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Carlos Elias

Mrs. Storer

English 3 Honors American Literature

March 2, 2020

The Pressure of Love in a World of Materialism and Social Status

Françoise Sagan, a French playwright known for her romantic plays involving wealthy

and disillusioned bourgeois characters, once said, “Money may not buy happiness, but I'd rather

cry in a Jaguar than on a bus.” This is exactly the mindset Daisy has in her life; she chose money

and social status instead of happiness through true love. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F.

Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy is stuck in a love triangle between her spouse Tom Buchanan and her

long-lost lover Jay Gatsby. Set in the West and East Eggs of Long Island in the 1920s, Daisy

Buchanan finds out Gatsby moved to New York in order to reunite with her after so many years.

Narrated through Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway, Nick examines the chemistry among these

three lovers, and how Daisy ends up staying with Tom in the end after Gatsby is murdered.

When analyzing her actions and aspirations throughout the novel, Daisy’s love for Gatsby is

ultimately overshadowed by her equally important need for wealth and social status.

Before Daisy met Tom, Daisy had established a very affectionate relationship with Jay

Gatsby before he left for the Great War. As Nick was having a conversation with Jordan Baker, a

wealthy golfer who is friends with Daisy and Gatsby, recalls the first time she saw the pair

together. She recollects, “When I came opposite her house that morning her white roadster was

beside the curb, and she was sitting in it with a lieutenant I had never seen before. They were so

engrossed in each other that she didn’t see me until I was five feet away” (Fitzgerald 74).

Fitzgerald most likely included the white roadster in the passage because the color white
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represents newness and purity. This signifies that their new connection was pure and not based

off any other factor like money. Their affection for each other was unmatched to Daisy’s current

relationship with Tom. Later on in Jordan’s recollection of the past, she describes the moments

leading up to Daisy’s wedding. She describes how “she had a bottle of Sauterne in one hand and

a letter in the other,” and she said, “Tell ’em all Daisy’s change’ her mine. Say: ‘Daisy’s change’

her mind!’” (Fitzgerald 76). Assuming the letter in her hand was from Gatsby, it is crucial to

point out that this tantrum was produced after Tom gave Daisy a necklace worth hundreds of

thousands of dollars. This necklace represents the wealthy lifestyle she has always been

accustomed to and will soon marry into. This outburst symbolizes a wrinkle in her behavior, for

once overcoming her materialistic mindset with her true love for Gatsby. However, she was only

able to express her true feelings while intoxicated, because it was too hard for her to make the

decision to leave Tom in a conscious state. Even though it may have seemed as if Gatsby was

only part of the past, Daisy will soon find the chance to start a new life with him without losing

her possessions.

During her reunion with Gatsby in the novel, Daisy is seen to have the opportunity to

reunite with Gatsby once again. Before going to New York City, Gatsby mentioned that Daisy’s

voice “was full of money.” With this comment, Nick thought “that was the inexhaustible charm

that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbal’s song of it… High in a white palace the king’s

daughter, the golden girl…” (Fitzgerald 120). The uses of names to describe Daisy reflects the

state of mind she is in. She believes that she is the “golden girl,” and she wants to be treated like

one. This thought in Nick’s narration displays the lifestyle Daisy has lived all her life. Also, the

tone in which Gatsby made his comment was full of excitement, determined to achieve unity

with Daisy once again with his new money. As an illustration for his new wealth, Gatsby took
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Daisy on a tour around his house, and Daisy became amazed by the marvelous possessions

Gatsby now had. As they walked around the mansion, Gatsby “hadn’t once ceased looking at

Daisy,” and “he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew

from her well-loved eyes” (Fitzgerald 91). Daisy’s “well-loved eyes” explain all that is

happening in this event. This scene of the novel is extremely vital to Daisy’s love story. Daisy

realizes Gatsby can finally maintain her materialistic lifestyle, and Daisy sees the opportunity to

rekindle an antique love at the same time. Nonetheless, Gatsby’s rise to wealth is served useless

to Daisy when he is killed.

At the end of the novel where Jay Gatsby is murdered, the decision is made clear for

Daisy to stay with Tom in order to maintain her economic and social status, even though Tom is

not the most loving of characters. When Nick finds Gatsby’s dead body at his mansion, he

“called [Daisy] instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that

afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (Fitzgerald 164). It is important to notice how Tom and

Daisy were anticipating Gatsby’s death and were ready to leave. This implies that Tom and

Daisy must have had a conversation concerning Gatsby, and Daisy already knew his fate. Since

Gatsby was doomed, Daisy’s only option was to stay with Tom for his possessions. Even though

Tom can also be seen as a villain for exposing Gatsby to the murderer, Daisy would not have

cared because he has enough money to escape the his consequences, and that is what they

exactly did. Through this thinking, Nick was able to make a final conclusion: “They were

careless people, Tom and Daisy—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” (Fitzgerald 179). Although it may have seemed

as if Daisy was careless for retreating back to her money she has through Tom, it is clear that she
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wanted to change this by trying to be with Gatsby. However, Gatsby’s death narrowed down her

decision in who she wanted to be with, therefore her choice to stay with Tom seemed careless.

Overall, Daisy’s life of materialism has gone back to normal with the death of Gatsby.

Daisy was simply a girl who wanted to find love while keeping her high maintenance

lifestyle, but she got stuck in a bizarre love triangle instead. Despite Daisy’s distaste in Tom’s

actions and personality, it is Tom’s wealth that keeps her married to him. This spousal oath was

challenged, however, when Gatsby came back into her life. Since he too, was rich, Daisy thought

it was acceptable to leave Tom without any social or economic repercussions. Through Daisy’s

life and love challenges, one can see the connection between love and lifestyle. Her way of living

could not have been modified in the name of love.

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Work Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 1925.