The Great Gatsby Selfish Essay

Shallowness and hollowness of the upper class is shown in The Great Gatsby by Daisy’s love and addiction for wealth and money. Many people may look at Daisy and call her a ‘fool’ for her addiction to money. Eventually this not only corrupts her in the murder of Myrtle; however, her shallowness leads to the death of Jay Gatsby because of the carelessness of Daisy; which allowed Gatsby to take the blame of the death of Myrtle. Daisy represents the carelessness of most women in the Upper Class for her addiction to wealth and status. Daisy is characterized as ‘the smell of money’; therefore, it is obvious that Daisy loves Tom for his money rather than his personality. “ I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool,” (Fitzgerald, p23). This quote exemplifies the shallowness and hollowness of the woman in the novel. Daisy describes her daughter to Nick and Jordan as a girl who will be like her because she is in love and is manipulated into love with the idea of money. “They’re such beautiful shirts’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful shirts before” (Fitzgerald, p 89). This quotes further more proves the shallowness and hollowness of Daisy because she is in love with the belongings of Jay Gatsby rather than his actual personality. Daisy obviously values the

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald builds theme of personal ambition by using the setting and the characterization to show the significance of the main persona, Gatsby’s personal ambition. Fitzgerald uses the setting of East Egg and West Egg and characterization of Daisy and Dan Cody on the connection they have with Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby’s ambition is to achieve the American Dream. In Gatsby’s eyes, to achieve the American Dream consist of becoming the richest man and sharing his wealth with the woman he loves right by his side. Jay, based of his characterization, never sees himself as the poor man and

She was a girl with wealth, connections and means—everything a seventeen-year-old boy could aspire to one day attain. It is this illusion that Gatsby falls in love with, not Daisy, and he dedicates his life to become a man that could parallel Daisy in both social status and wealth. “So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” (98) Though Gatsby appears to be blinded by material possession and unethical in his means to acquire it, Fitzgerald sets him up to be the hero of the novel by contrasting his virtue to the sea of corruptness and material greed that made up the ambitions of most young folks in the 1920s. True, he made his money through illegal means, but his incredible sense of loyalty is striking against the dishonest, scheming American society. In the novel, it is clear that Gatsby is unfailingly loyal to everyone he loves, from his father to Dan Cody to Daisy, who he dedicated “five years of unwavering devotion” (109) to, even if they were not loyal to him in return.

Gatsby dedicates his entire life to Daisy. He accumulates his fortune, throws extravagant parties every weekend, moves his entire live to West Egg, and distorted utopia that is liable to collapse at any moment all in the hopes of wooing Daisy (Fitzgerald 46). Daisy’s main reason for choosing Tom over Gatsby was because “ (Gatsby) ...was poor and she was tired of waiting” (Fitzgerald 130). Gatsby believed that Daisy would only notice him if every aspect of his life reputable and “In order to be reputable, it must be wasteful” (Veblen 11). Gatsby does everything in his power to become a suitable husband for Daisy, but attempts to control his fate ultimately conquer him in

Gatsby and Daisy used to be together up until the point where he left for the war. Daisy waited for him until Tom along came and snatched her away. Daisy is a character who puts high importance on the wealth of her spouse which is why she left Gatsby for Tom in the first place. “Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’(Fitzgerald 106). Gatsby does not realize the motive behind Daisy’s actions and continues to dwell in the past. Tom "bought" Daisy for an expensive necklace worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Gatsby was poor in his youth but now that he is one of the wealthiest people in West Egg and a symbol of "new money", Daisy wants to be with him again. “ Tom may be insensitive to people, but Gatsby hardly seems to be aware that anyone other than Daisy exists.” (Wasiolek 15). Gatsby is not great because he does not realize the shallow and selfish behaviour of Daisy. Gatsby lost her to Tom because of his money, and money is the exact strategy that Gatsby uses to get her back. “I want you and Daisy to come over to my house,’ he said, ‘I’d like to show her around.” (Fitzgerald 87). Daisy becomes interested in Gatsby again once he shows her around his lavish mansion and shows her how wealthy he is now. Gatsby’s greatness is once again put into question as he is blinded by the past and cannot see the huge flaws in Daisy’s

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.

The life of the Great Gatsby follows the cliche story of a poor man rising to power, all in the name of the woman who caught his eye, the woman who he loves with all his being. The woman who Gatsby himself, changes his entire life goal of believing that he was destined for something so great (as a child of God should) to being a man worthy of the aristocratic debutant beauty named Daisy. Like a man searching for his Holy Grail Gatsby continues to find his way to have Daisy as his. But in Gatsby’s mind, Daisy cannot be his until she says to Tom, her husband of four years, that “she never loved him”(139). Power, prestige, money, and lineage was what made the world of “Old Money” go round and unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy is a member of that

The story “The Great Gatsby”, is filled with people who are so absorbed with their greedy wants, they never stopped to consider the consequences of their actions. The story starts off with a man who sees it all happen, Nick, who retells the story he experienced. It all starts off with a man building up false wealth and a false identity in order to again meet the girl of his dreams. Nick Follows the affairs of a husband and wife, and soon after, the death of the man with the false livelihood because of all the chaotic confusion. It is a sad story with many misfortunes, but as the saying goes “People get what they deserve.”

