Thursday, August 15, 2013

In Chapter One, why does Nick feel that Daisy is trying to show off her cynicism?

Daisy says, “You see I think everything’s terrible . . . I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything….Sophisticated—God, I’m sophisticted” (22). The comments spring from the fact that Tom, her husband, is having an affair with a woman “in the city,” who has called while they are eating dinner. Daisy has told Nick, “I’m pretty cynical,” and Nick thinks “Evidently she had reason to be." Indeed, Daisy next tells Nick Tom was “God knows where” when their baby was born, meaning he was probably with his mistress. Yet, through all of this, Nick doubts her sincerity—she doesn’t ring true to  him. Immediately after this conversation she looks at him “with an absolute smirk on her lovely face,” signifying to him her pretentiousness and sense of privilege (22). Looking or saying she is cynical, Nick thinks, is a way of demonstrating that privilege; it is as though it is a luxury that only the wealthy can experience.

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