Daisy In Teenage Wasteland

The description of the face as endearing and fine-featured implies that Daisy believes her son still has his innocence or perfection. The fact that the dark hair hangs around his face suggests (in Daisy’s eyes) that Donny’s out of control behavior only masks his true purity and innocence. In return, Daisy feels that her son still has the ability to be “saved.” The change in Donny’s innocence, and his mother’s idea that the “perfect child” exists, is directly correlated to Daisy’s view on parenting throughout the story.

Daisy’s superficiality and ephemeral qualities are achieved largely by Fitzgerald’s use of diction in Daisy’s conversations and descriptions of her physical characteristics. Much of Daisy’s dialogue is utterly devoid of substance, is often repetitive and its sole purpose for inclusion in the text is to demonstrate her, and indeed the upper classes’ lack of direction and purpose in life, and the resultant restlessness that originates from a life of inactivity and ease that; qualities that are perfectly encapsulated in the line on page 17; “‘Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.’”. Fitzgerald constantly undermines the character of Daisy to demonstrate that she is the unworthy object of Gatsby’s dream, as is the social class that she symbolises. Her immorality is subtly on display through much of the novel; she treats her own daughter with indifference, objectifying her as yet another material accessory; “‘That’s because your mother wanted to show you off.’”, she remarks in Chapter VII, displaying an apparent lack of emotional connection one would expect a mother to hold with her child. Additionally after betraying Gatsby at a crucial moment and

We do also see Daisy portrayed as very boring character “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it etc” (p.17). This also implies that Daisy might not be as bright as Tom and Nick and that she doesn’t shape her destiny or takes control of her life. E.g. she attempted to plan something with Nick. she said, “What'll we plan? What do people plan?” meaning she has never had to make decisions nor has she had much responsibility. Again unlike Tom who is very much in control and has got firm charge over his future (That he thinks). Daisy however does not have much loving feelings for Tom as when Jordan mentions to Nick that she knows Gatsby, it raises Daisy's interest momentarily “Gatsby? demanded Daisy. What Gatsby?”, but the conversation is quickly diverted by the announcement of dinner.

Tom’s infidelity in his marriage clearly expresses his views about his wife, Daisy. In seeking an affair, he conveys that Daisy is deficient and not worthy of devotion. Daisy knows of his affairs, but because of the time period and their social class, she is helpless to do anything. As a woman in the 20th century, it would destroy Daisy to divorce Tom, even though the entirety of New York knows about Tom’s affair.

Daisy’s sudden, simple respect for the truth is startling to the reader because Nick’s perceptions of her throughout the novel are so very limited to her superficial manner … her stubborn honesty … is a logical outgrowth of her inner struggle to resolve conflicting needs. It is a brief, futile attempt to declare emotional independence (Fryer 54).

The passage I have chosen for this close reading begins on page 151 with “ He was worried now”, and it ends on page 152 with “Daisy was flattered.” In chapter 8 we hear about beginning of Gatsby and Daisy’s love story. They met, and Gatsby was in awe. They continued seeing each other till Gatsby left for war. Daisy was apart from Gatsby longer than she expected and began to feel upset. Fitzgerald writes “She was feeling the pressure of the world outside her.” In my honest opinion, I think Daisy didn’t know what to do with herself without a man to guide her. The next paragraph revolves around her being filled with “sadness”, I think she was just sad with how boring her life is. That is why Daisy begins going out with multiple men a day. It’s as if she needs the attention to survive. I know that sounds harsh, but this passage made be so angry with Daisy as a character. If she truly loved Gatsby she would have just waited for him and continued writing him letters.

Daisy Buchanan, the narrator’s cousin, is a beautiful woman married to an affluent and powerful man. It is clear that she is not in a loving relationship, as Tom, her husband, is cheating on her with another married woman in broad daylight. While Nick portrays Daisy a lovely, slightly airheaded girl, the readers are able to see another aspect of Daisy’s slightly more mature, cynical perspective here, when she confesses to Nick in a more private setting. This particular quote is quite important, as it talks about the moment Daisy knew the gender of her baby. It is surprising that Daisy wishes her baby daughter to be a fool, as most parents

Daisy sacrifices love and happiness for being wealthy. Nick believes “that the thing for Daisy to do was to rush out of [her] house, child in arms-but apparently there were no such intentions in her head” (25). In making this comment, Nick argues that Daisy refuses to break off her marriage to Tom because she will lose her “membership” to the East Egg social class. Not even Gatsby, who is one of the wealthiest men in the Northeast, can convince her to leave him. In Roberts’ literary criticism, she describes the aspects of Gatsby that Daisy disapproves. Roberts claims that Gatsby “Misread[s] the signs of American gentility … [by moving] to West Egg, instead of the more elegant East Egg (Fahey 74), [and throwing parties that] attract theatre people and gate crashers rather than a social elite” (Roberts) which repulses Daisy. In making this remark, Roberts claims that Gatsby is not everything Daisy could want. His mansion’s location and guests at his party ultimately is not enough to motivate Daisy to leave Tom. Close states that “we can’t be happy without at least one meaningful, close relationship.” Her claim that a close relationship brings happiness rests upon the questionable assumption that people in close relationships are always happy. In fact, some close relationships can bring more despair than joy. Hence, the cause of unhappiness for wealthy people, like Daisy, can be avoided if they choose their overall wellbeing over the amount of money they

