteristics, I put variations upon them so that I could finally (like Tom) call myself an individual who was proud to be someone.

I didn't give up her "flai

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tom Ripley, Tom Tom, Particia Highsmith, appreciation painting,

Approximate Word count = 599
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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