Great Gatsby – Chapter 8

“She was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (148).

I read about Daisy and in my head I thought, “What does she have to offer?” She was annoying, ignorant, and really oblivious. She let Tom cheat on her, didn’t watch her own child, and did nothing all day. And yet, she thought she had a tough life. The problems she had, she helped cause.

If she ever stood up to Tom I don’t know what would happen. Maybe he would have hit her like he did the former Myrtle. Maybe he would listen. If she threatened to leave, maybe he’d change. I don’t know what the outcome could be. But neither does Daisy, because she never tried to change her fortune.

Is she really worth having as a wife? Gatsby and Tom think so, but I greatly disagree. Consider what Jon Limjap said to Connie Veneracion:

My wife sometimes asked me if I would’ve married her had she been a fling or a one-night stand. My answer was “of course not!”

Marriage is reserved for people worth marrying. Anything less is a broken family in the making.

I’m not blaming Daisy on her failure of a life, but I don’t think she was ever really worth marrying and building a wife with to start with. She couldn’t decide who she loved or the extent of love she possessed. She married for money. Loved for money. Lived for the life money could buy. When she tasted something real she ruinedit. I think she was a bit self-destructive. Desirable as a damsel in distress, but contagious as a viper.

Jim went on to say people worth marrying were responsible. Daisy was reckless with everyone’s heart. She toyed Nick around, played with Gatsby’s emotions without conception of results, and when did she ever think about her child? She never ever put her daughter into consideration when she helped destroy her home life. She was irresponsible to the core, as well as completely selfish. She was decent to look at, I bet. I can see her as the image of a cloud (she wears enough white), but like a cloud she’s up in the air.

What is in the air isn’t worth catching sometimes. Once it comes down to earth it’s just not the same.