How Is Daisy Selfish In The Great Gatsby

Isabella Jones
Kristen Ham
Junior English Second
15 May 2023
Title
In the novel The Great Gatsby, written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the story of Gatsby himself unfolds into that of a tragedy. Appearing in chapter three, after Nick is exclusively invited to one of Gatsby’s grand parties, he is described as “An elegant young roughneck, a year or two over thirty.” (53). First impressions of this new character could be described as mysterious, seeing as not one person could pin a factual detail about Jay Gatsby. Throughout the story, more and more pieces fall into place revealing Gatsby’s dynamic of appearing confident to hide his obsessiveness.
To begin with, Gatsby, a character who we have yet to learn anything about, retains his mysterious

During Daisy’s visit with Gatsby and Nick, it becomes clear that all Gatsby has ever done in the past five years was solely for Daisy; from collecting newspaper clippings of her throughout the years to buying a house directly across from hers, admiration evolves into obsession. Moving on from Daisy was not an option even considered by Gatsby, he had expectations and dreams set in stone that caused Daisy to “tumble[d] short of his dreams” (101). Afterward, in the hotel scene, we see Gatsby lose his composure as Tom chips away at his lies, revealing that what he claimed to be “God's truth” was really only half true (69). Frantic and desperate, Gatsby tries his best to convince Daisy she never loved Tom and to tell him she wanted a divorce; however, Daisy started realizing just how disheveled Gatsby really was, and “with every word she was drawing further and further into herself” (142). When the pleading became too much to bear, Daisy sought refuge in Tom; Gatsby now realizes everything is slipping from his grasp, and reality was overcoming the illusion he had built in his mind. Ultimately, he couldn’t let go of the past, resulting in the destruction of his