Tom and Daisy in The Great Gatsby Essay Sample

The Great Gatsby entails a few months of Nick Carraway’s life; an ex-vet who moved to the rural area of West Egg in pursuit of flourishing in the bonds business. During his time, he meets many characters, the most important of which being Tom & Daisy Buchanan, and Gatsby himself. Gatsby is a curious man, as the way through which he obtained his riches was in the dark, though he used his influence to drive himself closer to Daisy, his ex-lover, to try and win over her love for him. F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes fidelity to bring to life a world in which loyalty to certain people or ideas can be highly damaging. Gatsby is an important offender of holding onto his loyalty to one fantasy: Daisy being his lover. Fidelity is as ever-present in The Great Gatsby as it is in real-world situations, whether that be in friendship, marriage, or simply two parties coming together to build something. Although fidelity can be just as easily gained as abandoned, one person can become dubious of the fidelity the other holds towards them, resulting in a falling out if those concerns were to ever be brought to light. Sometimes, the abandonment of one’s loyalty to someone or something is just as damaging as holding loyalty.

Typically, marriage between two people is an agreement to forever hold one’s loyalty to another person. Though the marriage of Tom and Daisy Buchanan juxtaposes that idea, as he and Daisy do not seem very lively of a couple when they’re around one another. More often than not, they are depicted as sad and frustrated when the topic of their relationship comes to light. Though once Nick speaks with Jordan Baker, a famous golfer, and friend of Daisy’s, he learns the truth of their relationship, “‘Tom’s got some woman in New York.’” (Fitzgerald 15) Tom abandons the supposed inherited fidelity of marriage by committing adultery. However, Daisy has to have known of her husband and the ‘woman in New York’. She may have decided to fake it till she makes it: remaining blissfully unaware of her marriage falling apart. Her problems with their relationship didn’t begin there, as she speaks about the birth of her daughter with Nick, “Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of there with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl.” (Fitzgerald 16) During the birth of her child, Daisy would expect their partner to be there for them. In the end, Tom abandoned the fidelity between them by not having a presence; Daisy was left with only a sickening sense of betrayal.

Gatsby– later revealed to be James Gatz– is unique from those who share similar standing and wealth, he displays a unique energy which no other wealthy man or woman did. Although he seemed positive and friendly, his past was quite secretive. But as the plot unfolds, it is revealed to Nick and the reader that he and Daisy were once lovers. Even though Daisy had already married  Tom Buchanan, Gatsby is reluctant to move on. This is seen in a brief exchange with Nick:

“‘I wouldn’t ask too much of her,’ I ventured. ‘You can’t repeat the past.’ - ‘Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’ - He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand. - ‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,’ he said, nodding determinedly, ‘She’ll see.’” (Fitzgerald 110)

Gatsby is stuck in a blissful version of his past with Daisy, and his sporadic looking around himself presents him believing it’s in his sight and waiting for him. He looks past the much more grounded opinions of others in order to hold his belief that he can mold reality to his own liking. In reality, it was very likely that Daisy would not agree to be with Gatsby, but that conflicts with how Gatsby sees the future. As he tries to recapture the love they once had, he only ends up in a spiral into insanity. Fidelity can prove damaging to desperate people-- who are more likely to fall for uncredible ideas-- who may find themselves later in hardships because of such a loyalty.

Tom and Daisy’s marriage is an ever-developing case throughout The Great Gatsby, in the beginning, it seems as if they despised one another, as the only information the reader picks up are their not-so-nice remarks of one another, Tom’s adultery, and Daisy’s story of the birth of their daughter. Yet as things go on, their relationship reaches an all-time low following a massive fight over Daisy between Gatsby and Tom, resulting in a divide between them. Despite that, that same night, their connection seems all the more intimate, “They weren’t happy, and neither of them had touched the chicken or the ale– and yet they weren’t unhappy either. There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture, and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together.” (Fitzgerald 145) The loyalty between the two lovers a few months prior was about to be in shambles. But in some reconnection, it was able to be repaired, as the couple had restored their sense of intimacy and loyalty to one another. Though it may be Daisy’s acceptance of a mundane reality– something that wasn’t terrible, but not particularly amazing or exciting either– which led to the reparations of the trust between her and Tom. After everything, Daisy may have found a different use for Tom's fidelity. As prior to the scene she was guilty of a hit and run; perhaps she only saw Tom as a way to escape any consequences for her actions. Beneficial to her, but damaging to Tom if he were to ever find out.

By the time Gatsby’s inevitable death comes to fruition, though in an irony which reflects the parties he hosted which had hundreds of people, next to nobody came to his funeral, except for his father. Reflecting on how even though many people reaped the benefits of his grandiose mansion and extravagant parties, almost nobody carried the loyalty to Gatsby to attend his funeral. Following Nick's interaction with Gatsby's father, he goes to meet Meyer Wolfsheim, a man infamous in the mob, and a supposed friend of Gatsby's who refuses to come to his funeral-- his most important time of remembering. “‘I’d like to come.’ - ‘Well, come then.’ - The hair in his nostrils quivered slightly, and as he shook his head his eyes filled with tears.’ - ‘I can’t do it– I can’t get mixed up in it.’” (Fitzgerald 171) Wolfsheim’s excuse seems futile in the eyes of being there for a friend, like a loyalty that had only risen when the man had seen use in working with Gatsby, loyalty more akin to a business partner than a true friend. Though Wolfsheim's monologue provides a dichotomy to how he treats Gatsby’s death, “‘Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead,’ he suggested. ‘After that, my own rule is to let everything alone.’” In the past, both Gatsby and Wolfsheim used fidelity as a tool, a means to obtain more wealth and influence. Nonetheless, Jay was a lonely man throughout his life, if he were to find out about Wolfsheim's absence during his funeral, he would have likely felt hurt and betrayed. Apart from Nick, Wolfsheim had been the only person he confided in.

Fidelity is a risky game, it is natural for any human being to find, though it requires a lot of trust between both parties, and can be played against more than just people, such as a fantasy, or simply gullibility to an incredible idea. It’s able to come and go within an instant, depending on the actions of both people; although it is possible to repair a broken fidelity between the two of them. Sometimes loyalty lacks genuinity, and can simply be used as a facade for someone to get what they want from another. Though loyalty is ever-present throughout the novel as it is in real life, whether that be in friendships, or perhaps a loyalty to an idea. It can be both negative and positive, as abandoning fidelity of an unhealthy relationship is liberating, though it may also be trust lost in a close friend or loved one. Without the existence of fidelity, committed relationships, friendships, and humans and animals coming together, in general, would cease to exist. Working together for a common cause– whether that be building a community, pursuing a relationship together, or following the guise of a fantasy– is all rooted in finding trust and loyalty in others.