The first thing Daisy says in the novel is when she tells
Nick on the phone that their move to East Egg was a permanent
one.
"This was
a permanent move, said Daisy over the telephone, but I didn't believe it--I had no
sight into Daisy's heart but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking a little
wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football
game."
Nick makes the call
not long after his arrival in West Egg. The purpose was to arrange a dinner date
with Daisy, his cousin, and Tom, whom he had known in
college.
Nick expresses doubt about Daisy's veracity and
mentions that he did not know her heart, "I had no sight into Daisy's heart ...".
Although Nick focuses on Tom in the rest of the extract, the remark is typical of Daisy.
She has the tendency to say things as a matter of convenience and is
careless in what she says. There is no real meaning to her words, since she does not
feel obligated to attach any real purpose to her remarks. Daisy is spoilt, uncaring and
reckless. She is shallow and
materialistic.
Daisy wanted immediate
resolutions to her problems and so it was when Gatsby, after a month of romance with
her, went to war and did not return soon enough for her. Since she wanted resolution,
she married Tom, discarding Jay. Although she seemed regretful later, she still went
through with the wedding.
After Jay's confrontation with
Tom, she acts in a similar fashion when she tells Jay that he "wants too much" and that
she loved him too. It is Tom who blurts out that Daisy is lying. Daisy later agrees with
Jay that she would be leaving Tom. She does this with "visible effort". However, it soon
becomes clear that she has no such intention, since she, after the accident in which
Myrtle is killed, seems to plot with Tom.
After Jay's
murder, she leaves for some obscure destination with Tom, providing no contact details,
typically indicating how little credence even she attaches to what she
says.
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