Daisy's Materialism In The Great Gatsby

Happiness is something that every person is constantly striving for and chasing after. A concept that consumes all wishes and can seem so unattainable and so tangible at the same time. To achieve this state of nirvana, people will do almost anything thinking it will lead them to enlightenment. Often, they find themselves in a constant battle, forever fighting for something that has been right in front of them for the entirety of their life. A similar struggle can be found in several characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby. By looking at Tom’s, Daisy’s, and Gatsby’s desires for wealth and extravagant living, we can see that they portray society’s materialistic and selfish demeanor. This is a surprising idea that is complicated …show more content…
Her life with Tom is not overflowing with an abundance of joy nor affection for one another, but there is stability in his inheritance. This idea had attracted Daisy to Tom, and is what kept them together despite the problems in their marriage. As Nick observed, “They weren’t happy… and yet they weren’t unhappy either. There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture and anybody would’ve said they were conspiring together” (155), it is obvious that the glue of their relationship was Tom’s fortune, which alone seemed to be enough to make her to stay with him, even when she wanted to be with Jay Gatsby instead. Neither Tom nor Daisy are particularly happy with their life together, leading them both to have affairs, but Daisy does not see this as sufficient reason to abandon the comfort of Tom’s riches. Towards the end, it is noted that “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it is that keeps them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (191). This truly ties together the type relationship Tom and Daisy hold, and how they deal with other people. Regardless of Daisy debatable love for Jay, she refuses to to leave Tom for him and will not associate herself with Gatsby after his death, which she ultimately caused, …show more content…
The parties that he threw in the summer had been bursting with the many attendees from all across New York. By the looks of it, Gatsby was the most popular man of the time, a wealthy businessman that everyone knew, or at least knew of. However, each individual at his party meant nothing to him other than being a trophy to display to all the other collector items, and the only purpose of holding these festivals was to gain the attention of Daisy, the epitome of trophies. In contrast to his summer gatherings, his funeral had an astounding attendance of three people, surprising enough to make one character say “‘Why my God! They used to go there by the hundreds… the poor son-of-a-bitch’” (187). Not even Daisy had showed up to mourn for him, and it appeared no one could be bothered to show up for a person that had no significance in their lives besides hosting parties. In the end, it never mattered how much money was in Gatsby’s name as long as he was living a solitary