Marriage In The Great Gatsby

“Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the one we marry.” Many people believe that is how a marriage should work but that is not the case for Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s marriage in The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald where the narrator tells a story of a man, Jay Gatsby, trying to win back an old flame, Daisy Buchanan, by becoming rich and trying to fit in her social class. Tom and Daisy are two main characters in the story that have a complicated relationship where no one understands why they are still together when they show that they do not want to be together through their actions. Understanding Tom and Daisy’s relationship involve looking at their origins

The mindset for marriage in the 1920’s was that only people in the same class should marry each other. Hence, the way Tom and Daisy are always together as one type of person. “You mean to say you don't know? said Miss Baker, honestly surprised. I thought everybody knew.” (The Great Gatsby 15) During dinner, Tom receives a phone call from his mistress. The way Miss Baker is surprised when Nick does not know that Tom had a girl confirms that having affairs and such are a well known thing through the city. The openness of the affair shows how in the 1920’s, adultery was a common thing during that time period. “I waited, and sure enough, in a moment, she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged to.” (The Great Gatsby 17) Nick describes his talk with Daisy as just a performance. After Daisy talks about her unhappiness in her marriage, she smirks at Nick in a way that shows that she knows no matter what happens, her and Tom will always be compliant to be with each other since that is what they are to do, as if their class belongs to a whole different society. After all, Tom and Daisy are like most rich couples in the 1920’s who have their reasons for still staying together even if they do not want to be