The Great Gatsby

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Daisy Buchanan undergoes many noticeable changes. Daisy is a symbol of wealth and of promises broken. She is a character we grow to feel sorry for but probably should not.

Gatsby has everything that he could wish for, except of love. Gatsby tried everything he could to achieve Daisy, but failed to do so. Gatsby always thought that Daisy actually loved him and that he was very close to achieving her. One time Gatsby showed Daisy all of his luxuries in the house. Daisy was impressed by how rich and wealthy Gatsby has become as time passed. Daisy says “never seen so many shirts like these” (87). This quote shows how Daisy likes materialistic things. Gatsby worked hard on his dream unlike Tom. Tom Buchanan who is the husband of Daisy has no purpose and goal in his life except his affair with Myrtle. He never really loved Daisy. On the other hand when Gatsby showed all of his English shirts Daisy begins to cry and they plan their future plans of meeting each other. We can see how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby simply because of his wealth. She loves Gatsby but she loves his money more then she actually loves him. This goes to show how people’s mentality worked in the 1920’s. Daisy, Gatsby, and all other characters live a very superficial life. Gatsby wants to achieve Daisy by the means of fortune and how Daisy is attracted to Gatsby because of his wealth.

The Great Gatsby is too concerned with conveying a picture of 1920s American society to have relevance to modern readers.

Ultimately sacrificing her desire to pursue her relationship with Gatsby, someone with who she had fallen in love, Daisy chose to marry Tom, a wealthy and old-money aristocrat. Clearly still in love with Gatsby, on the night of the wedding, Daisy became “as drunk as a monkey” with a letter in hand telling Jordan that “Daisy’s change’ her mine!” (Fitzgerald 81). Yet, Daisy finally prioritizes wealth over love as “next day... she married Tom Buchanan without so much as a shiver” (Fitzgerald 81). The ultimate goal in the 1920s, according to Daisy, was to marry rich and lead a life full of lavishness and money, instead of pursuing love and in order to succeed in the 1920s, wealth was necessary. Daisy further represents the materialism evident in the 1920s when she is attracted to Gatsby due to the newfound wealth he has. When spotting the collection of shirts he had, she” began to cry stormily” and sobbed “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald 98) expressing her superficial nature. Daisy’s response reveals that “she shows more emotion for Gatsby’s possessions than for Gatsby” (Posnock 208). Daisy even symbolizes money through her voice since Daisy’s voice is said to be “full of money” (Fitzgerald 127). Daisy’s voice symbolizes the reason why everyone like Gatsby

Daisy grew up spoiled due to the vast wealth she obtained from being ‘old money’, which caused her to become selfish and self-centred. Daisy had become selfish to the point that she has an expensive and materialistic desire or want. When Gatsby shows Daisy his mansion, she gazed in awe as “she admired […] the gardens, the sparkling odor of jonquils […] and the pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate.”(Fitzgerald,97) Daisy, all along, does not have feelings for Gatsby, but more for his money and expensive possessions, as she revealed her true self during Tom and Gatsby’s argument. Daisy is selfish even if money was not involved, as she does not feel grateful for Gatsby taking the blame for her killing Myrtle Wilson. For instance, when Nick tells Gatsby about Mrytle dying, Gatsby replies “’Yes,’ he said after the moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was.’” (Fitzgerald, 154) When Daisy cried in Gatsby’s mansion, she was crying about her actions in killing Myrtle, meanwhile she does not care about Gatsby’s act of chivalry. Furthermore, Daisy takes advantage of Gatsby by taking Tom along to Gatsby’s party, when Daisy was personally invited to essentially go alone. When Gatsby saw Tom appearing to his party, Gastby with a light temper has a conversation with Tom. He says “I know your wife’, continued Gatsby, almost aggressively.”

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is seen as a mysterious character that’s not called great or bad. The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920’s during the “roaring twenties” or called as the “Jazz Age”, a period ending the Great Depression and an era where jazz and dancing become trendy. Gatsby does not seem to be fit to be called “great”, instead he is fit for being called a determined man. Some may not call Gatsby “great” because of his lies and some will call him “great” because he is a man who is determined to get Daisy back from Tom or because Gatsby is a nice man who does not have much ignorance like Tom. An example why Gatsby do not deserve to be called a “great” man is because he is a liar and a “great” man does not

Money is constantly on Daisy’s mind. Tom, who is rich, relates to money and this keeps Daisy’s social status as “old money”. Money allows Daisy to be desired by men and helps her because she does not have to worry about that aspect of her life. Gatsby cannot be with Daisy because he does not have a wealthy, East egg status like she desires. Daisy ultimately values her social status more than her romantic love. Tom, has an outstanding social status, which is why Daisy stays with him. Even though Gatsby goes

