In The Great Gatsby, Daisy is at first portrayed as a sweet, innocent beauty, as her name suggests. However, Daisy's true character is anything but those things. Daisy's character is that of a "vampire", she "smashes up things and then retreats back to her money and lets other people clean up the mess". Her "vampire" like character is shown by her selfishness, reliance on men, and the way she needs great wealth in her life, as a vampire would need blood.
When measuring the priorities in Daisy's life, money and social class come first, before love and family. This can first be seen by the way Daisy disregards her child and hardly ever mentions her in the book. She does not give the child motherly care, rather in her selfishness, she has maids care for her. Perhaps she does not love the child, because she does not love Tom. .
Another example of Daisy's priorities is shown when she has to choose between Gatsby and Tom at the end of the novel, she gives no definite answer but it is clear that she chooses Tom by the outcome of the book. In Tom, Daisy sees wealth, stability, and the upper class of East Egg. Daisy may not love Tom the way that she does Gatsby, but obviously the money and social status that Tom represents is more important to her than true love.
Daisy had always lived a wealthy, upper-class life, and she had to live that way. When Gatsby first met Daisy in Louisville Gatsby had to lie about his wealth and social status in order for him to win Daisy's heart. When Gatsby left for the war he knew that he must be rich when he came back if he were to marry Daisy. So Gatsby dedicated his life to making a fortune through unlawful ways in order to "buy" Daisy's love. However, when Gatsby left, Daisy married Tom rather than wait for Gatsby, because she needed money and someone to care for her. Later in the book, when Daisy and Gatsby meet again for the first time, it is clear how much money truly meet to Daisy by the way she comments about Gatsby's house.
