Daisy's Dream In The Great Gatsby

The 1920s was a time when the rich wanted to become wealthier, and individuals were looking for attaining wealth on their own. In this time, no one was satisfied with the money they had. Everyone was always wanting more than they had even if they were wealthier than others. Individuals looked to show off their wealth to others and were selfish in doing so. F. Scott Fitzgerald was one that no matter his status, was always wanting more to reach a dream of his. Like the protagonist in his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald makes it clear through the character, Jay Gatsby, that one is never satisfied with both their wealth and their wants. Jay Gatsby dreams of getting his old lover, Daisy Buchanan, back although she is already married to Tom
Buchanan. Gatsby plans on getting her heart by showing off his wealth. The first event that takes place in trying to attain his dream, is having Nick invite Daisy over for tea when Gatsby is with Nick. During this tea gathering, Gatsby plans on making a trip to his house and showing off his wealth to Daisy. The interaction that follows, reveals, as does the rest of the novel as a whole, that one may never be satisfied with what they have. When the scene begins, Gatsby takes Nick and Daisy to his bedroom. The color that Fitzgerald uses to describe the many things in Gatsby’s room is a symbol to Gatsby’s wealth that he strives to show off. The first thing that Gatsby shows off in his bedroom is his toilet set made of “pure dull gold.” As others would agree, a color that comes to mind when thinking about money, is gold. The gold is explained as dull and pure also to show his true wealth. To continue to show off his wealth, Gatsby decides to pull out his many different colored and different fabric shirts. The shirts are described, “scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, and monograms of indian blue.” The many different shirt colors also represent his money and how much of it he has. Gatsby will never be satisfied with how much he has because he wants to show his wealth off for Daisy.

While Gatsby shows off his many belongings to Daisy and Nick, the tone that Daisy and Gatsby pursue if very significant. One is able to tell that Gatsby wants to keep showing Daisy more and more no matter how satisfied she is. After showing Daisy the toilet set, “Gatsby sat down and shaded his eyes and began to laugh.” Gatsby knows that Daisy is starting to fall for his belongings, meaning, she is starting to fall for him. Showing this one possession though, does not satisfy Gatsby. Gatsby then continues to show off his wealth by showing both Nick and Daisy his many shirts. When Gatsby throws all the shirts down on Daisy, “she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds.” The tone, or attitude towards the situation for Daisy is that she is torn and disappointed. Daisy is feeling this way because she is wishing she would have waited for Gatsby and his wealth instead of marrying Tom. At first, Daisy was in love with Gatsby, but was not satisfied with his financial status. Also, Daisy’s attitude towards the situation shows that she will never be satisfied with who she is with because although Tom also has wealth, she is not satisfied with that Tom can give her and wishes at this point in time that she was with Gatsby, not Tom. Gatsby “had been full of the idea so long” to get Daisy and he plans on doing this by showing of his wealth. Gatsby has attained wealth only for Daisy, and this scene shows that Gatsby will never be content with how much wealth he has and will continue to show off as much wealth as he has to Daisy. What this scene also shows, is that Daisy will never be satisfied with who she has chosen to be with.

As Gatsby continues to show off his wealth for Daisy, Fitzgerald uses word choice to show the interest that Daisy has in Gatsby’s wealth.
When Gatsby hands Daisy the toilet brush, “Daisy took the brush with delight.” The delightfulness that Daisy has in the toilet brush shows his wealth intrigues her although she already has her own wealth. Daisy’s interest in Gatsby’s wealth is also shown when Daisy is describing the shirts. Daisy explains the shirts by saying, “‘They’re such beautiful shirts.’” The word choice of “beautiful” that Fitzgerald uses for describing the shirts truly shows how the richness of Gatsby fascinates Daisy. The word choice that Fitzgerald uses to describe how interested Daisy is in Gatsby’s wealth shows that Daisy is not satisfied with her own wealth and wants more of
it.

Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism, tone, and word choice are just a few strategies that he uses to reveal that one may never be satisfied with what they have.
His development of this theme was a direct reflection of how he, and others were like back in the 1920s. The techniques that Fitzgerald uses in the passage reveals that both Gatsby and Daisy and not satisfied with their wealth and what they have, just like the novel as a whole reveals that one will always be wanting more, no matter how much they have already
attained.