When she was a Gatsby house with Nick she sees his wealth through his house and his super fancy clothing, when she sees his shirts she says,”It makes me sad because i’ve never seen such-such beautiful shirts before”(Fitzgerald 92). Daisy is seeing the life she could have had, had she not married Tom and kept waiting for Gatsby. She left Gatsby back then because he did not have money, he was poor, he sole reason of marrying Tom was for the money, now she realizes the lavish lifestyle she is missing out on. When Tom finds out about Gatsby and Daisy's affair, Gatsby goes to tell him,”She only married you because i was poor and she was tired of waiting for me”(Fitzgerald 130). For Daisy a man with is important to fill her needs. Now that Gatsby has came back with more wealth than most people, she wants to get back with him, even though she claims to have loved Tom, she still follows the money. Daisy as well as the other female characters felt the need to look for a man, although they all had their different

The novel The Great Gatsby is a story that takes place in the 1920’s. The story

Daisy Buchanan, Nick’s cousin, is in an unhappy marriage with Tom Buchanan; who comes from “old money” but who 's also physically and mentally abusive to her. Everyone is aware of the affair, especially Daisy, yet she continues to stay not only because of public opinion but also because of Tom’s wealth. Daisy loved Gatsby when he was poor but because of his poverty she didn’t want to be with him, so she married Tom. Daisy is the typical “southern belle” in that she is a stock character representing rich white women of the south in the 1920s. Gatsby has always been deeply infatuated with Daisy; she represents all the things Gatsby wants: wealth, social status, glamour. Fitzgerald develops a character best compared to a Siren from the Odyssey. Nick describes her voice as “[...] a thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again[...]excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion[...]” (Fitzgerald, 33). Daisy has a “singing compulsion” and

With a broken heart, Tom walked into her life when she was most vulnerable. She thought she loved him, until years later, when she saw Gatsby, she realized she did not love Tom. This realization was partly because Daisy knew Tom was cheating on her. So, with an untruthful marriage, and a loveless relationship, Daisy’s American dream was to find happiness. Even though they shared a child together, Daisy tended to ignore her existence. Daisy was still in a state of mind where she felt she had absolutely nothing. She then went on to say she hoped her child was naive. “‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’” (Fitzgerald, 21). In the 1920s, women usually married for money, and not for love. She wished she had a boy, because girls have a harder life when they are aware and smart. Daisy had this problem because she figured out Tom was cheating. Thus, since she had a girl, she hoped she would never be smart enough to experience the pain Daisy was in. Later in the novel, Daisy became emotional when she spent time with Gatsby because she realized Tom was the wrong guy, and she married him for his money. However, she also realized if she married Gatsby, she would marry him because he was rich, but also for love. She truly longed for a relationship with love. Hence, this crushed her hope of ever having a relationship

From the reader’s first meeting with Daisy up until her escape with Tom, she seems more in love with money, ease, and a luxurious lifestyle than Gatsby himself. Gatsby’s lifestyle lures Daisy in rather than Gatsby’s charm

Fitzgerald reveals Daisy as a materialistic person with corrupted morals due to her naive ideals. Daisy makes the decision of leaving her poor lover in order to marry a rich man who promised her a wealthy lifestyle. During a conversation between Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanans, Gatsby confides, “She only married you because I was poor”(130). Daisy’s marriage to Tom Buchanan was only for his money and materials. This characterizes Daisy as morally corrupted because of her desire to achieve everlasting wealth and her collection of riches. Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby to accomplish her corrupted American Dream. Near the end of the novel, Gatsby

Daisy is a person who only focused on money. She is a selfish and cynical person. She wanted her “life shaped” for she made a decision to marry by either love or money forcedly without thinking about Gatsby she was just thinking for herself. Even Gatsby said, “her voice is full of money,” meaning Daisy only interest in her life is money. She admits herself that she is a cynical person whenever she said “I’m pretty cynical about everything,”. Her usage of words is manipulative in order to seem an innocuous person and gets what she desires. Knowing that she is very gorgeous, she believed every man will fall for her even her cousin Nick Carraway. Whenever, Nick invited Daisy for tea she said “are you in love with me?”. Showing how highly she thinks of herself. Therefore, she knows Gatsby is in madly in love with her for the house that he bought across the bay from her house, realizing that he has been waiting for past years for her and sees that he doesn’t have a companion for he is not married and differently does not have any children. When Gatsby gave her a tour of his house