Daisy Buchanan

THE GOLDEN GiRL – Daisy Buchanan is referred to in the novel as the ‘Golden Girl’ This term refers to Daisy being the most sought after girl around. She is the most glamorous and considered a prize for a man. A modern day example of this could be Jennifer Lopez or Jessica Alba.

1. Daisy can be considered clever in the novel when she is giving advice to her newborn. Daisy says her daughter will be a ‘beautiful little fool. That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world…’ Daisy understands the restrictions her gender faces in society and by saying she hopes her daughter will be a fool she hopes that her daughter will not find herself losing hope in the world.
2. All men Gatsby in particular in these times viewed women as a possession that can be collected and kept. Gatsby in Daisy’s case assumed that Daisy could be won over with wealth or possessions. and this was how he based his pursuit of Daisy around. Neither Gatsby or Tom valued Daisy’s opinion and were blinded by trying to ‘win’ her over. “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.”
3. Life for women in the 1920’s was very hard. Although the 1920’s are considered the turning point women still had a rough time finding their way in society. in 1920 women were given the right to vote but the majority of men still saw women as being inferior and therefore treated the same as in the past. The reason Daisy tells her daughter to be a fool is she is encouraging ignorance to society and to be an optimist.
4. in this segment Daisy is referred to as figuratively ‘smashing up’ the lives of Myrtle and George Wilson. This happens when she jills Myrtle and therefore sending George down a path that ends up in suicide. Daisy does all this and it does not trouble her for more than a few hours. This proves the fact that they will always retreat back into their wealth no matter how big of a trouble they have caused.
5. Nick is the one in this novel that comes to see Daisy as the amoral person she is. He describes this in the book when he says “they smashed up things and creatures, and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” Daisy here is seen that she does not understand how right or wrong her actions are. This could be a result of an extremely privileged upbringing and Daisy not having learnt the real consequences your actions have on other people.