Summary:
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald there is an interesting decision made by a Daisy Buchanan that raises a few concerns. The decision she makes is choosing Tom Buchanan over Jay Gatsby.
Is Gatsby Better"
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald there is an interesting decision made by a Daisy Buchanan that raises a few concerns. The decision she makes is choosing Tom Buchanan over Jay Gatsby. The reasons behind why Daisy would make a decision like that is because Gatsby's wealth comes through crime, and the only reason why he has such a high stature in the community is because he throws huge parties serving illegal beverages that contributed to his wealth. Where as Tom obtained his wealth legally even though most of it was inherited. Gatsby also could be considered very possessive, it's almost like he stalks Daisy in every move she makes. The trouble with choosing Gatsby is that his job isn't steady; he doesn't provide the wealth and security Tom does. If Daisy were to choose Gatsby and live together with him she would put herself in a very vulnerable position, if Gatsby would have ever got caught bootlegging he could have been sent away to prison for years and Daisy would be without a partner. If she was with Tom she would never have to worry about such a thing because Tom provides a sense of security for Daisy. Despite all the aforementioned reasons why Daisy chose Tom I believe as though she should have chosen Jay Gatsby.
Jay Gatsby is man with an interesting past, he hasn't always been a criminal (if you chose to call him that), in fact he rose from an impoverished childhood in North Dakota to become fabulously wealthy, and even though his wealth was illegal it still shows Gatsby is a self made man, being a self made man shows that an individual is very hard working, intelligent, successful, and independent. Gatsby served in World War I and proved himself to be a brave individual entering the battlefield, receiving medals in World War I by multiple European countries. Upon his departure to war he fell in love with Daisy, his first one true love and his last. In order to feel the feelings Gatsby has shows the romantic, loyal, and devoted lover Gatsby is. Gatsby and Daisy were an item before he had to depart to war, he had fallen completely in love with Daisy. Gatsby can be described as anything but a coward, he served for his country, he is a self made man, popular throughout the community and is romantic among his true love.
That is more than what you can say about Tom. Tom never served in the war, he's not extremely popular, he gained his wealth from being brought up with an extremely wealthy family and his love for daisy isn't nearly as strong as the love Gatsby feels for her. Tom's past doesn't nearly compare to Gatsby's, Tom isn't self made, and he is considered very arrogant and is hypocritical. Tom is not the best liked man, he can be considered stuck up an arrogant especially to nick, "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 187-188). That is the reason why Tom had few friends and it shows that the Daisy's and Tom's love is held together by money and greed.
Tom's social attitudes are considered racists and sexist, where as Gatsby's social attitude is well known through out the community. During the first encounter between Tom and Nick in chapter one Tom tries to promote the book "The Rise of the Coloured Empires" in which he quotes "This fellow has worked out the whole thing (the author). It's up to us who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things" (Fitzgerald 17). Gatsby is an extremely social person, he opens his house up to hundred of strangers from all around to party and enjoy themselves and even invites Tom (who he despises) to one of his parties. The narrator of the story views Gatsby as much higher individual then Tom "He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced-or seemed to face- he whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best you hoped to convey" (Fitzgerald 52-53). That quote demonstrates the first encounter of Nick and Gatsby and shows what type of appearance Gatsby brings to people. Gatsby basically puts himself at risk everyday for the good of other people. For example his parties demonstrate how supportive Gatsby is to others.
When examining the two characters the main reason of why Daisy should have chose Gatsby is because he is loyal. Gatsby is someone who would be loyal to Daisy until the day he dies, whereas Tom who is having an open affair with Myrtle is not loyal at all. First Daisy has to ask herself why would I want to be with someone who is not loyal and cheats? Second Daisy has to ask her self wouldn't I rather be with someone who is not an adulterer and will treat her correctly? That man is Gatsby, he proves himself all throughout the novel how loyal of a person he would be to Daisy. For example when Daisy hit Myrtle, Gatsby being loyal and madly in love with Daisy takes the blame. You can almost tell that Gatsby wouldn't do anything to hurt Daisy just by the way he acts around her and the way he has been loyal to her for many years, even though he was in war. So why would Daisy continue to stay with a un loyal person"
As Scott Donaldson argues is that maybe Gatsby "Had seen Daisy for what she was, he could not have loved her with such single-minded devotion. He comes to recapture Daisy, and for a time it looks as though he will succeed. But he must inevitably fail, because of his inability to separate the ideal from the real" (Donaldson) This quote I seem to agree with, Daisy completely misled Gatsby. Daisy was dancing with him, spending a lot of time with him, and even giving some false thoughts about get back together. Daisy had played Gatsby for a fool, she had no care in the world that he died she didn't even go to the funeral. Gatsby is by far the better person for Daisy, but is Daisy the better person for Gatsby"
Again as Donaldson said "Gatsby must have realized that Daisy was not the golden girl after all, that she too had sprung from the material world and was made of all-too-human stuff" (Donaldson). Gatsby realized Daisy is much too different then she was when he met her years ago and that the two of them will probably never work. Although it is well noted that Gatsby is the clear choice for Daisy, but Daisy just wasn't the girl Gatsby envisioned. Gatsby would have gave any thing for Daisy, in fact some could say he gave his life for her. Daisy being the girl Gatsby viewed wrongly wanted nothing to do with him, which eventually led to The Great Gatsby's self destruction.
Works Cited
Donaldson, Scott. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 9 .A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Saint Bonaventure Univesity. NY: Gale,1981. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/litRc". 22/22/05.
Fitzgerald, Scott F. THE GREAT GATSBY. New York, NY: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995.
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