Daisy's Decision-Making In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Words: 418
Pages: 2

Daisy struggles between her decisions over the last couple of years. The fickleness in her decision-making shows that she is also chasing an idea of herself. She finds that she does not know what she wants as Gatsby offers her now what he could not before but what Tom has already done. She is caught between the past and the present. Her main objective with Gatsby was the same as his, to try to bring back the past and rekindle what they could have had. Tom shattered the fantasy when he accused Gatsby of his sketchy business operations and brought back his past. In an instant, she remembered why she had chosen Tom and did so again. “Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage she had had, were definitely gone” (Fitzgerald 144). At that moment it didn’t matter to Daisy that Tom was corrupt, she had always known that. She chose him that day for the same reason she chose Tom over Gatsby years ago: for the stability Tom offered that Gatsby couldn’t. This choice is further solidified when Daisy “accidentally” kills Tom’s mistress, Myrtle. Person states:

“Not only does she kill her husband’s mistress, thus easing her reentry into his life, but she
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In many ways, it paves the way for the life Daisy chose with Tom. It begins with Tom letting Gatsby drive home with her. On the drive home, Gatsby could try to convince her to choose him, but Tom knew that if Daisy would be at home waiting for him then what she had with Gatsby was over. Although Myrtle’s death was a tragic accident, it conveniently let Daisy have Tom all to herself again. Tom told Wilson that Gatsby owned the car so Wilson could press charges or investigate the claim which only pushed Gatsby further away from Daisy. When that hot summer day ended, so did the illusion of Gatsby and Daisy. She had tried to rekindle the love she once had with him but it was not enough. It never had been and it never would