Whatever the matter, fortune or misfortune strikes and there is Tom Ripley in a borrowed Princeton jacket, and playing brilliantly to these rich people who, because of the jacket insignia, believe he must know their son, Dickie. Of course they assume this. It's the kind of snobbery that is likely what fuels Tom Ripley in the first place: the in with the incrowd, that if you know one of us, you know us all and we help those who know attitude. This is what Tom Ripley both despises and desperately wants. It's not about money, though that's a nice side-benefit, it is about fitting in, and the sense we get from the. Let's face it; kind of geeky (in the beginning of the film) Tom Ripley is that he never really quite fit in. He was probably a shy child who occupied himself by mimicking people who held some sway over him, and who withdrew into his own world and got really good at some things because he probably never had anyone to play with. In some ways, maybe Tom Ripley is what happens when you bully someone or push them around a lot. They get pissed off and shy and introverted and build up all this hatred and shit inside, while at the same time, desperately want to be loved and coddled by those very same people. It's an obviously love/hate thing. WE also know that Tom Ripley was an only child, so he didn't even have any siblings to hang around with, though for all we know he may have and whacked them when they got more attention than he did. He's just that kind of guy.

So when Herbert Greenleaf says, You must know our son," it is in both his tone and manner and the world must that cause Tom to wrinkle his face a bit like he both hates and loves the assumption. He doesn't know their son of course, but it's easier to say yes perhaps, less embarrassing than the truth in his mind (because he didn't go to Princeton as a student; he worked there in the Piano Tuning department, which is hardly the same thing.) My guess is that he didn't wind up in that department for lack of brains. He wound up there because he couldn't afford it and we never hear of any parents or parental figures. Tom Ripley is ultimately alone in the world. How nice to be assumed that he attended Princeton. In all likelihood, if he had the means, he certainly could have. That much seems pretty clear, but even there, we all know that getting into the right college isn't just about brains. It's also about who you know, and how well you know them and how much money you have. It's about connections and cash, like too many things in life, and not enough about raw talent and that just sucks. It sucks for Tom Ripley and it sucks for me and maybe it even sucks for you. Now, I tend to believe that if we keep working at it hard enough, that you can combine raw talent with incredibly hard work (because frankly, a lot of people have talent - that's the easy part, but not a lot of people want to work that hard and that's the hard part to learn. You have to work a hundred times harder than the most talented person to get even one book published in your lifetime. There is always someone better, faster, younger, etc etc. than you. A hard thing to face, but the sooner you face it, the sooner you get off your arse and get to work. That works for me anyway.