Daisy Buchanan In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.

“The officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time…” (75) The Great Gatsby

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Daisy Buchanan undergoes many noticeable changes. Daisy is a symbol of wealth and of promises broken. She is a character we grow to feel sorry for but probably should not.

In FSF’s novel the Great Gatsby Nick Carraway’s perspective is poetic, paced and arguably reliable. For example, when he is retelling his first encounter with Daisy Buchanan after many years, his description of her and the room she is in is reminiscient of an angel in the heavens both “sad and lovely” (9). His tone changes, however, as the novel goes on and grows more pessimistic by the page. In the end, his description of Daisy is of disgust and almost pity, “they were careless…” (179). According to Mathew B, “the strongest feeling generated…” The horrible reality of a carefree life that is exhibited so thoroughly be Daisy and Tom in the end is in stark contrast to the desired and glamourous world in which they appear to exist. We hear this regret in Nick’s narration. Nowlin sums up Nick’s voice perfectly when he states, “but…” (28). Nick narrates from a future we know nothing about, unlike the narration of BR his story is tainted somewhat with retrospect. The narrators of both F’s writings operate within equally significant and different eras.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's third book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses his narrator, Nick Carraway as a vital tool to comprehend the purposefulness of this story. Imagine having the story in some other characters point of view, a cynical and more sardonic point of view. Daisy Buchanan's point of view would simply all relate to her. If it does not it has no need to be conversed about or it has to change to something about her. Daisy's conflict is her love for Jay Gatsby is hindered because she is married to her also unfaithful husband Tom Buchanan.

The 1920’s was a time when the United States economy had a 42% increase (Amadeo). The United States had this increase in the economy due to industrial factories being built, and new inventions being made, which raised wages. Women during this time period gained many rights, but were still not as equal as men. African Americans were discriminated against and segregated during this time. Fashion in the 1920’s was brand new. Women had new styles of clothing and new hairstyles, and men started wearing athletic gear. In the 1920’s, and in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald wealth, women and racism, and fashion were big social beliefs that impacted lives in the United States.

“How helpless we are, like netted birds, when we are caught by desire!” Belva Plain, American author of mainstream fiction, believed society cannot be helped when they want something they cannot have. Gatsby, a respectable yet manipulative character in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, loves Daisy and will go beyond what is normal to be with her. Through Gatsby’s decisions and social interactions, Fitzgerald agrees with the idea that desire can lead people into traps like netted birds.

The theme at the heart of the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F Scott Fitzgerald lies in the doomed relationship between the protagonist, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Narrated by Nick Carraway, the friend of Gatsby’s whom Gatsby finally confides in at the most tragic moment of his life, the story unfolds against the backdrop of the roaring 20’s.

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the two central women presented are Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. These two women, although different, have similar personalities. Throughout the novel, there are instances in which the reader feels bad for and dislikes both Daisy and Myrtle. These two women portray that wealth is better than everything else, and they both base their lives on it. Also the novel shows the hardships and difficulties they have in their marriages. They are never satisfied with what they have, and are always longing for more.

Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold colored tie hurried in? (89). Silver and gold

When Daisy is first introduced in the story and movie, she is dressed in all white symbolizing purity and innocence. She, Nick Caraway, Jordan Baker, and her husband Tom Buchanan sit down to have dinner. Her husband mistress calls time and time again. She finally gets up to say something to him but it solves nothing. She sits back down being fully aware of her husband infidelity and does nothing. I wondered why she didn’t do anything about it or leave him. The simple answer was the wealth. Even though Daisy loved Gatsby when she first married Tom, she is staying for the same reason she got married in the first place. She enjoys the lavish life and if she leaves she loses it all. This was typical of women in the 1920s though. Daisy character is questioned many times in this story. First she has a daughter that she barely mentions. Even in the movie the girl only appears once. In the story Daisy says when she woke after giving birth she immediately asks the nurse if she had a boy or girl and the nurse told her it was a girl. She then goes to say “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope shell be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world a beautiful fool.” (Fitzgerald 17) This suggest that she feel like women have no place in the world. This also reflects how Fitzgerald own personal reflection of women. In an article titled Feeling "Half Feminine": Modernism and the Politics of Emotion in The Great Gatsby, Frances Kerr wrote that “"In 1935 Fitzgerald told his secretary Laura Guthrie, "Women are so weak, really-emotionally unstable and their nerves, when strained, break.” (Kerr 406) I think that this is why he made Daisy, who is the main female character in the book, look at herself as having no place in this world and as a fool. The next time Daisy character is really questioned is at the end of the book when she hit Myrtle Wilson and let Gatsby take the blame for it. She didn’t know he was going to get

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.

Behind every great man is a beautiful, charming maiden who holds his heart. What if this woman was not

Daisy Buchanan does everything that a woman during the twenties would not be doing. Women were who wanted prohibition of alcohol to exist. Daisy was part of the crowd who was drinking and smoking and would smoke in public, not caring that it was not normal behavior of a woman during that time. Women also wore clothing that did not expose their skin that much. Daisy wore clothing that did not fit the criteria. “A beautiful fool”, is a reference made by Daisy on page 17 in The Great Gatsby. Daisy wants her daughter to be a “fool” like herself. She wants her to live a life as she has, which there were women during the twenties who lived in this way. It can be determined in the book that Fitzgerald is describing his wife, Zelda, through Daisy Buchanan. Zelda had a problem with drinking and smoking while she was married to Fitzgerald. Even though Fitzgerald did not specifically mention to his audience that his wife was being portrayed through Daisy, true fans of his work could determine that she is. Since his wife is a major part of his life, her being displayed through a character can go back to determining that she influenced his writing. Fitzgerald describes the twenties as he experienced it and all throughout his book, the audience can get a sense of what he lived through during that time period and just how much he knew about the

     Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a fascinating work that details the corruptive influence of greed. The main character is a man named Gatsby. The two main female characters are Daisy and Myrtle. These two women provide an interesting contrast while complementing each other at the same time. Daisy is living a life of luxury while Myrtle is struggling to make ends meet. They both play major roles in the novel, and, although their intentions seem pure and promising enough, they both are doomed to succumb to greed which causes eventual death.