“The psychologist said Donny has no serious emotional problems. He was merely going through a difficult period in his life. He required some academic help and a a better sense of self-worth.” (Anne Tyler. “Teenage Wasteland”) When children become teenagers, they begin the confusing yet enlightening journey into adulthood. At this point, they make important decisions which may change the course their lives. Teenagers are still influenced by others, but they are now responsible for their own choices and actions. Entering into young adulthood can be very confusing. At this stage, young people are deciding who they are and who they want to be. They also feel as if they should take responsibility for themselves but do not feel like a complete adult. Donny was basically deciding that school was not for him. He was cutting class and getting in trouble. Daisy took it upon herself to make the decision for him to go see a psychologist.

Daisy, like her husband, is a girl of material and class at heart, and Gatsby being her escape from a hierarchist world. Daisy has just grown up knowing wealth, so in her greedy pursuit of happiness and the “American Dream” Myrtle Wilson died, Gatsby's heart and life were compromised, without claiming responsibility on her part. Daisy was “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville...” (116) Jordan says, describing early affections between Daisy and Gatsby. She goes on to say, “...all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night.” (116) . Daisy was a fancied girl who has Gatsby tied around her finger, Jordan explains that he was looking at Daisy “...in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time...” (117). Daisy, abusing Gatsby’s love for her uses it to create security and protection, greedily and selfishly allowing him to take the fault. While Daisy’s beautiful, alluring traits turn her into an innocent, naive flower, she plays the ultimate villain.

Daisy's action and choices are extremely defined by her "East egg" way of life, which is a representation of old

Daisy confides in Nick that she believes “the best thing a girl can be” is a “beautiful fool” which shows us that Daisy is unhappy with the shallow society of the 1920’s. This comment shows the reader’s that Daisy isn’t shallow and empty; she dislikes the impersonal nature of the people around her and wants her daughter to be a “fool” so she doesn’t notice it. This shows that Daisy does have morals and feels strongly for the people close to her. An aspect of Daisy’s character that could suggest that she is immoral is the possible promiscuity associated with her voice. Nick refers to an excitement in her voice that “men found difficult to forget” which

In the novel Driving Miss Daisy, by Alfred Uhry, Daisy Werthan is forced to deal with a sudden change to her normal lifestyle, which is a significant struggle for her considering she is a very stubborn traditional woman. After wrecking her car, Miss Daisy is forced to have her own personal driver who is hired by her son, Boolie. Throughout the novel, Miss Daisy and her driver, Hoke Colburn, develop a strong friendship. Throughout the novel, Daisy Werthan experiences an evolution of her character. She changes in many ways throughout the novel and reveals herself as a kind woman, especially towards Hoke, who was originally a threat to her stable and independent life. Miss Daisy eventually begins to accept help from Hoke throughout the novel, however she still remains independent and does not accept assistance graciously. Although Miss Daisy undergoes change in the novel she remains the same in some aspects of her personality and character. Miss Daisy remains set in her ways and doesn’t want her life to change, she is a bossy individual and she remains an independent woman who will rarely accept help from anyone except Hoke.

Daisy had an accident, she was immediately viewed as too old to drive by her son. That accident was a life changing event for Mrs. Daisy. She seemed to be a determined, strong, stern, and independent woman. When Boolie informed his mother that she can no longer drive and that she would be chauffeured places, she declined and insisted that she would find a way to get to her destinations. It seemed that she did not want any outside help from others that affected her directly. She simply did not want to change the way she did things or her routines, which to her means losing quite a bit of her independence. This is when another life changing event happened to Mrs. Daisy. Boolie hired an African American gentleman by the name of Hoke to chauffeur his mother around. She immediately gave him the cold shoulder and informed him that she did not need his services. She even accused Hoke of stealing a can of salmon from her pantry. Indeed, he did take the can of salmon and openly admitted that the accusations were true, also with a can of salmon in hand to replace the one he had eaten. I believe this was another turning point for Mrs. Daisy. Even though she turned her nose up at Hoke, he was persistent, humble and honest, something she just could not shake easily. His patience instilled trust within Mrs. Daisy opposed to her son who just was too busy to spend quality time with his

Secondly, Daisy is another example of an individual of the novel who appears to be things she really is not. Scott Fitzgerald’s illusions of the appearance of Daisy are meant to affect the events in the novel. Daisy is introduced as a pure hearted, guiltless and lovable character. “The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise — she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression — then she laughed, an absurd,