The third Tom character is presented as an extreme of the original Tom Ripley with bad morals and severely damaged social skills. .
Tom's original character appears to be morally corrupt because of the IRS scams but he is able to justify it to himself because, "He was doing the right the thing, behaving the right way. Yet he still had a feeling of guilt. When he said to Mrs. Greenleaf Just now. I"ll do everything I can Well, he meant it. He wasn't trying to fool anybody." (Page 20) This is the first time that you start to sees Tom character break down and feel guilt. When some of Tom's craving for a new life was satisfied he starts to question his morality and this really is the first step in Tom's moral journey because prior to this he shows no signs of feeling guilty and takes all of his actions a "practical joke, really." (Page 14).
Tom's strong want for a new life if magnified when he is in Europe and meets Dickie and decides he wants Dickie to like him "more than anything else in the world." (Page 53) Tom's obsession with Dickie only gets stronger over time and he can no longer handle having Dickie around because he is so jealous of everything Dickie is and everything Dickie has, so the reader sees a creation of a new character. " Tom stared at Dickie's closed eyelids. A crazy emotion of hate, of affection, of impatience and frustration was swelling in him, hampering his breathing. He wanted to kill Dickie." (Page 100) This new character is the most amoral character that is presented to the reader this character is the most similar to the original Tom Ripley. The character is able to make decisions quickly, however with little thought, and like the other 2 characters has an amazing way of manipulating people. When Tom is playing this role he is entirely corrupt. It is in this role that he commits both the murders of Dickie and Freddie Millies, lies to the police, Marge and the Mr.