What Is Daisy's Role In The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby is a novel that illustrates the behavior of women in the superficial world of New York during the 1920s. By looking through the eyes of the main character, Nick Carraway, the behavior of the women and the actions they take are extraordinary as they are consistently controlled by men. Fitzgerald includes the fact that women were treated as trophies so that the men could obtain them, and continue to collect them as such. However, Fitzgerald does not solely focus on the women; instead, he includes the actions that the men took to obtain their position in the world of New York. Additionally, Fitzgerald ties a connection between the two genders and brings up the idea of why the women behaved such a way to fit in the superficial …show more content…
Daisy is the smartest out of the three women because she recognizes the superficiality of the world. She is aware of the female role in the world, and when she speaks about her daughter she declares, “And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (21). Daisy states that a woman could only be a, “fool” as she won’t be aware that her husband is cheating on her, unlike Daisy, who is hurting because she knows Tom is in love with another woman. Continuing, Daisy claims that being a fool is, “the best thing a girl can be in this world,” as she has experienced the hardship of being a woman. However, Daisy continues to behave in a certain manner to fit in this world. For example, when Jordan was talking about Daisy she claims, “They moved with a fast crowd, all of them young and rich and wild, but she came out with an absolutely perfect reputation.” Nick says, “Perhaps because she doesn’t drink”(82). Nick discusses her popularity in Chicago as she had, “an absolutely perfect reputation,” because, “she doesn’t drink.” It is obvious that Daisy realizes how the world truly is and is careful with her surroundings. However, towards the end of the novel Nick notices a something in Daisy that contributes to her personality. Furthermore Nick acknowledges that something to be Daisy’s voice as he proclaims, “That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money-that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it.” (127). At the time, Gatsby first describes Daisy’s voice as, “full of money,” because Daisy is from a wealthy family. Then, Nick realizes what Gatsby had said and describes her voice to be an, “inexhaustible charm” because of the way she talks. Daisy was one of the few woman that knew how the world works, yet she continued to play