Literary Analysis The Great Gatsby

In chapter four of The Great Gatsby F. by Scott Fitzgerald, Jourdan explains to Nick that before marrying Tom Buchanan, Daisy dates Gatsby until they unwilling separate when he left to serve overseas. Through Jourdan’s recollection, Fitzgerald makes it apparent that Daisy truly loves Gatsby, but once he leaves, feels obligated to marry Tom: in fact, Daisy cares so much about convincing onlookers that she’s put together that when she realizes that she can’t be with Gatsby she unhappily marries Tom, the man whom she doesn’t love but knows will provide her with a secure life. From the start, Fitzgerald implies that Daisy takes pride in keeping up her reputation, so will therefore go out of her way to behave like a good-samaritan in order to deceive
Preferring to spend time with Jay Gatsby, for example, Daisy neglects her commitment to go to “Red Cross and make bandages”, thus suggesting that she feels free to let go of her selfless-girl act when she spends time with Gatsby (75). Not to mention, she, willing to leave behind the model-citizen who she built herself up to behind, ignores the possibility of “rumors circulating” when she “packs her bags” to run off to Gatsby after the army deploys him (75). Finally, to symbolize that Daisy never wants to let go of Gatsby, Fitzgerald details that she “crie[s] and crie[s]” as she holds on to a letter, presumably from Gatsby, the night before she marries Tom
Through the passage, the author thus sets up Daisy and Gatsby’s affair that naturally follows when the two meet again four years later. Along with this, Fitzgerald recommends that when in love, a person should fight the urge to give into pressure from others and instead follow his or her heart, this way lovers will avoid agreeing to a unwanted life that will potentially drive them to seek the one whom they truly long