ipl-logo

The Great Gatsby Daisy's Disappointment

397 Words2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald, in “The Great Gatsby”, is chronicling the Jazz era; its excesses, its disappointments, and the fragility of the American Dream. Daisy stands as a symbol of this as she enjoys the fruits of chasing and finding what, at the time, was considered the American dream, living in luxury, but finding

no real enjoyment or happiness. She is a walking irony. By using such symbolism, Fitzgerald provides the reader with a living, breathing example of his theme regarding the weakness, and ultimate disappointment, inherent in the American dream.

Near the beginning of “The Great Gatsby”, Nick is in the home of Daisy, his cousin, and her husband Tom. An incident has just occurred where, apparently, Tom’s mistress has just called the home and, it also seems, this arrangement is widely known. We see in Daisy’s conversation a cynicism and a disconnected tone as if she is constantly bored, as if life has almost broken her and the only thing that keeps her going is that she has a luxurious life that she has settled into with her husband Tom. She has accepted his affairs and the pain they inflict to keep living the life she knows. Her conversations flit along on the surface of life because there is no depth there. …show more content…

And I know. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.’ Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn.” She and Tom, her uncaring husband, have the same manner, sharing the same lifestyle. All that she has leaves her with little more than a scornful laugh…and she scorns herself: “’Sophisticated - God, I’m

Show More
Related

  • Allusions In The Great Gatsby

    1352 Words  | 6 Pages

    The American Dream suggests that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. One of the major ways that Fitzgerald portrays this is by alluding to outside events or works of literature specifically from that time period. Another major relationship that develops in The Great Gatsby is between Tom and Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to things such as the World’s Fair and “The Love Nest” to display the eventual dismantling of Tom and Daisy’s relationship. Both of these separate plots consolidate under the idea of Gatsby trying to become the epitome of the American Dream, as seen through his strive for a “perfect life.”

    Read More

  • How Does Daisy Present The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    241 Words  | 1 Pages

    In his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the reality of the American Dream. Throughout the novel, he uses Daisy to represent the American Dream. In chapter eight, after Daisy crashes the car, “she vanish[es] into her rich house… leaving Gatsby nothing” (149). Daisy is depicted as soulless; she is willing to let Gatsby take the fall for her faults. In order to remain the American Dream, Daisy must appear blameless to society; therefore, the common man must always take responsibility for her mistakes.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Elite In The Great Gatsby And The Age Of Innocence

    1128 Words  | 5 Pages

    Daisy Buchanan, the “king’s daughter, the golden girl,” (120) represents the famed American Dream. Daisy is the drive behind Gatsby’s efforts to achieve the American Dream. Daisy stands “above the hot struggles of the poor” and “[gleams] like silver;” (150) her beauty invites Gatsby to join her. Gatsby, raised in a poor family, had no right to take a lady of such high standing, but he sought her anyway and fell deeply in love with her. He worked to win her affection for years, while she forgot about him and went on to marry someone else.

    Read More

  • Ignorance In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    842 Words  | 4 Pages

    Too Busy Dancing to Fall Ignorance is bliss in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. Before the tragic conclusion of the novel, Gatsby does not realize that he is not chasing Daisy Buchanan for who she is as a person, but he is chasing the idea of Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby chased the Daisy Buchanan he had manufactured in his romantically delusional mind which is a parallel to how people were full of disillusionment and hedonism in the 1920s. Not only does Fitzgerald craft his characters to represent the brand of the 1920s, but he also implements that society’s ambitions were dependent on the idea of the “American Dream”.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Unhappiness In The Great Gatsby

    1873 Words  | 8 Pages

    The characters in the novel pretend that they have their lives all figured out, but through their successes their downfalls and emptiness can be seen, to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Jay Gatsby is the newest and upcoming star in New York during the 1920’s. Through his business and inheritance he is one of the richest men of his time. One may think that his abundance of wealth would lead him to be eternally happy, but he is the opposite. Gatsby longs for his love of Daisy, which is his personal American Dream.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Duality In The Great Gatsby

    884 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gatsby has the American Dream of being successful and wanting to marry the girl of his dreams. However, Fitzgerald argues that The American Dream is a paradox because dreams aren’t supposed to be achieved, and are better off to remain in one’s imagination. For example, Gatsby wants to marry the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. Sadly Gatsby sets such a high standard for her that she will never be able to live up to. Gatsby envisions Daisy as the golden girl, and once he put his plan into action, he realizes

