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The Great Gatsby Daisy Character Analysis Essay

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F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the character of Daisy Buchanan as a woman born into a wealthy ‘old-money’ family, where she’s a victim of traditional values that must be upheld. Daisy comes across as helpless and childlike possibly due to her sheltered upbringing. On the other hand, she is materialistic, insincere, and deceptive. Daisy commits a violent crime without acknowledgment or remorse. She comes across as somebody who is devoid of real emotion; she allows Gatsby to pay the ultimate price for her wrong doings and fails to show an ounce of gratitude in his wake. Fitzgerald paints Daisy both as a victim and a villain and her character can be paralleled with his actual wife, Zelda Sayre, who was also from a wealthy background, highly materialistic and suffered from schizophrenia. In the opening chapter of ‘The Great Gatsby’ we are introduced to The Buchanans and get a real sense of what their life and marriage is like. They are extremely wealthy, which allows Daisy to live the life she is accustomed to – as a lady of leisure. Her life is so leisurely that she remarks to her guests, “I always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it.” (Chapter One). On suggestion of celebration, Daisy then turns to Nick Carraway, ‘helplessly’ and says “What’ll we plan?...What do people plan?” (Chapter one). This …show more content…

By allowing Gatsby to take the blame Daisy implicates him as responsible for Myrtle’s death, whereby Mr Wilson seeks revenge in the wrong person. She shows no appreciation, no guilt, no remorse or anything of the sort for her one time lover who lost his life for her. He paid the ultimate price for this woman and she shows him absolutely nothing in return. Only a cold-hearted emotionless villain could be so cruel. She doesn’t even have the heart to make a phone call to his estate or send memorial flowers, let alone turn up at his

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