Similarities Between Daisy And Jay Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts a setting of American prosperity, examining the tendency for man to pursue that which he desires, often losing reason along the way. In an era where individuals were building enough wealth to rival the long-established, powerful families, new divisions were made among the upper class: the “old money” and the “new money.” In this book specifically, the East Egg and West Egg of Long Island physically separated the families, with those of new money living in the West Egg. This story follows Jay Gatsby, an upstart socialite who built himself a fortune, though could never truly attain that which he desired the most—Daisy Buchanan, the woman he loved. The narrator of this book, Nick Carraway, Daisy’s

For instance, although Daisy had long since become “the tired and the busy” when Gatsby started pursuing her, the love between the two was reignited, causing Gatsby to tell Tom that “Your wife doesn’t love you… She’s never loved you. She loves me” (100). Nick even noted that when Gatsby and Daisy met for the first time in years, “They had forgotten” him (74). Even though both individuals had established their places in society, their sense of reason faltered under the presence of love. Both also have a tendency to turn a blind eye to things that would harm their image or connections. For instance, Daisy was aware that her friend Jordan Baker had won golf fame through dishonest means, though didn’t pay this any mind because, to Daisy, the process wasn’t as important as the result (46). This is further exemplified by Daisy’s surrendering to society’s expectations of her because she was a creature who “retreated back into their money” when faced with obstacles, or even the consequences of her actions (137). As a human, Daisy did what benefited her, choosing to ignore anything that didn’t serve her best interest. Similarly, Gatsby would ignore the suspicious aspects of his affiliates, such as Meyer Wolfsheim, who had “fixed the World’s Series back in 1919” (57). Additionally, Gatsby ignored Daisy’s new position as “the busy and the tired,” “overwhelmingly aware of the youth…that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver” (115). Such an observation alludes to the fact that Gatsby was under the impression that money was a preservative for items as well as people, resulting in him continuously pursuing Daisy with an idealized image in his mind of her past