    Read More

  • Daisy In The Great Gatsby Essay

    428 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Daisy is portrayed as a modern woman; she is sophisticated, careless and beautifully shallow. Daisy knows who she is, and what it takes for her to be able to keep the lifestyle she grew up in, and this adds to her carelessness and her feigned interest in life. In all, Daisy is a woman who will not sacrifice material desires or comfort for love or for others, and her character is politely cruel in this way. Daisy’s main strength, which buoyed her throughout her youth and when she was in Louisville, is her ability to know what was expected of her and feign cluelessness.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Letter To Daisy

    372 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dear Daisy, It seems as if I haven't seen you in a lifetime, I think about you everyday and wish you were here with me. I've experienced so much. I would love to ask you "How have you been?" or "What's new in life?" or even "Do you ever miss me?" but I know I would only be setting my self up for a deeper suffering than I am in now, not being able to kiss, feel, or dance with you . One morning I woke up doing my normal routine; shower, slip on some clothes, and grab the paper with a small cup of coffee.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Disillusionment Analysis

    637 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Disillusionment of the American Dream is evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The main characters that exhibit this through their lives are; Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson and Mr. Jay Gatsby. All of these characters hold on to their dream, but all of these characters are somehow let down. The first character, Daisy Buchanan, has the dream of love. She grew up in a very wealthy home.

    Read More

  • Connotation Of Women In The Great Gatsby

    1169 Words  | 5 Pages

    In today’s duplicitous society, men often pursue the “perfect woman”. This woman is construed to be; fit, provocative and ravishing. However, in greatly distinguished American novel, The Great Gatsby, the men have strayed from stalking women for their looks. Instead, Gatsby chases Daisy to achieve her as a prize of his bounty and any affection Gatsby demonstrates toward her, is simply to appease to her sense of status and wealth. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald, exhibits Gatsby’s these feelings for Daisy through the clever usage of connotation, symbolism and metaphors.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Daisy's Letter And Pearls

    489 Words  | 2 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby portrays the lives of wealthy Americans living in the success and grandeur of the Roaring Twenties. Within the novel, the epoch’s legacy of material want and the need for human connection clash in the form of Daisy Buchanan. Her inner conflict between the two desires are symbolized in Jay’s letter and Tom’s pearls. Jay’s letter to Daisy Buchanan proves the romance of their relationship, while Tom’s pearls ultimately represents Daisy’s decision to abandon that love for wealth.

    Read More

  • Role Of Clothing In The Great Gatsby

    1738 Words  | 7 Pages

    Fitzgerald uses clothing and fashion as a comparison to the “American Dream” because it is forever changing and its value is different to every person. Daisy herself is a metaphor of the “American Dream”, she being dressed in white symbolizes the “purity” of the “Golden Dream”. Gatsby spends his whole life trying to reach her, like the green light, but in his eyes he is never successful. Even though to many people Gatsby has achieved the American Dream he himself is not content because of his obsession with destroying and preserving his past. He would never be happy with his wealth or having Daisy, unless she said that she only ever loved him, and he came from old money.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

    702 Words  | 3 Pages

    F.Scott Fitzgerald is an American novelist and a short story writer. He is the author of the famous novel “ The Great Gatsby”, which is written in the 1920’s. The period of the 1920’s is well known as the roaring twenties due to lack of morales and the lowering of standards and expectations, people intended just to have a good time not caring about the outcomes of their and how they will effect their lives. Fitzgerald wants to prove in his novel the death of “The American Dream” it’s just a myth. The author of this novel shows the death of the american dream through the events surrounding Gatsby, and Daisy.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Great Gatsby

    803 Words  | 4 Pages

    Daisy seemed really nice and pretty and was the goal of Gatsby to get, but turns out she's not as great and Gatsby imagined her being, represents the false sense of glory people see in the American Dream. This proved in chapter 5, page 93, "Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.

    Read More

  • Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis

    1756 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Corruption of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates society in the 1920’s and the desire for the people with in it to achieve the American Dream, which embodies the hope that one can achieve power, love and a higher economic/social status through one’s commitment and effort. The novel develops the story of a man named Jay Gatsby and his dream of marrying what he describes as his “golden girl”, also known as, Daisy Buchanan, his former lover. Fitzgerald explores the corruption of the American dream through the Characters; Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy.

    Read More

More about The Great Gatsby Daisy's Disappointment

Open Document