Daisy Buchanan

Daisy Buchanan is one of the characters that are hard to read at first. She seems harmless in the beginning. She seems as though she is just a free-thinker who is in a way admirable. She would be admirable because of her take on life. She possesses the mind-set of “living in the moment.” However, her careless lifestyle leads her to manipulate people naturally and without a second thought. This leads the reader to realize that Daisy is also one of the despicable characters. Daisy has so much power and control of Gatsby and his fate. Because of her, Gatsby went from rags to riches in order to impress Daisy and get himself to a place where he would be eligible to be with her. Daisy is also a little self-centered. “Do they miss me? She cried ecstatically.” This displays that Daisy thinks so highly of herself that she believes a whole city is in mourning over her moving to New York. She contradicts herself throughout the story. When Nick invites Daisy over to tea, Daisy insisted that Nick had to be in love with her, because he asked her to come alone. She is completely irrational, and she thinks everything is about her. She feels badly towards Tom, because she knows that he is having an affair with another woman; however, she is hypocritical about Tom being with another woman, because she is still in love with Mr. Jay Gatsby. Granted, Tom’s situation is more sinful than Daisy’s, but in perspective, they are very similar. Towards the end of the story, Gatsby tells Daisy that she needs to tell Tom that she never loved him. Daisy claimed that she cannot do this because it is simply not true, and she tells them that she has loved both of them. Daisy is a professional at leading people on throughout the novel. It is hard to look past the fact that even though she is married, she continues to pursue Jay Gatsby. When talking about her daughter, she states, “And I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Daisy does not genuinely care for her daughter. She is more in love with the idea of having a daughter than the daughter herself. No genuine and dedicated mother would wish upon her daughter to be a “beautiful little fool.” Daisy seems to be admirable in the beginning, but, with further analysis, the reader can clearly infer that Daisy is more destructive than constructive.