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Hannah Booth
Weathersbee
AP Lang
10 February 2015
The Great Gatsby
Life for the upper class in the 1920s was wonderful, fulfilling, and exciting. In The Great
Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy and Tom Buchanan were both members of the upper class.
They live in East Egg, across from Jay Gatsby, who lives in West Egg. East Egg is very
fashionable and houses the people that have “old money” and have been wealthy for a while.
Before Daisy and Tom were married, Daisy and Jay Gatsby had a very serious relationship.
They were going to get married, but Gatsby was poor at the time, and he was going off to war.
After he went off to war, Daisy decided that she couldn’t wait for him, and she needed to marry
someone that was also wealthy to go along with her lifestyle. Daisy and Tom met, and married.
They had a little girl named Pammy, and they settled down in East Egg. Ever since Gatsby got
back from war, he has tried very hard to get Daisy to come to his extravagant parties so that they
can reconnect. Daisy stayed in her marriage for many reasons; money, the stereotypes of
marriage, her daughter, and the way that women should act during the time period.
Women in the 1920s were gaining freedom and roles because of World War 1 in the
previous decade. The divorce rate during this time period actually increased, and women were
looking for independence. At the beginning of the 20s, the divorce rate actually declined to
about 7000 and 8000 per year (1920 Marriage and Divorce Rates). Some social critics wondered
if the 1920s showed that the “American family” was in crisis, and nothing was going to be the
same, dealing with social order. About 7.7 of 1000 marriages ended in divorce, and the divorces
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were only approved upon certain grounds (Women, Marriage, and Flappers in the 1920s).
Family life wasn’t looking very good because people wanted to be independent and live for
themselves.
During the 20s, the upper class wanted one thing, and it was money. If you lived in East
Egg in The Great Gatsby, you were considered to have “old money” and have been wealthy for a
long time. If you lived in West Egg, you were considered to have “new money”. Each of these
places were different, and people thought differently of each one, but they were both homes to
wealthy people and they showed it off. Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s neighbor,
lived in West Egg, and he was also the narrator of the book. West Egg, as he describes as,
“…well, the less fashionable of the two”(Fitzgerald, 5), was where he and Gatsby lived. Daisy
and Tom lived in East Egg, which is the more extravagant of the two, and Nick said, “Across the
courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water” (Fitzgerald, 5).
This shows the difference between the two sides, but it also shows that each were wealthy.
Throughout this book, many decisions were made by the characters based on money.
They main one was Daisy not marrying Gatsby, and deciding to marry Tom. In an essay titled
“Essay about Lost Love in the Great Gatsby”, the author says, “Daisy grew tired of pining for
her officer and soon her love was bought by a new suitor, Tom Buchanan, with a $30,000 pearl
necklace. Money was what Daisy desired” (Essay about Lost Love). This excerpt shows that
Daisy really chose Tom in the beginning of the relationship only because of money. F. Scott
Fitzgerald said, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and
creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was
that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (F. Scott
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Fitzgerald, Good Reads). Tom basically bought Daisy’s love with a necklace, and poor Gatsby
truly loved her, but couldn’t afford to buy her anything at the time. In The Great Gatsby, Tom
said, "She's not leaving me!" Tom's words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. "Certainly not for
a common swindler who'd have to steal the ring he put on her finger” (Fitzgerald, 133). This
quote is a great example of the money side of the conflict. Tom just told Gatsby that she would
never leave him, a wealthy aristocrat, for a farmer’s son who would have to and engagement
ring. If Tom really loved Daisy, and they had a real love and connection, he wouldn’t even
thought about her leaving him. He wouldn’t have justified her staying with him just because
Gatsby wasn’t always as rich as he was then. Tom announced that Gatsby was a bootlegger, and
a farmer’s son. Gatsby soon realized that Daisy would never settle down for someone like that.
She was too proud of herself, and she would never marry someone like that.
When Gatsby returned from the war, he realized that he needed to become the person
Daisy needed and wanted in life. Even though he was just a farmer’s son, he knew he had to be
a man and take control of his life. He wants people to believe that he inherited his money, but he
actually made much of his fortune by illegally selling liquor. He put on extravagant parties
every weekend, and didn’t really send out invitations, everyone just showed up. Even though
Gatsby had come into wealth, Daisy was already married, and she wasn’t going to leave her child
and her husband for good. Daisy never went to Gatsby’s parties, even though they were always
the talk of the town.
During the 1920s, the divorce rate began declining, and the rush of divorces and
independence after the war ended. Even though some people weren’t happy in their marriages,
including Daisy, it was still a time of equality between the husband and wife. In The Great
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Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays Tom and Daisy as having a loveless marriage, bringing into
consideration both Tom’s and Daisy’s affairs. Tom was having an affair with Myrtle, a woman
from New York, and Daisy began having an affair with Gatsby. Also in the 1920s, women felt
experienced a movement of freedom and independence, and felt like they could do anything after
they took men’s job during World War 1. (Life in the 20s) This explains why Daisy thought it
was okay to have an affair with Gatsby while still married. She didn’t have the guts to get a
divorce, but she felt enough independence to stray away from him for something that she
wanted.
