The short answer to your question is no, Gatsby's wealth simply wasn't enough on its own to win Daisy's love--at least not the way Gatsby wanted. And here is where the complication occurs. Gatsby has shaped his entire life around winning the love of Daisy Buchanan. He developed an entire new persona, morphing from the less-than-average James Gatz who has no social status to the mega-nouveau riche Jay Gatsby who is the mysterious toast of...
The short answer to your question is no, Gatsby's wealth simply wasn't enough on its own to win Daisy's love--at least not the way Gatsby wanted. And here is where the complication occurs. Gatsby has shaped his entire life around winning the love of Daisy Buchanan. He developed an entire new persona, morphing from the less-than-average James Gatz who has no social status to the mega-nouveau riche Jay Gatsby who is the mysterious toast of New York. He spent much of his life tracking Daisy's, collecting every scrap of information he could about her. When she and Tom settle in East Egg, Gatsby swoops up the property across the bay to be near her. He stages elaborate parties for one reason only--in the fantastical hope that Daisy and Tom might wander through his gardens on some fated night. When this fails to happen, Gatsby takes quick advantage of a "friend-of-a-friend" connection in order to re-connect with his lost love. And it works. Daisy and Gatsby re-kindle their romance, but she never loses sight of Tom. In a fit of exasperation, she exclaims,
"Oh, you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now – isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once – but I loved you too."
This is not enough for Gatsby. He didn't want to be an additional love in Daisy's life. He wanted to turn back time, to go to a place where Daisy never loved Tom at all, where he is the only man she has ever wanted. And not all the money in the world could do that for Daisy.
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