Every day, individuals everywhere struggle to fit into their society. In richer societies, the public image of a person is important to the individual and much is sacrificed to achieve such a stature. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is a young and rich woman who is constantly in the limelight. Throughout the story, Fitzgerald frames Daisy as a socially prominent individual who shines in the spotlight and attention of everyone around her. When a past sweetheart, Jay Gatsby- a previously poor but now charming and mysteriously rich young man- reenters Daisy’s life as finally suitable for her, Daisy corrupts his dreams for her own interest in her marriage and lifestyle. Daisy Buchanan is a self- absorbed, vacuous …show more content…
socialite whose decisions lead to the destruction of both Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson. Daisy Buchanan is constantly in the spotlight of her rich and glorious lifestyle in 1922 New York.
Daisy is young, beautiful and quite the socialite. She attracts everyone around her with a “stirring warmth [that] flowed from her as if her heart was trying to come out to you concealed in one of those breathless, trilling words” (Fitzgerald 19). As her cousin Nick Carraway- the narrator of the story and keeper of all secrets throughout the story- describes her, he emphasizes that there is something deceiving about Daisy that made those around her intrigued and invested in her and what she had to say. She and her husband Tom Buchanan “moved with a fast crowd, all of them young and rich and wild, but she came out with a perfect reputation” amidst the fun, hectic and chaotic 1920s (Fitzgerald 82). To those around her Daisy has a desired life as the wife to the extraordinarily wealthy Tom Buchanan- a famous polo player in his college years- with a beautiful young daughter, a big house in the West Egg area of Long Island and plenty of money to spare. However, her seemingly glorious life is not as wonderful as it seems due to her knowledge of her husband’s affair with a young poorer woman named Myrtle Wilson. In Tom and Daisy’s relationship their love for one another is questionable as “Daisy’s affections cannot be relied upon” and neither can her husband’s …show more content…
(Baker). Five years ago from the time of the story, Daisy and Gatsby had met in her hometown of Louisville and instantly grew to love each other.
Jay Gatsby being a young and poor officer in the United States Army was not seen fit by Daisy’s family as suitable for their daughter to marry. Gatsby saw the world in Daisy and “It excited him too that many men had already loved Daisy- it increased her value in his eyes” (Fitzgerald 156). After Gatsby left for the war “she didn’t play around with the soldiers any more” and opened up to no one (Fitzgerald 80). However, by the next year, with her emotions that “verge on artifice” she was married to Tom and seemed to forget all about Gatsby until the time of the story when he came into her life once again (Baker). This time, Gatsby returned as a rich and powerful young man who had “bought [his] house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Fitzgerald 83). Gatsby desired Daisy and had completely morphed his life into something that she could approve and be a part of. Gatsby fantasized that Daisy would admit that she never loved Tom and marry Gatsby so that they could finally make a life out of it. For five years, Gatsby dreamed about Daisy and how it would be when they finally met. Daisy and Jay meet many times and Jay even comes to Tom’s house where he meets with Tom for a dinner and an afternoon out. While visiting in the living room Daisy made a bad decision and “had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw”
causing tension in the group as they went to New York City for the afternoon (Fitzgerald 125). In the hotel where they were staying, a fight over Daisy erupted and then came the moment that Gatsby had envisioned for the last five years. In the midst of the fight Daisy says in regards to Tom, “I never loved him’ with perceptible reluctance” yet then quickly counters admitting that “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom… It wouldn’t be true” (Fitzgerald 139,140). When Daisy admits this out of her vacuous self Gatsby is ultimately ruined. All of his life, Jay Gatsby had worked toward becoming good enough for Daisy and despite his efforts even that was not enough for her ever changing standards. “Fitzgerald discloses in these people a meanness of spirit, carelessness and absence of loyalties” that leads Gatsby on and then lets him down (Clark). With these words Gatsby is cut off from Daisy’s life despite all of his work and hopes of getting into that life. Daisy’s decisions greatly contribute to her ruthless character. From the beginning, to spare her own suffering and the suffering of Gatsby, Daisy could have waited and re defined to her family who would be suitable for her to marry but instead she wanted more wealth and chose to forget about Gatsby. After Gatsby left for the war, “she wanted her life shaped now; immediately- and the decision must be made by some force- of love, of money of unquestionable practicality- that was close at hand” and decided not to wait another minute for it choosing Tom over Gatsby (Fitzgerald 159). Her decision to marry Tom resulted in her own suffering as her unloyal husband had many affairs during their time together one being with Myrtle Wilson. This decision based on her greed-like qualities