Why Is Daisy Important In The Great Gatsby

Sidney Flynn

Ms. Patricia Miranda

English X

22 September 2015

I aint $aying $he a gold digga

You can learn a lot about a character by the people they associate themselves with. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the story of Jay Gatsby’s fight to win Daisy Buchanan’s love, but does not realize that it is impossible, because Daisy will never truly love Gatsby. Daisy does not even love the family she has. Daisy Buchanan, the self-absorbed wife of Tom Buchanan, proves that the only thing she truly loves is old money and her status by how she interacts with her so-called loved ones, such as Jay Gatsby, Tom and Pammy Buchanan.

Gatsby and Daisy come into contact with each other for the very first time in Louisville, 1917. According

to Gatsby, they were in love, but after he left for war Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan. Tom gifts a bracelet to Daisy valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the night before the wedding, the same night she is rumored to be depressed.

The depression, however, does not stop Daisy from choosing the pearls over her absent lover. “Next day at five o’clock she married Tom Buchanan, without so much as a shiver, and started off on a three months’ trip to the South Seas.” She never tries to interact with Gatsby subsequently, until the day Nick arranges for them to meet again, without Daisy’s knowledge. The meeting is awfully stiff at first, but once it warms up, Gatsby offers to give Daisy and Nick a tour of his mansion, hoping to impress Daisy. He shows her everything from the luxurious rooms, to the clothes in his closet. “She sobbed, her voice muffled in thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful shirts before.’” (Fitzgerald 92). The emotions that should have surfaced when Daisy and Gatsby were first reunited, were instead reserved for when she is introduces

to his costly wardrobe. As much as Daisy enjoys the luxuries Gatsby could provide her, it is not enough to please her needs. Gatsby’s money is not old money. Rumors have enveloped the origin of Gatsby’s money for majority of his adult life, some containing the truth, that he is a bootlegger. The most evidence that Daisy dose not love Gatsby is found after she hits, and kills, Myrtle. She does not confess to the murder, but let’s George believe it was Gatsby who was driving the car, knowing his intentions to get revenge, while in the meanwhile she and Tom make plans to flee, to protect their image. Daisy does not even attend Gatsby’s funeral.
Tom has proved through lies, and affairs, that he is not the dream husband, yet Daisy does not stray from Tom for Gatsby.

Daisy has high status, as well as approval from her parents, being married to Tom. Because of this, Daisy overlooks Tom’s errors. “The fact that he [Tom] had one [a mistress] was insisted upon wherever he was known. His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomever he knew.” (Fitzgerald 24). Tom not only has a mistress, he does not try very hard at all to keep her secret, even to Daisy. Daisy knows what kind of man Tom is; she knows he is aggressive, egotistic, and that he does not care about hurting her. “We all looked- the knuckle was black and blue. ‘You did it, Tom,’ she said accusingly. “I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a-’ ‘I hate that word hulking,’ objected tom crossly, ‘even in kidding.’” (Fitzgerald 12). From the quote you can tell Daisy is quite upset about a small wound Tom gave her, and Tom simply ignores her cries. It is unlikely such strong confrontation would come from such an insignificant wound, suggesting what Daisy is really upset about, is Tom’s bigger betrayals. But treachery big or small, Tom is insensitive to Daisy’s grief. Daisy still chooses to not leave Tom, and she never will, because Tom provides her with the financial

security and status that Daisy truly loves.