Essay On Realism In The Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy Buchanan, spends her life living in a marriage based off of cheating, lies, and money. In the beginning of the novel, Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin and Jay Gatsby’s neighbor, is talking to Jordan baker, a friend of Daisy’s whom he has met, and explains that unlike Daisy, the romantic, Jordan is a ‘hardened realist’. However, throughout the novel Daisy exemplifies the many characteristics that make her, in fact, a realist. Daisy explains to Nick that the only way to fit in with the upper class as a woman is to be practical and be a fool. She also does not spend her marriage relshing in the past like Jay Gatsby, her former lover. Daisy, furthermore, does not like the party of Gatsby’s that she attends because it

When Gatsby finds out Nick is cousins with Daisy he jumps at the opportunity he has been waiting his whole life for and makes Nick invite her over to his house so Gatsby can rekindle their relationship. While in Nick’s house Daisy says, “‘We haven’t met for many years,’ said Daisy, her voice as matter-of-fact as it could ever be. ‘Five years next November.’ The automatic quality of Gatsby’s answer set us all back at least another minute.” (pg.87). The contrast between the two characters of Gatsby and Daisy when they first see eachother again highlights the differences between them. Five years after they first fall in love Daisy has moved on in life; she married Tom, had a daughter, and has moved from place to place attempting to fix their relationship. However, Gatsby has gotten no further in his love life and has not stopped thinking about Daisy’s and his past. Daisy embodies the characteristics of a realist because of her ability to not focus on the past, but rather to look into the