In Defense Of Daisy Buchanan
Many fans of the Great Gatsby say that Daisy Buchanan is not a good person. She was the one who ran Myrtle over with the car, an act for which Gatsby took the blame, and when Gatsby died she didn't even send flowers to his funeral. Daisy comes off as shallow, self-absorbed, cruel, and hurtful. To Daisy, Gatsby was just an affair, a plaything, something to distract her from her abusive husband, Tom. But what if all this is not true?
First, she is victimized by both Gatsby and Tom. She married Tom because of the standards of women at the time period, mainly for money. She even wanted to run away with Gatsby, but after years of waiting for him, she was desperate and had to marry someone to save herself. Her relationship with Tom is not very smooth, as she tries to be dedicated to him, but he cheats on her every chance she has. Finally when she is reunited with Gatsby, his expectations for her are so high that there is no chance of her ever living up to them. He is infatuated with a vision of Daisy, not the actual person, and Daisy merely becomes an object for him to prove his worth with. Nick even notes that Daisy cannot reach ‘the colossal vitality of his dream.’ He requests too much of her, especially when he forces Daisy to say that she never loved Tom. She may not love him, but it is especially difficult for her to renounce the person she had lived with for so long. She also has a daughter, who she cannot give up just because of herself. She also had to maintain her family’s reputation.
Daisy was the one that ran Myrtle over with a car, later letting Gatsby take the blame for it. Although some people feel that because of this Daisy being uncaring and doesn't want to the incident to reflect poorly on herself, she was just scared. She had just run over a human being, and she was in a state of shock. As for letting Gatsby take the blame instead of her, well, Daisy was traumatised after the accident. Anyone would be if they ran over someone with a car. Plus, it wasn't like Daisy ran over Myrtle and just kept on driving, then broke down at her house. Daisy was shocked and scared when she hit Myrtle. Gatsby was the one that orchestrated their escape, not her. Daisy was just reacting normally to accidentally killing a person, which isn't a sin.
Critics argue that from her famous ‘beautiful little fool’ quote, she does not care about her daughter, and her daughter does not play a key role in any of her decisions.
Let’s reanalyze the quote. “I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world- a beautiful little fool.” This really shows her love for her daughter. Daisy married for money, not love. She doesn’t want her daughter to face the same heartbreak she faced. Beautiful little fools are exempt from the corruption of society. If she is beautiful, she is more likely to attract rich suitors, and can live a wealthy and comfortable life. If she is a fool, she wouldn’t think about all the unfairness around her, and would not feel upset at the injustice. It is not fair to say that Daisy’s daughter doesn’t influence any of her decisions. Daisy loved Gatsby, and wanted to run away with him, but she immediately thought to her daughter, which was one of the key factors influencing her. She couldn’t give up her daughter for someone else she loved, no matter how much she loved Gatsby.
As uncaring and selfish Daisy might seem to be, she really is just a regular human being. She married because she needed a husband to keep her family's reputation. She wanted her daughter to be safe from the cruel practices of human beings. And she really did feel bad about killing Myrtle. Daisy Buchanan was not a shallow, self-absorbed, cruel, and hurtful person. She was just misunderstood. And although Daisy wasn't the angel of Gatsby’s dreams, she wasn't the female Voldemort. Daisy was just a human.
