The Distortion Of An Ideal

Vindictive, malicious, and belligerent. Many words can be used to define the personality of one whose narrow mind never extends past the addictive seize of power, charm and money. Born into the acrid embracement of the 1920's extravagance, Daisy Buchanan remains the wife of the lavishly wealthy Tom Buchanan, past lover of the fabulously excessive Jay Gatsby, and cousin to narrator Nick Carraway. In the classic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald how Daisy's shallow character is revealed through her love of money, her selfishness and her carelessness.

Daisy's love of money leads to her living a one-dimensional, shallow life. Although Daisy seems to have found love in her reunion with Gatsby, closer examination reveals that is not at all true. Daisy's superficial attraction to Gatsby is shown clearly when Daisy is shown Gatsby's house for the first time:

He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher-shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids and coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, with monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.

"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, 92)

For Daisy, the shirts represent wealth and means, and as she sobs into them, she displays her utter concern in materialism. She doesn't cry because she has been reunited with Gatsby, she cries because of the pure satisfaction all his material wealth brings her. Gatsby uses his wealth to obtain a character that does not so much love him, but the objects in his life. When first meeting after many years, Gatsby walked in as "the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in." (Fitzgerald, 84) Gatsby even covers his body with the color of money, in an attempt to charm the unloving eyes of Daisy. Perhaps Gatsby is a fool for thinking that he can charm somebody into loving him, for even he can honestly and bluntly say, "Her voice is full of money." (Fitzgerald, 120) Tom and Daisy both came from the upper class of society. Tom had 'old money', meaning that he and his family had been wealthy for many years. Daisy claims that she was in love with Gatsby, but he did not have the money she was expected to marry. Therefore, when Tom was introduced to Daisy, she saw an opportunity to marry a person who was wealthy enough to provide the life she was accustomed to. Tom and Daisy's common denominator was money, and it was what kept them together. Daisy is so spoiled that she thinks she can do whatever she wants and get away with it because she is rich and beautiful. She puts up a front of being a loyal wife and sophisticated, but in actuality she can't give up her money and marriage with Tom for Gatsby. Daisy acts like a child and picks the easier and more lavish way out: Tom. From the very first moment we meet Daisy, we understand that she is spoiled. She knows how to get around with men, and she uses her femininity to its fullest. "She had the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a big, passionate mouth, there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget". (Fitzgerald, 9) Fitzgerald portrays Daisy as a Southern belle from Louisville, Kentucky. All her life her family and different men, who grant her almost anything, have spoiled her.

Daisy is also and selfish, and often egocentric, woman. This is shown mainly through the lack of mention of her daughter throughout the novel, and her own selfish thoughts of what she wants her daughter to be. She is indifferent even to her own infant child, never discussing her, and treating her as an afterthought when she introduced in Chapter VII. When Nick asks about her daughter, Daisy gives a short, one-line answer. Later on, when we meet and learn of Pammy, she only makes a small appearance. Daisy treats her like an object, showing her off for guests, suggesting Daisy's lack of concern for her child. Daisy's like revolves around Daisy, allowing Pammy in only when it is convenient. Most men are fascinated by her, and Daisy enjoys being the center of attention for her own gain. She falls in love with Jay Gatsby, but he has no