portrays how “it’s not questionable that her emotions are violate” (Baker). Ultimately, Daisy destroys that marriage as well as Myrtle’s life coming home from the city the night she destroys Gatsby’s dream. As described by Gatsby, who was with Daisy when she killed Myrtle by hitting her with the car, “she thought it would steady her to drive” and when Myrtle ran into the street “first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back” obviously unstable to drive (Fitzgerald 151). Her selfish choice to drive that ends a life shows how poor her decisions can be in important life altering times. “She is a gesture that is committed to nothing more than her own image” in these times as she continued on driving away from the accident which ultimately resulted in Myrtle’s death (Bewley). Her violent actions while driving and ignorance of another’s life proves her vacuous qualities meaning “emptied or lacking content” or substance in her closest relationships (Merriam- Webster Dictionary). Her popularity and seemingly perfect reputation could not have been bothered by the death of her husband’s mistress and could not take responsibility for her actions that killed a woman, instead placing all of the blame on Jay Gatsby resulting in his death. In conclusion, Daisy Buchanan is a selfish, ruthless socialite who acts on her own behalf and leads to the destruction of both Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson. With her artificial attractions and no desire to play by the rules, Daisy strives to keep her perfect public image while in and out of her limelight. With Jay and Myrtle both dead from Daisy’s destructive decisions and deceiving emotions the Buchanans move away from New York, ignoring the services for their now dead lovers in effort to throw them away from their lives all together in a rather rude fashion. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan chooses her social life and image over kindness and compassion for those who sacrifice so much for her. She achieves her high social stature by deceiving her closest friends, her lover and her husband despite what it means to them. In wealthy, fashionable areas, much is sacrificed to be approved by others within the society. Actions turn aggressive, promises aren’t kept, dreams are shattered and rules are broken when hoping to achieve social acceptance.
Jay and Daisy fell in love at the army party, but they could not marry. Jay was everything Daisy was not. Daisy was a rich debutante with a great last name, while Jay was a penniless man. (Fitzgerald) After Jay left, Daisy married another man, Tom Buchanan, who is a rich man that lives in East Egg. Gatsby returns from war and makes money as a bootlegger and soon becomes one of the richest men in West Egg.
The dinner party scene also introduces the theme of societal expectation by contrasting two very different characters: Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker. Daisy is portrayed as an almost angelic or fairy-like figure, first seen lounging on the couch: “buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon” (12). One could infer that the phrase ‘anchored balloon’ symbolizes the constraints and expectations placed upon women during the 1920’s. In this way, Daisy represents the life led by traditional women during this era. Expectations were as such; women were to marry young, have children, devote their lives to raising families and were completely dependent on their husbands. Daisy’s dependence on Tom is represented by her childlike characteristics: “She
Her sequence of lies leads George Wilson to believe, senselessly, that this was all Gatsby’s fault. The shame of the affair eventually compels Wilson to shoot Gatsby and then commit suicide. Daisy, could have owned up to her mistakes and saved Gatsby’s life, but for Daisy Fay Buchanan, self-preservation is far more valuable than personal merit. This in fact proves “the greatest villain in the Great Gatsby is in fact Daisy herself, for her wanton lifestyle and selfish desires eventually lead to Gatsby’s death, and she has no regards for the lives she destroys” (Rosk 47). Nevertheless, Nick Carraway sees right through her disturbing ways and reflects upon the Buchanan’s. After Nick ponders a thought he muttered “They are careless people Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made” (Fitzgerald 170). Many people see Daisy Buchanan as a poised, pure, and elegant woman who is happily married; however, few like her cousin, Nick Carraway, suffer from knowing her true self: careless, deceptive, and selfish. Daisy is able to use money to get her out of every situation she runs
The character of Jay Gatsby was a wealthy business man, who the author developed as arrogant and tasteless. Gatsby's love interest, Daisy Buchanan, was a subdued socialite who was married to the dim witted Tom Buchanan. She is the perfect example of how women of her level of society were supposed to act in her day. The circumstances surrounding Gatsby and Daisy's relationship kept them eternally apart. For Daisy to have been with Gatsby would have been forbidden, due to the fact that she was married. That very concept of their love being forbidden, also made it all the more intense, for the idea of having a prohibited love, like William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, made it all the more desirable. Gatsby was remembering back five years to when Daisy was not married and they were together:
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.
Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby is an ambitious and hopeful character. He is the protagonist of the novel and he is pursuing an unrealistic dream, thinking that Daisy Buchanan was a nature of perfection that could not possibly be real. He believes in the idea that he could change the past and the future. In Chapter 7, page 154; Gatsby waited outside of Daisy 's house on a needless vigil until she went to bed, he does not realize that his dream is not a reality. He thinks that by waiting outside her house guarding her, he might get a glimpse of Daisy. Daisy is perfection to
Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan and cousin to Nick Carraway. During World War I, many soldiers stationed by her in Louisville, were in love with her. The man who caught her eye the most was Jay Gatsby. When he was called into war, she promised him that she would wait for him. Also that upon his return they will be married. Daisy, lonely because Gatsby was at war, met Tom Buchanan. He was smart and part of a wealthy family. When he asked her to marry him, she didn't hesitate at once, and took his offering. Here, the reader first encounters how shallow Daisy is, making her a dislikeable character. Another event that Daisy is a dislikeable character is when she did not show up to Gatsby's funeral. When Daisy and Gatsby reunite, their love for each other rekindle. She often visited Gatsby at his mansion, and they were inseparable. This led Gatsby on because he dedicated his whole life into getting Daisy back, and she had no gratitude towards it. At the hotel suite scene, Daisy reveals to all that she loves Gatsby, but then also says that she loves Tom as well. This leaves the reader at awe, because after...
Jay Gatsby fell in love with a young Daisy Buchanan prior to his military assignment overseas in WWI. Gatsby wanted to marry Daisy but she wouldn't marry him because he was poor and not a socialite. Gatsby then spent the five years, after his return home from the war; he strived to accumulate enough wealth to receive Daisy's love and attention.
Daisy Buchanan is shallow and vain character who lives in an illusory world. Daisy marries Tom only because of his money. Daisy is in love with material objects. She uses her money to escape from reality, and when she needs to she hides behind her money stated by Jonathan Yardley, who favored t...
Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the rich couple, seem to have everything they could possibly want. Though their lives are full of anything you could imagine, they are unhappy and seek to change, Tom drifts on "forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game"(pg. 10) and reads "deep books with long words in them"(pg. 17) just so he has something to talk about. Even though Tom is married to Daisy he has an affair with Myrtle Wilson and has apartment with her in New York.. Daisy is an empty character, someone with hardly any convictions or desires. Even before her relationships with Tom or, Gatsby are seen, Daisy does nothing but sit around all day and wonder what to do with herself and her friend Jordan. She knows that Tom is having an affair, yet she doesn't leave him even when she hears about Gatsby loving her. Daisy lets Gatsby know that she too is in love with him but cant bring herself to tell Tom goodbye except when Gatsby forces her too. Even then, once Tom begs her to stay, even then Daisy forever leaves Gatsby for her old life of comfort. Daisy and Tom are perfect examples of wealth and prosperity, and the American Dream. Yet their lives are empty, and without purpose.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many characters in which each symbolizes their own life lesson and message. For example, Daisy Buchanan is a young woman, who is one of the characters that most of the story revolves around. In the novel, Daisy maintains the illusion of innocence, but her actions and words are corrupt. The Great Gatsby scratches the surface of Daisy as a character, but looking deeper into the meaning of things a person can see who she truly is. To the naked eye Daisy is a confused and lovestruck woman, but deep down Daisy may be something more sinister. In this novel Daisy mentions that at that time in age the “only thing a woman can be in this world is a beautiful little fool” (pg. 17) which
Gatsby’s life is a vivid display of dissatisfaction and he takes extreme measures to create a life that he is happy with. In his earlier years, Gatsby lived on a North Dakota farm before deciding that he wanted to create a better life; he changed his name from Jimmy Gatz to Jay Gatsby and moved to New York, where he believed he could create a wealthy life (98). Gatsby is successful in achieving his goal of wealth, albeit through illegal bootlegging, yet he still feels he is not accomplished without Daisy. Gatsby is confident that he can get Daisy to love him again, however he is unhappy with the fact that she was ever married to Tom. He want’s Daisy to renounce her marriage to Tom, to tell him “I never love you”, essentially erasing the past four years of her l...
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many different characters are seen in many different perspectives. Because the narrator is one of the characters in the story, everything the reader hears is from a certain point of view. One of the main characters who could be viewed in many different ways is Daisy Buchanan, Nick's cousin. When Daisy first comes in she is the picture of perfection and happiness. As the story goes on the reader sees different issues in the life of Daisy that she may be trying to ignore. Daisy seemed to show feelings and love toward certain characters but really she was just in love with the idea of wealth and luxury. The two main victims of Daisy's false love were Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Daisy drew
Daisy Buchanan is off the bat portrayed as beautiful. She has grown up with privileges in Louisville, has amazing social skills, and is extremely charming. She is married to a man named Tom who is wealthy enough to provide for her. Though, there are doubts about him having an affair with a woman in New York, which throws off Daisy. She has an captivating effect on men with her looks and inviting voice. She is what Gatsby is longing for. Fitzgerald depicts Daisy’s personality in the beginning as innocent, like nothing is wrong in her life. He shows this by dressing her in all white, portraying her as pure and innocent. I also noticed that Fitzgerald puts Daisy, in a dreamlike/perfect setting, which shows that she is unable to deal with reality.