What Does Daisy Fay Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color white in his novel The Great Gatsby 49 times. The author uses the color as a symbol to show innocence, purity and corruption in both the society and characters. Daisy Fay is a prime example of how this symbol is shown. She grows up wearing white, she has a white car, her house even has white in it. The mystery is that if Daisy grew up around all white, why by the end of the noel was she selfish and careless? This is how a major theme of wealth can breed carelessness ties in. When characters in the novel acquire wealth, they become corrupt and careless with their lifestyle choices.

When Daisy is young, she grows up with a lot of white in her life. She often wears white dresses to symbolize her girlish innocence.
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As Gatsby arrives nick says “An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit,” ( Fitzgerald, 84) . Gatsby has not seen Daisy in almost five years, so he is very nervous to becomes awkward when she arrives. The white flannel suit he is wearing symbolizes his boyish innocence in that moment. But the suit also symbolizes Gatsby’s corruption. Gatsby has lived his whole life dedicated to getting back together with Daisy. He is stuck in the past and cannot appreciate life or the people around him because of it. Also, Gatsby makes his fortune unethically. He accumulates his money through illegal businesses and then flaunts it by having extravagant parties, wearing fancy clothes and living in a mansion. After tea Gatsby flaunts his wealth by giving Daisy and Nick a tour of his mansion. Gatsby brags, “ “My house looks well doesn’t it?” He demanded. “See how the whole front of it catches the light.”” (Fitzgerald, 89). Gatsby values Daisy, materialistic objects, and money over everything else. This ties in with the theme that wealth breeds carelessness. Gatsby used to be poor, so when he went to meet Daisy at Nick’s house he wanted to show her that he was now successful. Instead Gatsby is nervous at the time he meets Daisy and seems innocent, this is why Fitzgerald put him in a white suit. This is how Fitzgerald explains the symbol the color white for the time that Gatsby wore a white suit to Nick’s house to develop the theme that wealth can breed