Daisy Buchanan: Victim or Villain?
Analyse Fitzgerald’s presentation of Daisy’s character throughout the Great Gatsby. Do you think she comes across as a victim or villain?
In Fitzgerald’s novel there is typically more focus on Nick Carraway, the narrator and James Gatsby, who the novel is named after, rather than the secondary characters. However, Daisy is in some way important, because she is what steers the novels course of action due to Gatsby’s love for her. Daisy is what influences his lifestyle and eventually his death.
Some people say that Daisy is a victim of both Tom Buchanan and James Gatsby, but this interpretation of her fails to take into account everything we learn of her personality and the way she attempts to manipulate those around her to assure her own security and comfort in life. Daisy is responsible for her own actions. She allows herself to be treated the way she is by the other characters just to ensure her own safety and make it look like she is the good person. It’s just her way of seeking money and security: the two most important things to Daisy. When we are first introduced to the character of Daisy we realize that she thinks a lot of herself. ‘I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything…Sophisticated – God, I’m sophisticated!’ She is self-centred, which is not one of the characteristics of a victim. There is more reference in the novel that shows Daisy being more concerned with money and material goods than any deep emotions like love. Gatsby saying that Daisy’s voice is ‘full of money’ is just an example of the evidence that suggests that Daisy is a self-centred character that cares about no one but herself. Daisy comes from a well off family, and that’s what she wants to maintain which is why she married a guy that can ensure the continuation of her background of comfortable living. The reader comes to understand Daisy’s motifs but Gatsby knew it all along. Once he had fallen in love with her ‘he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of
In Fitzgerald’s novel there is typically more focus on Nick Carraway, the narrator and James Gatsby, who the novel is named after, rather than the secondary characters. However, Daisy is in some way important, because she is what steers the novels course of action due to Gatsby’s love for her. Daisy is what influences his lifestyle and eventually his death.
Some people say that Daisy is a victim of both Tom Buchanan and James Gatsby, but this interpretation of her fails to take into account everything we learn of her personality and the way she attempts to manipulate those around her to assure her own security and comfort in life. Daisy is responsible for her own actions. She allows herself to be treated the way she is by the other characters just to ensure her own safety and make it look like she is the good person. It’s just her way of seeking money and security: the two most important things to Daisy. When we are first introduced to the character of Daisy we realize that she thinks a lot of herself. ‘I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything…Sophisticated – God, I’m sophisticated!’ She is self-centred, which is not one of the characteristics of a victim. There is more reference in the novel that shows Daisy being more concerned with money and material goods than any deep emotions like love. Gatsby saying that Daisy’s voice is ‘full of money’ is just an example of the evidence that suggests that Daisy is a self-centred character that cares about no one but herself. Daisy comes from a well off family, and that’s what she wants to maintain which is why she married a guy that can ensure the continuation of her background of comfortable living. The reader comes to understand Daisy’s motifs but Gatsby knew it all along. Once he had fallen in love with her ‘he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of