Daisy Buchanan: Concealed Emotional Conflict in The Great Gatsby

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The Plight of Daisy in The Great Gatsby It seems that all that we know about Daisy Buchanan comes through Nick. Most readers see her as superficial, shallow and foolish but this outward appearance is Daisys attempt to conceal how she really feels. Nick tells the reader that Daisy purposely tries to avoid her true feelings because she knows about the severe pain that goes along with facing them. Daisy has several conflicts that she holds inside. For instance, she is aware that Tom has a mistress but does not know how to deal with it. Nick does not understand why Daisy is still married to Tom knowing what he does. At one point, Daisy chose to confess her true feelings to Nick. Daisy says that she rather be a foolincapable of and invulnerable to ideas and emotionsand she hopes that her daughter will be a fool also in order to shield her from the pain and suffering that she went through (160). Another conflict that plagues Daisy is her love for Jay Gatsby. Gatsby and Daisy were in love before he left for the war. After finding out that he was gone, Daisy, withdrew from society and vowed never to love again. Then, Daisy met Tom Buchanan and made herself love him. Daisy almost changed her mind about marrying Tom after receiving a letter from Gatsby before her wedding. Daisy later knew that she could not trust him because he had an affair soon after they married and she was pregnant when she found out about it. After a long history and broken hearts and the realization that love leads to emotional distress, Daisys spirits seemed to be lifted after the meeting with Gatsby. This meeting seemed to bring her back from the world of the emotionally dead (163). Fryer Sarah. Critical Essays of F.Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby. ED. Scott Donaldson. Boston:G.K. Hall & Co.,1984.

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