The Great Gatsby - Chapter Seven

By Daisy inviting Gatsby to her's and Toms house for lunch, she is taking a great risk at her husband finding out about their romance and Tom uses the fact of Gatsby's criminal history to humiliate Gatsby in front of Daisy, suspecting that there is more going on than what can be seen on the surface.

Gatsby did not "ever really believed in [Daisy's child] existence before" until he sees the child in front of him, this suggests how Gatsby has been clasping onto the Daisy that he knew way-back-when and not considering how Daisy has changed over the period of time. This idea of fantasy is extended further on in the passage when Daisy tells her daughter "You dream, you. You absolute little dream." Having a daughter had always been a dream of Daisy's and through the way Daisy acts towards her, Daisy still believes she is a dream - a daughter that is only there when Daisy desired one.

How Daisy acts towards the child, is somewhat similar to what is witnessed with Nora in A Doll's House. Daisy seems to treat her daughter as she is not real. She coos over her as though she is a doll, like an accessory to Daisy, something to show of the life she has made, and seems to have no real bond with her daughter as she is almost entirely in the care of the nanny, this is emphasized when the child is said to respond "shyly", showing how uncomfortable Daisy's own daughter feels around her. Daisy, in this passage, is shown to be immature and selfish, and essentially portrayed as a child herself - not really fit to be a mother.

Daisy seems to be putting on an act to show how deeply she cherishes her daughter by stating "Come to your mother that loves you.", it is like she is not only reminding the child that she is in fact her "mother", but also that she "loves [her]", but also reminding herself of these facts.