Daisy's Carelessness In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby had constantly in mind the date he lost Daisy; he dreamt of the day he could have her back and of the day she would confess her love to him. “Five years next November” (87) he told Daisy when they met again. Five years waiting for his true love, five years idealizing his girl, five years of constant work to acquire enough wealth to have her back. “No, we couldn’t meet. But both of us loved each other all the time…” (131) argued Gatsby to Tom, Daisy’s husband, explaining the eternal love he felt for Daisy and the love he though Daisy shared with him. Gatsby love did not end the day Daisy married Tom,

"I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy-- they smashed up things and creatures and the retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was the kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made" (Fitzgerald 180-181). In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the characters Daisy and Tom demonstrate the theme of carelessness. Tom and Daisy show carelessness through being foolish thus lacking a lack of good sense or judgment. Furthermore, they both show the theme of carelessness by being inconsiderate of others. The theme of negligence is

Selfishness is a disease of the soul that every person experiences several times throughout their life. To say that selfishness has never been experienced would be hypocrisy. To say that selfishness is a beneficial trait would be erroneous. Although as humans we lie to ourselves, there is no question that selfishness can make any person a fool. Being selfish consumes us and changes us into someone we are not. Whether it leads to getting people killed, losing love, or abolishing families, selfishness always leads to destruction.

Daisy leaving Gatsby is one of the greatest examples of the moral decay of people in this time period with the growth in wealth. Her and Gatsby had something special together when they were younger and all of that was taken away when she had realized that social status meant more to her than her true feelings. “At his lips’ touch, she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”(Fitzgerald, 117). This is how she had really felt, she had wanted to kiss him and had loved Gatsby. He had waited for this moment with this “golden girl” forever and finally there was kissing her. They were young and in love. "She's not leaving me!" Tom's words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. "Certainly

“The only people you have to look out for in life are the people that don’t care about anything or anyone” (Alde). In The Great Gatsby by, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom and Daisy are just those people that are not to be trusted. They have no regard for other’s feelings and live life without facing the consequences. Tom and Daisy show that they are careless people through their insensitive, thoughtless and selfish acts.

Daisy and Tom were not interested in his parties. When Daisy’s cousin, Nick, moves to the home next to Gatsby, it opens up a whole new door. Gatsby gets the help of Nick to make them cross paths again. Their first reunion in five years changed Gatsby, “he literally glowed; without a word or gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the room (Fitzgerald, 94).” But his goal would never be fulfilled. Upon asking Daisy to proclaim her love to him in front of Tom but she can’t. Diasy loves Tom and she loved Gatsby but that’s just the point, the past is the past and can’t be relived. Gatsby never got another chance to winning Daisy over. After everything cooled down Gatsby began waiting for Daisy to call him, but that would never happen. He was shot a killed at is mansion before he ever got to talk to Daisy

One of Daisy’s biggest sins included misleading her husband by marrying him. Tom Buchanan remained deceived with the impression of Daisy loving him. After she cut her ties with Gatsby, she set off on a new adventure, transforming her normal life into riches. Daisy “wanted her life shaped now, immediately-and the decision must be made by some force- of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality” and soon “that force took the shape of Tom Buchanan”. Tom’s kindness attracted Daisy the first time they met. But as time progressed, she grew infatuated with his money more than his personality. The little glimpse of greed from her youth developed into a powerful force which took control of her emotions. To Daisy, the importance of money overpowered her will to achieve happiness. Daisy’s love rang once for Tom but Jay Gatsby answered her call. She cheated on her husband Tom because she desired Gatsby more. On the day of Myrtle’s death, Daisy confronted both Tom and Gatsby with her true emotions by confessing “even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom… It wouldn’t be true”. She loved Tom but since Daisy’s with Gatsby, she doesn’t love him anymore. Daisy broke the vows she made to Tom when they married each other. Breaking the promise of marriage gave her the thrill she always dreamed of in her youth.

Gatsby was able to grasp onto Daisy. With the help of Nick setting up lunch so that the two could meet, they rekindled and “he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” Gatsby achieved his one desire of Daisy; she cheated on her husband for Gatsby. In Gatsby’s eyes he had won, he only needed Daisy to tell Tom that he never loved her in order to be completely successful. When put under the task Daisy cried “Oh you want too much! I love you now- isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." Despite Gatsby’s short success with Daisy, ultimately he is asking for too much of Daisy and she comprehends that the past cannot be

Tom explains to Nick that, “And what's more, I love Daisy too. Once in awhile I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time”. To Tom, cheating on Daisy is fine if he doesn’t leave her, but in reality, Tom does not love Daisy. When Tom finds out Daisy is having an affair with Gatsby, he argues that, “ Self-control!" repeated Tom incredulously.

