”Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, a selfish and careless woman, is the person with whom Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, is infatuated. When Gatsby first met her, she was a rich girl and he was just any other guy. To him, she was a goddess, and amazing woman he felt was above his standing. He was willing to do anything for her. Daisy is not capable of measuring up to Gatsby’s expectations. Contrary to Gatsby’s idealized view, Daisy is a self-centered girl. When Gatsby was called off to war, she was not worried about him but rather about herself. She just “wanted her life shaped now, immediately – and the decision must be made by some force – of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality – that was close at hand” (151). She needed a constant right next to her, and he came in the form of a brute, Tom Buchanan. She had married him not out of love but for financial security. He, in addition, had to be someone who matched her social standing. Years later, Gatsby returned and everything had already changed. Yet he didn’t notice that Daisy is not the right woman for him. He helped her once again, and loses his life because of it. Daisy had accidentally run over a deranged Myrtle Wilson on her way home. Gatsby couldn’t stand the thought of Daisy going to jail and took the blame for it.

However, Daisy doesn’t care to attend Gatsby’s funeral, or even “send a message or flower” (174). “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy, – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their vast carelessness” (179). If Daisy loved Gatsby, it was a superficial love, for she never did anything for him. In spite of how Daisy was in the novel, Gatsby was the one that truly cared. For example, he purchased a mansion so “Daisy would be just across the bay” (78). He threw big parties every night because of the slightest hope that she might wander in. Eventually, he decides to try to set up a meeting with her with Nick Carraway, our main character’s help. Through all this time, Gatsby still hadn’t forgotten about her. When Gatsby and Daisy are talking for the first time in years, Gatsby automatically knows how long it had been: “Five years next November.”(87) The time they had been apart was always at the front of Gatsby’s mind. Gatsby was the one who took the blame for Myrtle’s murder and died because of it. He’s the one who cared to wait until four o’clock just to make sure Tom wouldn’t cause any trouble for Daisy.