The Great Gatsby: Theme and Character Analysis of Tom and Daisy
Greed, Corruption, the Search for One’s Self, and the 1920s
The characters’ search for their own identities and the struggle that ensues is the most pervasive theme throughout The Great Gatsby. The fact that we never really know the characters, and the corrupt, immoral things they do, directly represent the 20s high society lifestyle. The characters continue to cheat on their spouses, let money become their obsession, and debate the American dream for the hope of one day obtaining happiness. But the fact remains that they have no true morals or ideals of themselves as individuals.
These are a group of people who, no matter how cocky and self-confident they seem, have absolutely no idea what they are doing (as many men and women of the 20s do not). Tom and Daisy are two examples. Daisy is a hospitable character who loves parties and tends to lose herself in them and drinking. Daisy once said, What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon, and the day after that, and the next thirty years?” This quote not only means she lives for one day at a time, never thinking of the future, but also that she truly has no idea what to do with herself.
She is like loose change floating around, wandering from party to party, man to man, and friend to friend in a big house in East Egg with no sense of purpose. She once attempted to plan something when she first reunited with Nick. She said, What’ll we plan? What do people plan?” meaning she has never had to make decisions nor has she had much responsibility. Not only does she have no purpose, but she also has no morals. She literally killed a woman and went home to eat cold chicken.
Furthermore, her lover was killed and she went on a trip, missing his funeral. Show me a woman with no morals or goals, and I’ll show you a woman searching for her own identity. Tom Buchanan is a small man hiding in a big house with an equally large ego. In fact, he once remarked that women run around too much and meet the wrong kind of people. This statement is both arrogant and ironic because he runs around with the wrong people, and women run around with him – he being the wrong people. Also, when stating this, he was most likely referring to his wife and subtly putting her down for her relationship with Gatsby in a conceited way.
Tom is not a caring or sympathetic man. He did not attend his mistress Myrtle’s funeral. Tom cared a great deal about his image, enough to uncover the history and truth about his wife’s lover and openly embarrass him.
Tom is such an empty man that he believes he can define himself with exterior belongings. He is trying to find his identity by looking for happiness in nice cars, money, and a good woman – even if he has to cheat on his wife to do so. But what happens if the money runs out? What if his wife finds another lover? Or if one of his women kills the other? One day, he will look in the mirror and not like what he sees. Only then can he finally forget about the image and just be. To best describe Daisy’s, Tom’s, and the 1920s high society’s relentless quest for money and aimlessness existence is Daisy and Tom’s own relationship. They were once young lovers with a hold on the world like their hold on each other, but that too tarnished like a gilded cup and saucer.
Tom once carried Daisy down from the punch bowl so her feet wouldn’t get wet. But the weight of time has pulled at their love until Tom was seen as a racist man reading The Rise of Colored Empires. He depends on a mistress to fulfill his need for lust and to be apart from home life, leaving Daisy ignorant and smiling. She hoped her daughter would be a fool of a girl so nothing would hurt her, a lesson she learned from living with Tom. While their marriage seems to be falling apart, Daisy finds a man from her past – Gatsby – who has a heated desperation for her love. He acquires a huge home and beautiful shirts, and throws lavish parties in hopes of winning her back.
