The Great Gatsby Essay, Research Paper

Title: The Character of Daisy Buchanon in Relation to the novel “The Great Gatsby”

In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald, there are many charismatic characters which create the story. One character in particular, Daisy Buchanan, is essential in relation to the overall plot of the story. With her multi-dimensional personality, and the way she becomes centered on most of the conflicts within the story creates an interesting plot which pulls the reader into the story.

Early in the novel, Daisy Buchanan is portrayed as a sweet and innocent girl, her angelic clothing and the way Nick describes her is what initially endears her to Nick and the reader. We are told she was raised as “The most popular girl in Louisville”. The reader is able to look into the character of Daisy as she sees herself. Introducing the reader to her daughter and how she keeps her around as a show toy, to parade around in front of company, all the while being led by her mother to put on an act for everybody until they depart. Then putting the child away with the nursemaid until she wants to show her off again. This display tipping off the reader to the way she views herself as Toms’ property to show off when he wants to make himself look good. After showing her guests out we see Daisy’s’ character revert back to the bored housewife feeling of no importance wondering what it is she is doing with her life. She appears bored, innocent and harmless, but his is only a fa ade. In reality Daisy is nothing more than a materialistic young girl who has little mind of her own. With Gatsby’s’ re-introduction into her life she rediscovers the feelings she once had for this mysterious man. Daisy, having been brought up in a rich family and given the best of everything all her life, at first couldn’t accept Gatsby. After Gatsby’s’ initial absence and the presence of a socially more acceptable suitor in Tom Buchanan, she marries Tom without even a thought of her love for Gatsby. Who now with his wealth and apparent prestige she has become quickly enamored with once again. All these dimensions of Daisy’s character tend to give a deeper meaning to the novel.

The afore mentioned character dimensions also help create some of the main conflicts within the novel. Daisy’s involvement with Tom, when she was in love with Gatsby, Tom’s distant feelings towards daisy and his harboring of a mistress and Daisy’s renewed love affair with Gatsby. Gatsby can only see the sweetness and innocence in Daisy, allowing himself to fall in love with her again, but he fails to see her impatience and ignorance of true love and her being devoid of truth and compassion. Which had allowed her to marry Tom in the first place without a hint of remorse for Gatsby. The main conflicts here being will she really fall in love with Gatsby who has never let his love for daisy diminish over their five years apart. Which leads to more conflict, Gatsby’s dreams. His dream of being rich and powerful, but upon meeting Daisy this dream changes.

These conflicts created by Daisy’s character allow the story to develop. Most significantly is the conflict created by her in the corruption of Gatsby’s dream. A dream which first took root as the pursuit of knowledge which then led to the pursuit of wealth. Gatsby believed this was what would make him happy. Upon meeting Daisy, she altered that dream to the point where he couldn’t be happy with his wealth without having Daisy to share it with him. Thus leaving Daisy the only thing in his mind which stood between himself and real happiness. This personifies the idea being conveyed by Fiztgerald that the American dream had been corrupted by money and lust. While at the same time using the character of Daisy Buchanan to illustrate the old saying that looks can be very much deceiving. Her character being painted as an innocent girl next-door type, while underneath she is nothing but cold and incapable of real love. This characteristic is representative of most of the characters within this novel, but attains its full height in Daisy’s character.

Therefore it can honestly be said that the character of Daisy Buchanan is quite essential to the story through her personality and the conflicts she creates within the story. Being a three dimensional character she is an integral part of the novel and without her character the novel would lack many elements that made it such a captivating story.