What Do You Think About the View That There Are No Women in The Great Gatsby With Whom the Reader Can Sympathize?
Ellie McChesney English Literature
What Do You Think About the View That There Are No Women in “The Great Gatsby” With Whom the Reader Can Sympathize?
Sympathy is defined as having feelings of sorrow for someone else’s misfortune. In a novel, sympathizing in a character allows the reader to relate to them. In Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, there is no female character with whom we can sympathize. However, at various points within the novel we do offer our brief condolences to each character.
Throughout the novel Daisy Buchanan appears enigmatic to the reader: why is she in a loveless relationship? Why did she leave Gatsby hanging on a thread? Many conclude that the ultimate chapters prove to us in many ways that she is incapable of loving. Shown by her choice to stay with Tom for his wealth and security; rather than choosing Gatsby, for she was “appalled by its raw vigour that chaffed”. She looks down on the vulgar nature of people that try and buy their way into the upper class as he has done. However, it is feasible to suggest that she chose Tom; after all he didn’t build his empire selling illegal alcohol like Gatsby. In addition, it is possible to argue that being in an unhappy marriage – shown by her reaction to Tom speaking to his mistress over dinner – is a liable reason to which we can feel empathy for her.
Despite all of this, however, it is apparent throughout the novel that she is materialistic, promiscuous and immoral. As soon as Tom leaves she “kiss[es] him on the mouth” she is not only betraying Tom, but she acts “careless[ly]” with Gatsby’s emotions. He is a character in which the reader can sympathize – meaning she is hated. Ultimately, she chooses to run away with Tom, this is her last act that convinces we, as the reader, to deplore her.