Which character in The Great Gatsby is described as having a 'voice full of money'?

The story behind the answer

In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is the character described as having a “voice full of money.” Nick Carraway makes the observation while reflecting on Gatsby’s fascination with Daisy and the world she represents.

The phrase captures more than Daisy’s pleasant or distinctive way of speaking. It suggests inherited wealth, social privilege, confidence, and the effortless authority of America’s old-money class. Daisy comes from Louisville and, during the novel, lives with Tom Buchanan in East Egg, the part of Long Island associated with established wealth.

Readers sometimes attribute the phrase to Gatsby because Gatsby is intensely associated with wealth and extravagant display. Fitzgerald, however, uses the line to distinguish Gatsby’s newly acquired fortune from Daisy’s deeper social background. Gatsby can accumulate money, but Daisy seems to embody the status and security that money alone cannot purchase. Her voice therefore becomes a symbol of the dream Gatsby pursues—and of the class barrier standing behind it.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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