Daisy and Tom are married with a young daughter. Jay Gatsby, an old boyfriend of Daisy’s, has re-entered her life and expects their relationship to be as it was before Daisy was married. Gatsby wants Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him and that she loved Gatsby all along. He also expects her to leave Tom for him. After all of this pressure from Gatsby, Daisy decides that she will tell what Gatsby wants to hear, but instead Daisy states, “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom, it wouldn’t be true” (Fitzgerald 140).

"I love you now—isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once—but I loved you too." (84) Gatsby's obsession with her seems shockingly unilateral, and it is clear to the reader that she will not leave Tom for him. You can also see why this confession is a blow to Gatsby. He has dreamed of Daisy for years and sees her as his one true love, while she not even can marshal her love of Gatsby over her love for Tom. Gatsby is too desperate and obsessed, and does not understand that he must move on as it is impossible to get back Daisy. This can also be explained by Daisy’s as we get an insight at her real feelings. As she sad in the quote, she loved them both, and to her those were equal loves. But, she has not put that initial love with Gatsby on a pedestal the way Gatsby has. Unlike Gatsby, Daisy is more tragic, a loving woman who has been corrupted by greed. She chooses the security of money and comfort over real love, and therefore he will never get back

Nick summarizes Daisy and Tom as reckless people saying, “I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 136). When Daisy hit Myrtle she let others take the blame to keep her reputation intact. Nick may accept what had happened, but he thought how Daisy and Tom handled it was perverse. Daisy and Tom’s negligence ended up taking two lives: Gatsby and Myrtles. Tom and Daisy use their money to shield them from all the problems in the world. Nick again comments on their frivolous behavior saying, “Why they came East I don't know. They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.”(Fitzgerald 17). This quote shows how Daisy and Tom drift wherever they feel and ruin whoever’s life gets involved with them. They are the equivalent of a golden freight train ready to demolish anything that stands in the way of their fun. Neither of them care what happens or who gets hurt on the way as long as they have their money to protect

Years later and she is unhappy in her marriage to Tom, he has money but yet she still is not happy. Her affair with Gatsby begins and from the beginning it is far from pure. Not simply because of the fact that she is married but that she seems to not be quite happy unless he is lavishing all of his time, attention, and money onto her. When Gatsby’s authenticity as a wealthy established man is called into question by Tom she immediately begins to draw away from Gatsby, “It passed, and he began to talk excitedly to Daisy, denying everything, defending his name against accusations that had not been made. But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself” (Fitzgerald 134).

Gatsby has been at work for Daisy ever since he met her, but in the end Daisy always chose her husband and not her lover. He would always try to win her over with expensive things. This quote describes perfectly what Gatsby was doing, “ his goal is galvanized for him early on when was a poor young army lieutenant he is prevented from pursuing a relationship with Daisy.” Gatsby still trying his best efforts sent a love letter to Daisy on her wedding night. Daisy opened the letter, she loved it but knew she had to marry Tom. When Gatsby is killed, Daisy forgets all about him and moves on with her life. This quote describes Daisy and Gatsby 's relationship. “ Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her.” When Daisy finally is won over by Jay Gatsby he dies and Daisy immediately runs back to Tom just as she always has done in the past.

On Daisy’s wedding day she shows how she still loves Gatsby even with Tom by her side. In chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby Daisy shows her love for Gatsby. “She wouldn’t let go of the letter , she took it into the tub with her and squeezed it into a wet ball and only let me leave it in the soap dish when she saw it was coming to pieces.” (Fitzgerald 76) The letter that Daisy had received was from Gatsby . Daisy crying in the tub clutching onto a letter that Gatsby had sent to shows how she is still in love with Gatsby and that Tom does now satisfy her need for gatsby’s love. Gatsby has stopped Daisy from living a blissful life with Tom by intervening the way that he did. “ Gatsby’s inability to appreciate that in the intervening years Daisy could have had an emotional life.”(Parkinson) Daisy couldn't resist the love from Gatsby even though she could have had a better and happier life.