How Is Daisy Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald uses several characterization techniques to portray Daisy as pure and charming and he later uses others to portray George as broken and passive.
As soon as Nick enters the room where Daisy is located, the environment around Daisy is instantly utilized to characterize her as a pure, innocent person. Nick describes the windows as “gleaming white” and the room as having “a frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling” (Fitzgerald 8). The room that Daisy seems to spend the majority of her time in is an intense white aside from the wine-colored rug. Therefore, it makes sense to associate the coloration of this room in particular with the character traits of Daisy. White is commonly associated with purity and innocence and Fitzgerald is purposefully

Along with his vivid description of the room, Nick also speaks of the physical appearance of the women. He explains that the women “were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon” and that “they were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house” (Fitzgerald 8). Entirely dressed in white and having the ability to fly around the room, these women possess features similar to those of an angel at least through Nick’s eyes. Her likeness to an angel, one of the most well-known symbols of purity, was certainly included to further expand on her purity. Further details point towards Daisy also possessing a natural charm. After stepping into the room, Nick begins being talking with Daisy and describes her as having an almost angelic voice. He says, “It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again” (Fitzgerald 9). To Nick, her voice is like a beautiful musical composition and deserves to be cherished as one. Her voice seems to have the ability to draw people towards her and makes it difficult for people to resist

Upon Nick and Tom’s visit to his garage to pick up Tom’s mistress, Nick’s first impressions of Tom were that “he was a blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome” (Fitzgerald 25). George is the embodiment of the “Valley of Ashes” where he lives. His life of working everyday with little payoff has broken his spirit and has aged him past his years. Along with his destroyed spirit, this lifestyle has altered his looks dramatically. Nick calls him faintly handsome implying that at some point he was probably more handsome. Maybe these things were caused by his job, his surroundings or his seemingly terrible relationship with Myrtle or perhaps some combination of these, but there is no doubt that it has taken an enormous toll on his body and mind. After picking up Myrtle from George’s garage and home, Nick asks if George knows about what has been going on between Tom and Myrtle. Tom replies that “‘He’s so dumb he doesn’t even know he’s alive’”(Fitzgerald 26). For a character like Tom, who has been mocked multiple times based on his lack of intelligence, to point out someone’s stupidity, they must either very stupid or just not trying at all. Living in that environment has either caused George to become stupid or has taken away his will to do anything about Tom and Myrtle’s relationship. Tom may not realize that George actually notices the relationship, but just doesn’t care about doing something about it. Either way it