Monday 13 October 2014

Why is Daisy crying? - Abbi

Throughout 'The Great Gatsby' everything we see is from Nick's eyes and through his words - we don't know why Tom is having an affair, and wouldn't know about it at all if Jordan hadn't told Nick, we don't know how Gatsby's works out the connection between Nick and Daisy and we do not get any of the thoughts of the other characters about the events described by Nick. Because of all this, the novels perspective on the world is narrowed and our understanding of the characters tainted.

In previous chapters, Nick has presented Daisy as ditzy and fluffy - yet hinted at the greater available depth of her character. Daisy seems to be a woman who knows her place in society, her place in the world as something greater than her - she's aware of her husbands affair, her failure of having borne him a daughter and her growing powerlessness within her home life.

However, in chapter five, Daisy is thrown into emotional turmoil with her being re-united with Gatsby. The reader, like Nick, knows nothing more than what has been told to us by Jordan Baker in the previous chapter - so Daisy's situation is controlled by Gatsby more than anything; however, this is reversed upon her entrance, where upon Gatsby falls to pieces, 'fumbling' and 'trembling'.

After all the emotional turmoil of the afternoon - is it really surprising that Daisy cries over something so meaningless? She hasn't seen Gatsby in 5 years, probably thought she'd never see him again, and then, suddenly, he makes this reappearance back into her life.

In short, it can be argued that Daisy's tears over 'shirts' while, on the surface, seem to fit the persona she has displayed in earlier chapters, 'artificial', could actually be hinting to some greater and deeper emotional heartache and confusion.

No comments:

Post a Comment