Great Gatsby

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Similar to Gatsby, Daisy is also a materialist because she epitomizes the new age and the hunger for temporal commodities. Daisy and Tom are the quintessential aristocrats of the twenties; they own countless earthly assets and are reckless people who will only fend for themselves without a care for anyone they might sabotage in the process. As inhabitants of East Egg, Daisy and Tom represent “old money”. Old money refers to those who have established their wealth and are living carelessly. They feel the need to strut around with their ostentatious dispositions to let everybody know that they are here to stay and control society. Nick says that the Buchanans “spent a year in France for no particular reason,” which is evidence of their hollowness (6). Daisy is infatuated with Gatsby mostly for his wealth and material goods. She, unlike any real person, cries at the sight of Gatsby’s wonderful collection of woven fabric. Daisy says, “They’re such beautiful shirts, it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before” (92). Also, the Buchanans view themselves as superior to others by their living in East Egg. Tom haughtily replies to Nick’s sincere comment on his acquaintances by saying, “Oh, I’ll stay in the East, don’t you worry. I’d be a God damned fool to live anywhere else” (10). They make it seem as though East Egg is the city on a hill to which every other individual looks up. This serves as evidence of the corruption of the American Dream. Before the new world forced itself into the old world, the Dream was all about moving westward in hopes of newfound opportunities and discovery of the unprecedented. However, in the old moneys’ case, the Dream is the opposite. Migration towards the east represents the search for wealth and sophistication with the drawback of leaving behind moral values. However, Daisy seems to have a few cracks in her façade, because at times she is a romantic, like Gatsby.

Daisy has some romantic elements to her because when she first reconnected with Gatsby at Nick’s place, she caves in and cannot control her emotions about Gatsby. She, too, wanted what they had together, five years ago.

Fitzgerald cleverly juxtaposes romanticism and materialism for the sole purpose of criticizing the new world and how it gives rise to the destruction of the original meaning of the American Dream. He mocks the fall of the early 20th century. Although Gatsby and Daisy both share elements of the modern and the romantic, Gatsby is primarily the dreamer and Daisy is the capitalist. Fitzgerald emphasizes the modern aspects to highlight the underlying message of The Great Gatsby, which is that advancements and change only destroy what had already existed. The modern cannot fit with the romantic; it is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. As exhibited above, the dreams of the damned were immoral and corrupted.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1925. Print.

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