Examples Of Daisy's First Words In The Great Gatsby

The way in which authors choose the first words of a character can be equated to the way one would script their first words in a speech or job interview. First words are first impressions, they prime the reader for what is to come. It is evident that F. Scott Fitzgerald author of The Great Gapsby strategically chose the first words of characters Daisy and Jordan in order catalyze the novel’s plot and theme. Literary analyst Kenneth Ebel commends Fitzgerald's intentional craft. He claims, “After exploring his materials to their limits, Fitzgerald knew, at his greatest moments, that he had discovered a universal pattern of desire and belief and behavior” (Ebel 5).

From the sofa surrounded by a white curtained breeze Daisy utters, “I’m p-paralyzed

with happiness” (Fitzgerald 3). On page 3 of Fitzgerald's literary masterpiece (The Great Gatsby), main character Daisy is introduced greeting her cousin Nick Carraway in her East Egg mansion. Daisy’s first line is compelling, it is structurally and figuratively unique. One may gain the impression that Daisy is unable to move, that she is stuck in a bad marriage and in the role of pleasing/entertaining others. The hyphen in the word “paralyzed” proves that Daisy is indeed hesitant to say that she truly is happy. Daisy is disguising her true emotions in artificial happiness. John Kuehl who studies such phenomenons in literature believes that Fitzgerald himself “...Anticipated that lovely girls would go to ruin, that wealth would disintegrate, that
millionaires would be ‘beautiful and damned’ “(Kuehl 12).

Therefore, Fitzgerald wrote the Daisy’s first words with prior knowledge to Daisy’s stereotypical character. Daisy’s first words were as relatable at the time as they are purposeful. Like Daisy, many women in the 1920s found comfort in fulfilling their own societal expectations even if this meant hiding the truth. Although the world doesn’t offer a reason for Daisy to be unhappy, Daisy is conscious enough to understand that she will never be “paralyzed with happiness”. She is not in love with Tom Buchanan nor fulfilled with her rich housewife role. Through the first words of Daisy, Fitzgerald attempts to tell the reader that “money doesn’t buy happiness”. Daisy’s first words leave the reader to wonder if she will ever find true love and happiness (perhaps with Gatsby himself?) outside of societal

normalities.
F.Scott Fitzgerald continues to develop “a universal pattern of desire and belief and behavior” through the creation of Jordan’s first word(s) (Ebel 5).

Jordan’s first words aren’t first words at all, Jordan merly intojects into the conversation between the Bucannons and Carraway. On page 10 she chimes in “Absolutely!” (Fitzgerald 10). Jordan’s first words/word is not necessary to the conversation however, her own entitlement requires her to have an input. Once again according to Kuehl, “Fitzgerald had a healthy respect for the single word and the single line. He once said that a single word could change the emphasis and the value in a scene or setting” (Kuehl 6). In every book,the author must implement characters who are the epitome of the society, the “absolute” of the culture, characters in which the protagonist must rise above. Jordan is one such character. From the get go Jordan re enforces the normality of rich peoples ideals. She is always gossiping and always keeping up with the trends. By assigning one specific word to Jordan, Fitzgerald now primes the reader to understand that Jordan will be a blind, ignorant, bystander in the novel. Unlike Daisy, Jordan is ignorant of society's warped demands on women. She is unaware that “lovely girls will go to ruin” and that “wealth will disintegrate”. Jordan’s first word is superficial and unnecessary to the scene much like beauty. Fitzgerald uses the first word of Daisy in order to foreshadow the potential theme that

“beauty fades”.
Author’s first words are key in forming first impressions. An author must not only paint a picture of the character by their first introduction into the story but also spark the reader’s imagination. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the first words of his characters Daisy and Jordan to dip the reader’s toes into the world of women in the 20s. In his review on F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ronald Berman claims that “The person who uses the wrong time-conception ranges from the dreamer who ignores the present to the philistine who can see nothing else” (Berman 6). Daisy the dreamer ,and Jordan the philistine who can see nothing but the present, both possess the wrong conception of time which helps Fitzgerald to expose universal themes.