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Examples Of Daisy In The Great Gatsby

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The Gatsby Times

Who is Daisy the heartbreaker?

Daisy’s Background: The beautiful Daisy Buchanan, originally Daisy Fay, was born into a very wealthy family in Louisville, Kentucky. Growing up she was very popular, as one of her friends, Jordan Baker, states that Daisy was “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville” (74). When Daisy was eighteen she fell in love with a man named Jay Gatsby who was, at the time, a military officer. Throughout her life, Daisy’s beauty continually catches the attention of men as Gatsby, one of her love interests, describes Daisy “keeping half a dozen dates a day with a half a dozen men” well after Gatsby’s entrance into the war (151). Daisy came from a wealthy family that constantly pressured …show more content…

However, in reality, Daisy is a shallow, greedy, and selfish woman. She yearns to have a lavish lifestyle and because of this, marries Tom, a very wealthy man. However, it is not just the wealth that interests Daisy, it is also the fact that Tom is an Old Rich as opposed to Gatsby, a New Rich. Tom, unlike Gatsby, inherited his wealth from his family while Gatsby obtained his wealth independently in his lifetime. Old Rich live in the lavish East Egg and New Rich live in the West Egg “the less fashionable of the two” (5). Old Rich are also looked up upon and have a higher ranking in society compared to the New Rich. Daisy’s greed to be at the top of society is what keeps her from leaving Tom. In addition, after she hits and kills Myrtle in Gatsby’s car, she does not confess to her crime and instead allows Gatsby to take the blame. She does not care who she hurts, as long as she remains untouched in her lavish life. Lastly, when she visits Gatsby’s house and sees all of the shirts he has, she begins crying, saying that the shirts make her sad because she has “never seen such…beautiful shirts before” (92). Daisy is not crying entirely because she is touched that Gatsby went through such lengths to win her back, but mainly because of the happiness she feels through all the physical proof of the wealth Gatsby …show more content…

She enjoys being the center of attention and loves having the high social status as an Old Rich. Daisy achieved this goal by marrying Tom Buchanan. By marrying Tom she was able to obtain all the riches she desired. However, this pursuit to gain the lifestyle she wanted has had negative impact on her life. Ever since her marriage to Tom, Daisy has developed a pessimistic view on life. Daisy tells Nick that when her daughter, Pammy, was born she said, “I’m glad its 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” (17). Daisy knows that in society nobody values the intelligence women have, all people look to in women is beauty. She strongly believes that the only way a woman can be happy in this world is by being a beautiful fool. Daisy does not consider herself a fool and does not want her daughter to experience the pain and obstacles she has in her

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