From The Great Gatsby
Daisy Buchanan
Nick’s sweet cousin
Nick’s charming cousin, with a voice like music, who lives in a grand house across the bay.
Who is Daisy Buchanan?
Daisy Buchanan is Nick’s cousin, a charming lady with a musical laugh who lives across the bay in a grand brick house. Years ago she loved a young soldier named Jay Gatsby, but after he went away to war, she married Tom. When Gatsby comes back into her life, Daisy feels pulled between her old dream and the family she has now.
Daisy Buchanan is a character in The Great Gatsby, the 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, retold for ages 6–9 by Sean Lee.
What is Daisy Buchanan like?
- Charming
- Whimsical
- Hesitant
Daisy Buchanan’s story
Daisy Buchanan grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, where she was a bright, popular young woman. Jordan Baker remembers her as the most admired girl in town, and soldiers like Gatsby were drawn to her. When Gatsby was sent overseas, she was a young woman with many suitors, and in time she married Tom Buchanan in a lavish wedding. They now have a small daughter, Pammy, and live in East Egg.
When Nick arranges the tea party, Daisy cries over Gatsby’s shirts and seems truly moved by how much he has done for her. She spends much of the summer meeting him, and she tells him she loves him. Still, when Gatsby demands that she say she never loved Tom, she cannot do it, and she becomes frightened and confused.
On the way back from New York, Daisy is driving Gatsby’s car when it hits Myrtle Wilson. Gatsby says he will take the blame. Afterward, Daisy does not contact Gatsby, even when he is in great danger. She leaves with Tom and their daughter, and she does not come to the funeral or send word. Nick later calls her and Tom careless people who leave other people to clean up their messes.
“Her voice is full of money”
A moment to remember
When Gatsby opens his closet and tosses piles of pink, purple and green silk shirts across the table, Daisy cries happy tears because he cared so much.
Family and friends
- Tom Buchanan: husband
- Jay Gatsby: the man who has loved her for years
- Nick Carraway: second cousin once removed
- Jordan Baker: old friend from Louisville
- Myrtle Wilson: the woman killed by her car
Talk about it
Daisy has a hard time making up her mind. Have you ever felt stuck between two choices? What helped you decide?
Questions about Daisy Buchanan
- Who is Daisy Buchanan?
- Daisy is Nick Carraway’s second cousin once removed, Tom Buchanan’s wife, and the woman Jay Gatsby has loved for years. She lives in East Egg with Tom and their young daughter.
- Who was driving the car that kills Myrtle?
- Daisy was driving Gatsby’s car when it hit Myrtle Wilson. Gatsby later tells Nick that he would take the blame.
- Does Daisy love Gatsby?
- The book shows that Daisy cares about Gatsby and is moved by him. When he asks her to say she never loved Tom, however, she cannot, and in the end she stays with her husband.
Read the story in
The Great Gatsby
Ages 6–9, 72 pages
