Relationship Between Tom And Daisy In The Great Gatsby

Love is an intense feeling of deep affection for someone or something. It is a pure and true feeling. What happens if something could change what we thought we loved? Finding love or being in a relationship is never easy, but it does not help when the people in the relationship were focused on money or social status like in the 1920s. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the ideas of love and marriage has been clouded by money and the desire for The American dream lifestyle.

Consequently, Tom and Daisy have a relationship that involves cheating, the desire for social acceptance, wealth, confidence, pompous mannerisms, and, despite everything, true love. They both loved each other, and they enjoyed the thought of how they appeared, a rich lavish living couple. They were “ cowardly beneficiaries of old money” (66 Wyly). They both came from this rich lifestyle due to old money they had gained from their relatives. “[Tom’s] social exterior which primarily consists of an awareness of his own wealth and the respectability that he derives from it, provides him with a fixed identity”(Lean 40). Tom Buchanan is a confident and pompous man because he knows that he has more money than most. Tom did what he wanted because Tom had the money to back up his actions. Tom and Daisy acted alike and wanted the same things, which automatically drew them

together.
Nevertheless, Tom and Daisy cheat on each other, but neither one of them wants to divorce, perhaps because their social standings would decline. When Gatsby and Myrtle die, they both come back to each other and the safety of the money they share. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their fast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”(Fitzgerald 179). Their relationship and common interests they shared were centered around the money they had accumulated. The mindset that they could buy anything, led them to live their lives the same way. They believed they could do anything or have anyone they wanted without repercussions. They represented, “ The type of millionaire that is anchored in a solid tradition of socially acceptable (because inherited) wealth and the power derived from it”(Lean 40). Tom and Daisy appear to be the American Dream couple who party all night and have fun. The relationship consists of two individuals who live life recklessly knowing someone else will clean up their mess.
In the novel, the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby took center stage. For Gatsby, the relationship was everything. When Gatsby first met Daisy he was automatically drawn to her for many reasons. “It excited him too, that many men had already loved Daisy - it increased her value in his eyes”(Fitzgerald 149). Gatsby found it attractive that Daisy has dated many men, but none has been able to stay with her, in his eyes it made her look like a prize to win. As a result Gatsby believed he was in love with Daisy, but in reality, Gatsby was in love with Daisy’s lifestyle and what she represented. “She vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby nothing - he felt married to her, that was all” (Fitzgerald 149). Her lavish, rich, full life is all he desired. Once he had a small taste of this extravagant lifestyle he became attached and never wanted it to change.
However, Gatsby had to leave for war he automatically started to build up his wealth and social position. “Gatsby in not educated and in an attempt to win Daisy, he grasps at the most superficial aspects of the American Dream, gaining wealth without acquiring knowledge, insight, or wisdom”(Naqel 118). Gatsby wanted to return to Daisy and be rich enough for her and live with her. Gatsby over fantasized the day he would come back and hoped Daisy would come running to him because he was wealthy. “The desire for realism leads Gatsby to seek, to marry Daisy Buchanan. Marriage to her would mean a marriage into the families of the elite”(Wyly 65). Daisy represented a gateway to the wealthy elite for Gatsby, which was his dream.
Consequently, when Gatsby came back from the war, he was somewhat shocked and flustered when he met Daisy again. Gatsby had imagined that moment for years and he expected it to be like he never left. “The dreamer distorted becomes Gatsby, a man who’s hopeless vulgar taste allows an eternal yearning for meretricious beauty”(Lehan 77). Gatsby has issues of separating reality and illusion when it comes to Daisy. Gatsby yearned to create his past relationship and expected to come right back without skipping a beat. Gatsby thought it was possible to recreate the past, but Gatsby was mistaken.
Incidentally, Daisy had the impossible job living up to all of Gatsby’s expectations.

Daisy loved Gatsby and almost called off her wedding for Gatsby, but when she meets him again Daisy has been with Tom and has formed feelings for Tom. “‘Oh you want too much!’[Daisy] cried to Gatsby. ‘I love you now - isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past.’ She began to sob helplessly. ‘I did love [Tom] once- but I loved you too’”(Fitzgerald 132). Daisy loved him but she struggled to live up to his unrealistic expectations. Daisy tried but, it was exhausting and impossible for her, which is one of the main reasons Daisy left

him.
Something that was also important to Daisy in a relationship was wealth and marrying someone who would be able to support her and her lifestyle. When Tom questioned the legitimacy of Gatsby's wealth it made her rethink her relationship with Gatsby. “The whole novel ultimately turns on what Daisy considers to be legitimate and illegitimate wealth” (Lehan 76). Daisy wanted a man to be able to support her through legitimate wealth so she knew she would never have to worry about money. Daisy stayed with Tom and not Gatsby, because she knew Tom would always support her and love her, but not expect unrealistic things from her.
Nick and Jordan had a relationship that takes a back seat in comparison to the other dramatic relationships in the book. Their relationship is one that started as true attraction and love, but over time was infected by the American Dream. Nick was initially attracted to Jordan. “Baker, therefore, represents Carraway’s initial attraction to the world of the wealthy elite as well as his eventual repulsion and dismissal of the rich and careless” (Wyly 58). Jordan was confident and had a careless attitude, which Nick finds attractive. Nick was in love with Jordan but, as their relationship continued, Nick saw her true personality show through the cracks. “She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to incur being at a disadvantage” (Fitzgerald 58). Jordan lied and Nick often caught her eavesdropping and gossiping. Jordan was enthralled by the American Dream lifestyle that she was part of along with Tom and Daisy. The confident and careless attitude was a sign of not caring about her actions, due to her wealth.
Eventually, Nick realized traits of the wealthy elite in Jordan, and it was a turnoff. In the end of the novel when Nick decided he is done with the drama, Mick had to break up with Jordan. “Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away” (Fitzgerald 177). Nick could not love the half that the wealth had tainted forever. Nick could not break her away from the society she loved, so instead Nick broke up with her. “So strong is Nick’s reaction to both the Dream and the disillusion that he cannot separate Jordan Baker from the society which infects her. He can only leave her behind and go his way alone to the west”(Elle 97). Her once attractive careless attitude had become reckless and inconsiderate in Nick’s eyes. “ Jordan maintains her pose...but even though Jordan is able to create a personality made up of a series of gestures, her life ultimately seems both purposeless and empty”(Wyly 58). Jordan was never truly herself; shaped herself to fit in the wealthy elite class, leaving her empty on the inside. Nick broke up with the meaningless part of her, but Nick still loved her.
In these three relationships in The Great Gatsby, the idea of love has been tainted by money and the hope for the American Dream lifestyle. Tom and Daisy were the only marriage in the book, and they were also the only couple that stayed together. This may indicate that they truly did love one another more than anyone else all along. Daisy left Gatsby and got over him, but Gatsby never forgot Daisy. Even when it was obvious their relationship is over Gatsby still keeps watch outside her house, just in case. Nick and Jordan’s relationship ended abruptly with good and bad take away. Nick got to release himself from the drama, but Nick had to leave Jordan whom he loved. It is possible to think that they may have stayed together if it was not for the time period and place they were in. If the Great Gatsby did not take place in the 1920’s would Nick and Jordan still be together, and would Gatsby still love Daisy, or would Tom and Daisy stay true to each other? What would happen if love and marriage were based, not on wealth, but upon true love?