Great Gatsby Daisy's Betrayal

From the overview alone, it is easy to understand all the loathsome reactions towards Daisy from most of the readers for her betrayal. While it is true that Daisy is far from an angel in white, setting aside all the terrible things Daisy has done, it is intriguing that Fitzgerald brought in some other details that definitely make us wonder if there is more depth to her character. One excellent example is her little conversation with Nick about her daughter. She said: “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (1.118) This shows us that Daisy is a sensitive woman. Being a rich lady, Daisy had done and seen many things, and that made her grow “pretty cynical

She kept choosing Tom over Gatsby, even though Gatsby was undoubtedly her greatest love. In the last chapters, she went on boat with Tom on their conspiracy to blame Gatsby for the car accident and worst of all she did not show up at Gatsby’s funeral. However, all of the bad judgment we made about Daisy is actually the influence of Fitzerald’s narration from the point of view of Nick Garraway, as Nick is probably sentimental due to his admiration for his friend. Looking at things in a more neutral perspective, we find that all of Daisy’s decisions most likely came out of fears and insecurity. Daisy had always lived in wealth, and if she chose Gatsby she probably had to give up the casual life that she had grown addicted to. Wealth and status were like drugs to Daisy, it gave her hallucinations about happiness, made her feel safe in some way but at the same time gradually kill her, in this case her personality and humanity. We can also see her constantly being controlled by fear and restraint in other situations such as when she cried seeing all the clothes and wealth in Gatsby

"It makes me sad because I 've never seen such – such beautiful shirts before." (5.118-119) In this case, Daisy realized that with Gatsby being wealthy, she could actually have it all. But she also realized she did chose Tom, and now if she wants to pursuit she would have to get a divorce, a thing which consider the context of time back then was unusual and immoral. Daisy, as a woman, was always under the judgmental eyes of society, and she was never brave enough to break out of it, so she cry when she realized she actually had to make a rough choice between safety and actual happiness. Her choices in the following chapters have proven how insecure Daisy