Daisy's Flaws In The Great Gatsby

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, at first glance Gatsby appears to be great, but if you dig a little deeper his flaws are revealed. Gatsby gave off an insincere portrayal of himself, he had an obsession over the past, and he was consumed with wanting to make himself great and be something that he is not. However, the one character whose faith in Gatsby remained consistent was Nick Carraway.
Nick thought Gatsby was very admiral from the day he met him. He thought of Gatsby as young, pure, a pursuer of his dream, hopeful, and that his love never wavered. Gatsby had a dream and he was not willing to let it go or have it be crushed. He did show great heroism by taking the blame and not telling anyone Daisy was the one driving when Myrtle was hit

and died. Nick refused to believe all of the rumors about Gatsby since he had shown him items to prove his adventures such as pictures of him at Oxford and a metal from Montenegro. His faith in Gatsby is especially strong when he tells the truth about his past to Tom. Nick wanted a lot of people to come to Gatsby’s funeral to confirm his good opinion of him. He felt bad when no one else attended. His last words to Gatsby were that he was better than the Buchanan’s and all of their friends. Despite Nick’s optimistic view, it is clear to see that Gatsby isn’t as great as Nick makes him out to be.
One of Gatsby’s first flaws is that he is insincere. He throws excessive, over the top parties and dresses that way too all for show. For example, when he had tea with Daisy he wanted to present himself as being wealthy so badly that he wore a white flannel suit, a silver shirt, and a gold tie, which instead of coming across as classy was just tacky. He wants so badly for people to think he’s an educated, sophisticated, and hospitable man when in reality he’s just James Gatz from North Dakota. One example of his fraud is with Owl Eyes in the library. Owl Eyes in impressed that Gatsby actually has real books in his library, however the pages are uncut which means they’re just for show and haven’t been read. One time when he is showy and trying to be something he’s not is when he avoids getting a speeding ticket just by simply flashing a Christmas card that he got from the Police Commissioner. All in all Gatsby just gives off a false portrayal of himself throughout the novel to disguise who he truly is, because he thinks his true personality is not what Daisy wants.
Another one of Gatsby’s flaws was his foolish obsession with the past.

The whole purpose in his house is to be closer to Daisy and to potentially draw her in. When they have tea it’s ironic that he knocks the clock off of the mantle because it represents how he’s failing to control time and wants to pick up where he and Daisy had left off five years ago. At one point in the novel Gatsby recalls their first kiss. Daisy became part of his illusion and dream so now in order for his dream to come true he must have her too. However, after all of his preparation and planning, their first hangout “tumbled short of his dreams.” This was because he had wanted to be with her for so long and dreamed this situation up to be something that was very unlikely to actually happen. One of the major internal struggles that Gatsby wrestles with is the idea of Daisy loving Tom. He longs so badly for her to say she never loved him. He even convinces himself that she never did love Tom. When he describes Tom and Daisy’s relationship he says, “In any case, it was just personal.” The reason he says this is because he believes his relationship with Daisy was deeper and exceeded Daisy and Tom’s relationship. Gatsby is so foolish to believe that he and Daisy can restore their relationship to the way it used to be. One night towards the end of the book Gatsby is “watching over nothing,” At this point his relationship with Daisy is over and he is purposelessly hoping for something that is nothing. Not

only do we see Gatsby’s obsession with the past as foolish, but it prevents him from being able to live and move on. Finally he gives up on his dream before he dies when he realizes that everything he’s devoted his life to has been meaningless.
Lastly, Gatsby is consumed with self-improvement.

In chapter six he is described as having a “platonic conception of himself.” He has this ideal and fake image of himself that he is spending his whole life trying to live up to. He believed that he could achieve this ideal image with money and social status, but later we learn that this was not fairly earned with hard work, but rather cheating. We see how Gatsby has a selective memory when he says that Cody was his mentor and taught him how to go from rags to riches, when in reality Wolfsheim “made him” and gave him a start. Cody is a much more commendable role model since Wolfsheim was involved in illegal activity, that’s why Gatsby does this. Even as a child Gatsby had a daily schedule to motivate himself towards reinventing himself. He disowns his parents who were perfectly good people. They were unsuccessful farmers and Gatsby did not want to live his life like them. He didn’t think of them as his parents, but rather just as a model of what he did not want himself to be like. Since he came from a poor background when he meets Daisy’s family it says, “He knew he was in Daisy’s house by a colossal accident.” He didn’t belong there, yet he wanted a high class life so badly that he pursued Daisy since she was “off limits” and she was his key to the East Egg lifestyle. Gatsby consumed his life with this goal so much that he became self-absorbed and everything was all about

himself.
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby, despite its title, reveals that Gatsby is in fact not great. He is insincere, self-absorbed, and foolish, and lives a purposeless life devoted to a woman he forces himself to love.