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Why Did Daisy Stay

In: English and Literature

Submitted By tmcavoy29
Words 1113
Pages 5
What happened that night at the Buchannan dinner table???

The Great Gatsby is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald that tells the story of the ‘great’ Jay Gatsby, but along with his story we learn about Daisy Buchannan the love of his life and their torrid love affair. It seemed as though Daisy was ready to leave her husband Tom in Chapter VII (Fitzgerald pg. 134) but by the end of the novel Daisy has chosen to run away to New York with Tom leaving Gatsby behind without saying anything. The novel did not go into any detail as to why Daisy chooses to stay with Tom, but in one scene after all of the chaos form the brief trip to the city we see Tom and Daisy sitting at the kitchen table over a cold dinner and some ale talking, the reader is not told what is said (Fitzgerald pg. 146). The reader can infer that several things were discussed at the dinner table that evening to make Daisy leave Gatsby behind, such as Tom’s old money and ability to provide, Gatsby’s new money and his reputation, as well as Daisy’s herself. There are several good reasons why Daisy Buchannan stays with her husband Tom instead of leaving him for Gatsby. One of the reasons that she could’ve chosen to stay is the same reason that she chooses to marry Tom in the first place; he was a safe secure choice. Tom came from money, old money, and to someone like Daisy who was also of old money this was a way to a secure future without worry. The reader is made aware of Tom’s wealth is Chapter 4 when Jordan Baker, Daisy’s dearest friend is describing the night before the wedding. Jordan tells the reader about the grand wedding that was being thrown with “more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before” and that the night before Tom gave Daisy “a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (Fitzgerald pg. 77). The fact that Tom chooses to lavish Daisy with such

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