Who Is The Motivator In The Great Gatsby

Love is the main motivator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, but what each character loves is the true question. The Great Gatsby is a novel surrounding a charming, mysterious man named Jay Gatsby who wants to win the affection of Daisy Buchannan, a beautiful but fickle woman. Daisy, though, is married to a strong, aggressive man named Tom, who is rich and provides her with everything she has ever needed. At first glance, one would believe Tom and Daisy to be extremely in love but Tom’s many affairs have pushed them away from their picture-perfect marriage. All of the characters in The Great Gatsby fight for what they love. Gatsby fights for the woman who stole his heart all those years ago. Daisy fights for stability and the

From the moment she was born, Daisy always had the money to live a posh life. She falls in love with Jay Gatsby but she knows she can’t marry him because of his lack of money. She was expected to marry a wealthy man and so she did. Tom Buchanan may not have been the man to capture her heart but he did have the funds to pay for her lavish lifestyle. Michael Witkoski wrote: “Daisy Buchanan, his great love, is a much more realistic, hard-headed character. She understands money and what it means in American society because it is her nature; she was born into it“ (Witkoski 1). Daisy values money above all else. She didn’t love Tom but she loved what he could provide for her. Five years after they first meet, Daisy and Gatsby reunite. While showing off his mansion, Gatsby leads her to his room and starts throwing around his expensive silk shirts that were in an array of colors. Daisy picks up one of the shirts and says, “‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before’” (Fitzgerald 54). Here Daisy realizes that Gatsby can now provide her with everything she's ever wanted. She may have loved him before but now she could imagine a life with him where she would be comfortable. But Gatsby’s money can never compare to Tom’s wealth and status. She may have loved Gatsby but she loved a life of luxury more. Gatsby could provide her with a lavish life, but not as luxurious as a life with Tom. This shows how money motivates who Daisy loves and who she chooses to spend her life