Daisy Buchanan has a similar lifestyle to Tom, she’s wealthy ‘voice is full of money’ and always wore ‘white’ symbolising her purity and wealth. However as a woman of a higher class, there not much she can do in her ‘shallow life’, as she has the money but doesn’t know how to plan events ‘what do people plan?’. This shows that she is not content with her knowledge and understanding of life therefore even with money she isn’t ‘happy’. This leads her to ‘have an affair’ with an ex-lover whom she so adored before she married Tom ‘I did love him once – But I loved you too’. In the novel, Daisy only every seeks true love when she’s with Gatsby but ‘a rich girls don’t marry poor boys’, so due to this social difference between them, she knows the only place she will ever have security is with Tom. Tom describes their affair as a ‘presumptuous little flirtation’ because to Daisy, she knew she was never going to marry Gatsby but to Gatsby it was just never

Daisy’s reactions to certain events show how she makes decisions based off of what will give her the most money, rather than what will be the best option for her. Daisy was in love with Gatsby, but he was poor and he had to go to war, so she decided to wait for him. However, it took too long for him to return, so Daisy got impatient, and she married Tom instead. Tom was rich, and Daisy knew he would bring her an old money status. When Gatsby finally meets with Daisy again, she sees how rich he is and she regrets her decison to marry Tom. Gatsby shows her his house, and his fancy shirts, which makes Daisy say that “They’re such beautiful shirts… It makes me sad because

Daisy Buchanan is a old money wealthy wife of Tom Buchanan, living a rich and successful life, but unhappy with her marriage. She was fully aware of Tom’s affair, and decided to have her own with her old lover, Mr. Gatsby. She’s known to be all about money, careless, indecisive, daunting, and beautiful. At the time where she met her true love, Gatsby, 5 years ago, she had ended her journey of many of guys coming into her life. She just wanted money and fame like the rest of the snobs. “Her voice is full of money.” he said suddenly”(pg.120) Even Daisy’s lover is aware that she only cares about money. Even as she tries to get away from Tom, she is forced back with him as she accidently kills Myrtle, with Gatsby, in Gatsby’s car. Daisy will never be happy with her marriage, and probably never happy with the life she lives, especially after murdering someone in involuntary manslaughter.

Daisy is in love with money, ease, and material luxury, all things a rich Southern Belle grows up with.  After her marriage to Tom, she is whisked away to the east, the symbol of 'old money' and corruption of America.  Here she becomes more comfortable in she and her husband's abundant assets and allows the corruption of the east to take her over- she becomes reckless and even more materialistic.  She treats her own daughter as nothing more than an object to show off and treats Gatsby, the man who dedicated his life to seeking her out, as if he had never existed.  The combination of the Southern Belle stereotype along with that of the corrupt Rich Easterner creates the perfect portrait of Daisy Buchanan.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is told from the perspective of one of the main characters, Nick Carraway. Nick tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, who is his neighbor in the West Egg. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as a man who everyone wants to know and copy but deep down are very envious of him. Gatsby trusts few people and those whom he trusts know his life story. To everyone else, he is a mystery. Everyone seems obsessed with Jay Gatsby. For this reason the novel revolves about rumors of Gatsby rather than the truth.

Daisy, like her husband, is a girl of material and class at heart, and Gatsby being her escape from a hierarchist world. Daisy has just grown up knowing wealth, so in her greedy pursuit of happiness and the “American Dream” Myrtle Wilson died, Gatsby's heart and life were compromised, without claiming responsibility on her part. Daisy was “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville...” (116) Jordan says, describing early affections between Daisy and Gatsby. She goes on to say, “...all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night.” (116) . Daisy was a fancied girl who has Gatsby tied around her finger, Jordan explains that he was looking at Daisy “...in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time...” (117). Daisy, abusing Gatsby’s love for her uses it to create security and protection, greedily and selfishly allowing him to take the fault. While Daisy’s beautiful, alluring traits turn her into an innocent, naive flower, she plays the ultimate villain.

Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby’s relationship was damaged by their contrasting social classes, but also because he had a lack of status and wealth. In relation to this Daisy married Tom for his wealth and status not for his love, which suggests Daisy is a materialistic character is more concerned about her money and possessions than she is about intellectual and spiritual objects. “Gatsby is an idealist, he seeks for

Daisy is a vain lady. She marries Tom for money and status, and turns her back on true love and happiness, which is represented by Gatsby. Her American Dream is to enjoy a luxurious and comfortable life given to her by, hopefully a man who truly loves her, and whom she also loves. The corruption of her human values begins when she decides not to wait anymore for Gatsby, her real love, but to take the opportunity that Tom Buchanan offers, which are money and status. Her choices reveal her vain and superficial nature hidden beneath her beautiful and innocent look. When Gatsby returns with wealth and status in order