Examples Of Daisy's Dishonesty In The Great Gatsby

At this point in the story, Gatsby is convincing Nick to invite Daisy over, which would allow Gatsby to reunite with his long lost love. Nick agrees to the plan, and, as a reward, Gatsby gives an offer to Nick and says to him, “You see, I carry on a little business on the side, a sort of side line, you understand. And I thought that if you don’t make very much –” (82). While Gatsby is not lying to Nick about the opportunity, Gatsby’s words hint at the involvement of illegal activities. Gatsby is not making an honest living because he is a man who does not tell the truth, similar to the other characters in the story. Daisy Buchanan is another character who has a habit of not being honest. This is demonstrated most clearly when Nick is inviting Daisy to his house for tea. Nick had instructed Daisy not to bring Tom, so she pretended not to know who he was when she said, “Who is ‘Tom’?” (83). Because Daisy was willing to lie about her whereabouts and forget about Tom, it is clear to see her dishonesty. Other people may question the secrecy, but Daisy does not care enough about her husband to include him. By willingly excluding Tom, Daisy is being dishonest.
Jay Gatsby continues his streak of dishonesty when Daisy arrives at Nick’s house.
Nick escorted Daisy into his residence only to discover Gatsby was not in the living room. Nick did not need to wonder long because “there was a light dignified knocking at the front door… Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes” (86). The purpose of his action was to deceive Daisy and make her believe he was not waiting for her. While an innocent lie, it is already giving a dishonest start to the reunion between Jay Gatsby and
Daisy. The lies told to Daisy continue throughout the tour of Gatsby’s lavish mansion. Rooms after rooms filled with extravagant decorations passed by, and the threesome ended up in Gatsby’s bedroom. Here, on a bureau, a photograph of Gatsby on a pompadour sat. Daisy brought attention to it, only for Gatsby to quickly distract her. “Here’s a lot of clippings – about you” (93). It becomes obvious that Gatsby is changing the topic to avoid telling a false story about owning a yacht. He did not want to reveal any negative aspects of himself to Daisy, yet he also did not want to lie excessively. And again, Gatsby is building the relationship between him and Daisy on lies because he will not tell Daisy the truth.