Tommy Barban Character Analysis in Tender Is the Night

Tommy, “an unmistakably Latin young man,” is a friend of Dick and Nicole Diver’s. He is particularly fond of Nicole and goes to great lengths to protect her from gossip and rumors. Tommy is a soldier and insists that he has “no home” other than the battlefield. He claims to have fought in several different wars, and that his “business is to kill people.” Defending Nicole when Violet McKisco discovers evidence of her mental illness, Tommy gets into a frenzied argument with Violet’s husband, Mr. McKisco. Enraged and desperate for conflict, Tommy challenges his opponent to a duel, which both men survive. Much later in the story, Tommy and Nicole become romantically involved. Although Dick is initially jealous of their love affair, when Tommy insists that he and Nicole should be together, Dick hardly fights it. On the day that Dick leaves for America at the end of the story, he sees Nicole and Tommy—happily married—playing on the beach with his children.

Tommy Barban Quotes in Tender Is the Night

The Tender Is the Night quotes below are all either spoken by Tommy Barban or refer to Tommy Barban. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Excess, Destruction, and the Failed American Dream Theme Icon

A little later, riding toward Nice, she thought: So I have white crook’s eyes, have I? Very well then, better a sane crook than a mad puritan.

Related Characters: Nicole Diver (Nicole Warren) (speaker), Tommy Barban, Dick Diver

Page Number and Citation: 373

Explanation and Analysis:

Embracing her love affair with Tommy Barban, Nicole rides with him in the car towards Nice, leaving the children with the nanny. She reflects on something Tommy has said to her—about how her eyes look like “white crook’s eyes”—and she embraces the term that she had initially found insulting. White usually symbolizes purity and virtue, but juxtaposed with the word “crook,” Fitzgerald complicates this reading. Perhaps the juxtaposition is intended to represent Nicole’s deceptive nature—she seems sweet and innocent but is actually damaged by her childhood trauma and corrupted by greed and jealousy. It could also represent the immorality of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possim

Perhaps, so she liked to think, his career was biding its time, again like Grant’s in Galena; his latest note was postmarked from Hornell, New York, which is some distance from Geneva and a very small town; in any case he is almost certainly in that section of the country, in one town or another.

Related Characters: Dick Diver, Nicole Diver (Nicole Warren), Tommy Barban

Page Number and Citation: 402

Explanation and Analysis:

The story’s close is sad and quiet. Dick has moved back to America, while Nicole stays in Tarmes with Tommy, having remarried. Keen to stay in contact with Dick, and full of fond memories of him, Nicole tries to determine where he’s living in the U.S. Every time she receives a letter from him, however, it has a different postal stamp, suggesting that he’s continuously on the move, each time to a smaller, unknown town. It is unlikely that he’s been able to set up a clinic in a rural, non-descript American town. Having moved to Europe as a young Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Ape

Tommy Barban Character Timeline in Tender Is the Night

The timeline below shows where the character Tommy Barban appears in Tender Is the Night. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The Pursuit of Youth and Innocence Theme Icon

...cap,” the tanned woman from before, a man with a “leonine head,” and an “unmistakably Latin young man .” She watches the man in the jockey cap entertain his party, drawing attention from... (full context)

...group around her. She admires Nicole for her beauty but finds her quiet. She finds Barban—“the young man of Latin aspect”—to be restless, “uncivilized,” and “skeptical.” Abe is shy, and Rosemary... (full context)

Rosemary finds Tommy Barban’s talk of war glum and repulsive and is glad to escape him and find... (full context)

Gender, Mental Illness, and Psychiatry Theme Icon

...bathroom. Rosemary refuses, busy longing for Dick to return as she listens to McKisco and Tommy argue about socialism. When Violet appears again, it is clear that she is eager to... (full context)

...house. The guests plan how they will get home in two separate cars—“There would be Tommy Barban […] with Mrs. Abrams, Violet McKisco, Mr. McKisco and Campion” in one car, and... (full context)

As Brady’s car passes the one with Tommy Barban and the others, Rosemary and her mother hear a “blur of voices” and see... (full context)

Campion tells his “extraordinary story” about how Violet and Tommy had had an argument in the car about whatever it was that Violet had seen... (full context)

