A lot of people like to talk about the Green Light or the woes of an Elite Class or how epic Gangsters are or other things of that nature when talking about the Great Gatsby. But whenever I think about this novel, I think about how the ending to Gatsby’s story is a grand manipulation.
This entire idea stems from a single quote from Daisy Buchanan about her hopes for her daughter.
‘All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.’
“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced way.
This gives me the vibe that Daisy is more intelligent than she lets on. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “This could just mean she has a better understanding of her situation, not necessarily that she has the intellect to pull of a Jame’s Moriarty level scheme,” and you are completely right. But, bear with me.
Let us pretend that we have actual evidence that Daisy is smart enough to set up some sort of 4th-dimensional manipulation, what would she do? At the end of the day, what does she really want? From what we see of her, honestly not much. She wants a faithful companion and a wealthy lifestyle. She has one, but not the other.
Tom is……well I cannot express my true opinion of him in a family-friendly way so let us just call him a piece of verminous trash and move on to the part where I talk about his infidelity. As people who read the novel know, a major part of the Novel’s conflict hinges on Tom’s relations with a woman named Myrtle, in an affair that is not exactly well hidden as the woman in question straight up, on multiple occasions, calls Tom’s home phone. I imagine Daisy picked up at least once.
And when Gatsby returns, Daisy probably saw this as an opportunity to enter a relationship with a man who would lavish her…..until she thought the situation out clearly. In 1920s America if a guy is sleeping around, especially in High Society, that dren is covered up right quick. But if a woman does it? Different story. So as much as she loved Gatsby, she could only be with him in secret. And Gatsby clearly wanted her to be in an actual relationship with him, which could ruin her reputation.
So how does a woman remove her lover and her husband’s lover in one swift move? Murder is a good way to do it, and vehicular homicide appears to be Daisy’s chosen method. She runs down Tom’s mistress in Gatsby’s car, a car that would be easily identified by the police, knowing that Gatsby would take the heat for her. I imagine she was hoping Gatsby would spend time in prison for vehicular manslaughter charges, but even better for her Myrtle’s husband tied up the final loose end for her.
With that, she has her husband back (most likely on a tighter leash now) and her reputation safe. And I am fully aware that this sounds too crazy and I am coming off like a conspiracy theorist, and I am fully willing to admit that this is not the intention of the book. But it is a fun thing to think about, no?