In The Great Gatsby, Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, tells a story of how she saw
Daisy and Gatsby interact at one point. She also goes into detail about Tom, and Daisy and
Tom’s wedding, and how it affected Daisy. She said, “The officer looked at Daisy while she was
speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time, and because it seemed
romantic to me I have remembered the incident every since. His name was Jay Gatsby…”
(Fitzgerald, 75). This is a perfect example of the love and admiration Gatsby had for Daisy.
Right before Tom and Daisy’s wedding, Daisy freaked out and cried. Jordan said, “I was scared,
I can tell you; I’d never seen a girl like that before…She began to cry—she cried and cried”
(Fitzgerald, 76). This is a prime example of the love that Daisy did not have for Tom in the very
beginning of their life together, so why would she stay in the marriage if there was no love
between them?
Children are a huge part of a marriage, and people try to make it work all the time for
their children. Tom and Daisy had a little daughter named Pammy. Pammy isn’t mentioned that
much during the book, but she is still a part of why Daisy stays in her marriage with Tom. In
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Gatsby, no one really pays attention to Pammy in the scenes that she is mentioned. While Nick
is visiting Tom and Daisy after he moved to West Egg, Tom completely changed the subject
when his child was brought up in the conversation. Daisy brought up Pammy in the conversation
with Nick by saying, “’You ought to see the baby. ‘I’d like to.’ ‘She’s asleep. She’s three years
old. Haven’t you ever seen her?’ ‘Never’” Interrupting Nick in the middle of the conversation,
Tom blurts, “What you doing, Nick?” (Fitzgerald, 10). Tom didn’t really care about his daughter
enough to hear his wife and her cousin talk about her for about thirty seconds. His daughter
wasn’t his number one priority. Through Daisy’s tone, you could tell that she was excited to be
talking about her daughter, and she wanted Nick to meet her.
Daisy couldn’t leave the marriage because of Pammy. If they got a divorce, and had to
go through court, it would be a fight because they are both economically stable, and the
Buchanan name is very strong. It is a very good chance that Tom would get Pammy, even
though he didn’t have the time or concern for her. Daisy had to stay in her loveless marriage
with Tom to take care of her child. If she didn’t, Pammy would not get taken care of when she
was with Tom.
Divorce was more common during the 1920s, but it was still frowned upon. The 1920s
brought about a time for the need of material possessions, everyone including, Daisy and Tom,
wanted things to have for themselves. One of the reason’s they might not have gotten a divorce,
is because they were too focused on their reputation, and what it will look like to other people.
Reputation is a very important thing, especially to the wealthy. They want to look good to other
people, and if a divorce were at hand, it wouldn’t look good for them.
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The way Fitzgerald describes Daisy’s character didn’t portray her as someone who really
loved Tom. Tom and her got married basically because he was very wealthy, and so was she.
They had something in common; he basically bought her “love”. When their child together was
bought up in a conversation, Tom immediately changed the subject because he didn’t really care.
Daisy couldn’t leave Tom because of Pammy, and because of the wealth and her reputation as a
Buchanan’s wife. Tom and Daisy didn’t truly love each other, but they had to stay in their
marriage. For example, Tom and Daisy were both having affairs. Tom was having an affair
with Myrtle, and Daisy began an affair with Gatsby. At one point, Daisy even confessed that she
was going to leave Tom for Gatsby, but Tom otherwise convinced her to stay with him.
Tom and Daisy seemed like the perfect match for each other. They were both wealthy,
well known, and were aristocrats in East Egg. They seemed like they could live a happy life
together, but they weren’t in love. Daisy stayed in a loveless marriage for many reasons. She
stayed because of money, her daughter, and stereotypes. Divorces were frowned upon, and she
couldn’t leave her daughter with Tom. Daisy was truly in love with Gatsby, and Gatsby was in
love with Daisy, but they couldn’t really pursue those feelings because Tom and Daisy were
married. In the end, Daisy had a chance to leave Tom, but she ultimately chose him over Gatsby.
She stayed with him to keep her image and reputation alive. If she had left Tom, it would be all
anyone could talk about. She had to stay with Tom for herself, her daughter, and to help Gatsby
get over her.
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Works Cited
Greenway, By: Cadyn Becknell Emily. Trey Rhinehimer, Caleb Dennis, and Sarah HallWhat
Women Wore in the 1920's: (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
"The 1920s Marked a Period of Independence and." The 1920s Marked a Period of
Independence and. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
"A Quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Great Gatsby Marriage Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop
University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Greenway, By: Cadyn Becknell Emily. Trey Rhinehimer, Caleb Dennis, and Sarah HallWhat
Women Wore in the 1920's: (n.d.): n. pag. Women, Marriage, and Flappers in the 1920s.
Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.