Peaky Blinders and The Great Gatsby: What Tommy Shelby and Jay Gatsby share beneath the suits and smoke

Peaky Blinders' Tommy Shelby and The Great Gatsby's Jay Gatsby are two men from completely different worlds.They are also from different time periods and genres. But they are kind of cut from the same cloth.

One is into gangland deals in post-WWI Birmingham, wearing razor blades in his cap. The other’s lighting up 1920s New York with jazz and champagne. But under their trench coats and tuxedos lies something eerily similar.

They’re both chasing legacies they can’t fully grasp. They’re obsessed with control and haunted by the past. They are also strangely fixated on women who represent more than just love.

And both these men weren’t born into power. They had to build it. That’s what makes them fascinating. They’re not mere characters. They are case studies in ambition and the fine line between reinvention and self-destruction.

Let’s dig a bit more into it.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

---

Peaky Blinders' Tommy Shelby and The Great Gatsby's Jay Gatsby: The idea of performance

Both these characters do not just wake up to being “the guy.” They curate their presence. Peaky Blinders’ Tommy walks into a room like it’s already his. Gatsby throws entire orchestras at a house party just to keep the fantasy alive. Both men understand that how they appear is almost as important as who they really are.

Tommy’s power comes from gunpowder and intimidation. He uses his silence as a weapon. Gatsby’s is all shine. He has flashy cars and throws an almost perfect kind of smile at everyone. But both men hide their brokenness. And that is a strategy — not just survival.

What’s fascinating is how lonely that kind of performance gets. Tommy has moments when we see his inner struggle. And that happens usually in the dark, when he is alone. Gatsby is surrounded by people, but always at a distance. There’s a sadness to both of them. And they are not really in the world they’ve created.

Peaky Blinders’ Tommy is still haunted by the war and by grief. Gatsby throws the biggest parties but is always alone at the end of the night. Their rises are impressive, but the cost of it is isolation. It’s a loss of self. It’s a hollow kind of victory that makes you wonder if the climb was worth it at all.

---

Peaky Blinders' Tommy Shelby and The Great Gatsby's Jay Gatsby: Love and Loss

Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby are both prisoners of their past when it comes to love. Gatsby builds his entire empire hoping Daisy will waltz back into his life. He buys the house across the bay and throws parties just to get her attention. He holds onto the belief that the past can be recreated exactly as it was.

Peaky Blinders’ Tommy’s romance with Grace is more complicated. Grace becomes a ghost in his mind after her death. She pops up at his most vulnerable moments. He talks to her. He sees her. She never really leaves.

What makes it more painful is that both men believe love is the key to their redemption. Daisy represents a life that’s clean and soft for Gatsby. For Tommy, Grace is a version of himself that might have lived quietly and peacefully.

But both women are more like symbols than real people to them. They are salvation dressed up in a pretty face. And just like that, both men lose. Neither ever gets to actually live with the woman they love.

Tommy falls for Grace as her love feels like redemption to him. She’s smart and independent. She is also not afraid of who he is. But the tragedy of it is that Tommy wants her, but he can’t give up what he’s built to be with her. And a part of him never comes back when she’s gone.

Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is even more mythic. He doesn’t just love her — he builds a life around the idea of her. Daisy is his past and his dream. But she isn’t what he remembers. She’s married and way too rooted in her own world to fit into his fantasy. Still, Gatsby keeps reaching. He is convinced that he can rewrite everything if he can just get her back.

---

Power, legacy, and the need to be remembered

Peaky Blinders' Tommy Shelby and The Great Gatsby’s Jay Gatsby need a legacy that lasts. They want to leave behind something significant in a world that has always overlooked them. This need for recognition is what drives both of them.

Tommy’s need for power comes from a survivalist mentality. His rise in the world of crime was about securing his place in a brutal world. Tommy also wants control. He wants to ensure that the Shelby name isn’t forgotten. So Tommy is fighting for respect, for the entire legacy of the Peaky Blinders.

Gatsby is driven by a romanticized vision of success. His power is personal and social. Gatsby just needs to be seen as the man who could make it all happen. His wealth and status are means to an end. And that end is winning Daisy.

However, both men share the same flaw. They believe that power and legacy can be earned through success. Tommy’s empire is built on blood, betrayal, and fear. Gatsby’s mansion is built on illusion and empty extravagance.

Neither of them fully understands that real power and legacy come from authenticity. It comes from being true to oneself and those around them. But they push away what could have been real happiness in exchange for the hollow victory of recognition.

---

Stay tuned to Soap Central for more updates and detailed coverage.