...to Dick and Nicole—tells his version of events to Rosemary, recounting how Violet, McKisco, and Tommy had argued in the car and arranged the resulting duel. Tommy “is a watchdog about... (full context)

...a place to work undisturbed and she is happy to have her friends, Mary and Tommy Barban, close by. Nicole recognizes that Tommy is in love with her—only “gently,” but enough... (full context)

Dick bumps into Tommy Barban, a natural leader and “hero,” playing cards in a café in Munich. Tommy is... (full context)

...of Abe’s death that he is barely conscious of the journey back to his hotel. Tommy invites him to join them for dinner the following evening but Dick declines “hastily.” That... (full context)

...last saw him. McKisco’s fame and accomplishment were due, in part, to his duel with Tommy, which gave him “a new self-respect.” Indeed, Dick finds McKisco far less irritating than before,... (full context)

...to his own experiences—“His love for Nicole and Rosemary, is friendship with Abe North, with Tommy Barban.” Dick reflects on the necessity of “taking all or nothing” and concludes that “There... (full context)

Delightedly, Nicole spots Tommy Barban and rushes to greet him. His skin is darker than before and his accent... (full context)

...man at the piano starts singing a childish song about “a young lady from hell.” Tommy explains that Lady Caroline wrote the words. Dick is furious but when he confronts her,... (full context)

...could do for you, Dick,” he reacts with bitter words and grabs her wrist. When Tommy finds them, tears are streaming “down Nicole’s face.” When they go to join the dancers,... (full context)

...party. Nicole is glad when he leaves her bedroom. Overhearing a conversation between Dick and Tommy, Nicole admits to herself “that Tommy loved her,” and that there was a growing tension... (full context)

...the Dick she saw last night—drunken, angry, and embarrassing. Returning to the house, she finds Tommy and Dick on the terrace. Avoiding eye contact with the latter, Nicole begins to sketch... (full context)

While Tommy prepares to leave, Nicole declares that she must fetch Tommy some “special camphor rub” for... (full context)

It’s a hot June day when Nicole next thinks of Tommy; she receives a note from him saying he’ll be in Nice. That very same morning,... (full context)

...her exit. Feeling happy, independent, and free from Dick, she drives home alone and writes Tommy “a short provocative letter.” (full context)

...Dick saying he’s going away for a few days. Just then, the phone rings. It’s Tommy, and Nicole “fe[els] her lips’ warmth in the receiver as she welcome[s] his coming.” (full context)

...to society’s obsession with “girl-children,” and she feels “a jealousy of youth.” Nicole waits for Tommy’s arrival and enjoys the feeling of being “worshipped again.” She has a breezy confidence as... (full context)

Tommy pulls Nicole close to him and they look at each other for a while. Eventually... (full context)

...about her “crook’s eyes,” deciding, “better a sane crook than a mad puritan.” She and Tommy stop at a hotel, book a room, and order two cognacs. Tommy’s eyebrows are “arched,”... (full context)

Tommy finds the hotel room “meagre,” but Nicole declares, “this is a wonderful room.” He doesn’t... (full context)

Nicole and Tommy dine in Monte-Carlo that night and then go for a swim under the moonlight. Nicole... (full context)

...but decided that she doesn’t—she hasn’t grown up. When Nicole tells Dick she’s been with Tommy, he flinches, asking Nicole not to tell him any details. Once Dick has retreated to... (full context)

...as usual. For Nicole, the salon is just “another little prison,” so when she spots Tommy driving past, she wishes she could join him. When Tommy rushes into the shop, then,... (full context)

Inside the Café des Alliés, Tommy suddenly announces, “Your wife does not love you […] She loves me.” The two men... (full context)

Concerned for Dick, Nicole asks, “Isn’t it true you’re not happy with me any more?” Tommy interrupts impatiently. He wants a fight, but Dick assures him that he and his wife... (full context)

...the terrace watch. Nicole gets up from the beach saying, “I’m going to him,” but Tommy pulls her “firmly” back towards the sand. (full context)

Even after marrying Tommy, Nicole tries to stay in contact with Dick. She often says, “I loved Dick and... (full context)

Tommy Barban Character Analysis

Tommy Barban Quotes in Tender Is the Night

Book 3, Chapter 8 Quotes

Book 3, Chapter 13 Quotes

Tommy Barban Character Timeline in Tender Is the Night