The True Killer of Jay Gatsby Jay Gatsby lies dead, sprawled across the floatie in his pool. But whose fault is it when the question question of responsibility comes up? At the end of the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby, formerly known as James Gatz, is murdered. George Wilson is the gunman who took Gatsby's and his own life at the end of the story. However, is Wilson really to blame for Gatsby's death? With many people in the story who affect his life and his decisions, there is greater texture to the original question then noticed at first. There are many elements that contribute to the murder of Gatsby. It is clear that someone other than Mr. Wilson bears greater responsibility for this crime. Daisy Buchanan, …show more content…
When Gatsby asked nick “want to go with me[hydroplaning], old sport?... Any time that suits you best”(Fitzgerald, ). Nick just was easily influenced and admires him so much that he couldn’t say no. Even when Gatsby asked Nick to have tea with Daisy, Nick said it was no problem, without hesitation.These are not the qualities of a man who is truly a killer. Anyone that can be easily manipulated as easy as that doesn't have the power to corrupt someone's mind enough to get them killed. Tom Buchanan is a strong, powerful, and forceful picture of a man who cares only about himself. He first meets Gatsby in the second half of the book because Gatsby is trying to steal daisy from him. Although Tom is a powerful rich man he is also a coward. He told George “The yellow car that I was driving this afternoon wasn't mine”(Fitzgerald, 140). There were many more ways for tom to give out the information, from turning it to the police or for waiting for george to ask him. Even though Tom offers George false information, eventually leading him to Gatsby's home, he is still less culpable than others. Tom's actions were unwarranted and could have been avoided. This is because his wife was the person who tempted Gatsby first. Daisy is one of the socially eccentric characters who is most responsible for Gatsby's death even though she did not pull the trigger largely because of her carelessness with the people around her. There are many points in
More literally, Daisy ruins Gatsby by killing Myrtle Wilson and letting him take the blame for it, thus ultimately causing his death. Of course, one may argue that Gatsby himself is willing to take the blame for her:
was him who ran over Myrtle, so Daisy would not get in trouble. This leads to Myrtle’s husband, George Wilson, killing Gatsby because Wilson believed Gatsby killed Myrtle. Gatsby’s death is the ultimate representation of the failure of the American dream. Although hundreds of people would come to Gatsby’s parties, nobody came to his funeral. Nick explains that, “At first I was surprised and confused; then as [Gatsby] lay in his house and didn’t move or breathe or speak hour upon hour it grew upon me that I was responsible, because no one else was interested...” (Fitzgerald ch. 9). Daisy not showing up at Gatsby’s funeral, having no guilt about killing
responsible for the tragedy that engendered Tom to send Wilson after Gatsby, but not before she
Who is responsible for the death of Jay Gatsby? Was it George? Was it Daisy? Or was it Tom? The first person that usually is to blame is the one who pulls the trigger. In this case George is the one who pulled the trigger, but he’s not the only one responsible. Tom and Daisy were also responsible for the death of Jay Gatsby.
Who was most responsible for Gatsby’s death? I believe george Is the one that is most responsible for Gatsby death because he find out that gatsby was having a affair with his wife myrtle and mr. wilson believe that gatsby killed his wife because he was having a affair with her and he killed gatsby out anger. After he was at rage and probably wanted him dead and that's why i think he did it .
In the book “ The Great Gatsby “ by the author Fitzgerald, he introduced Tom Buchanan as a football star in college, who grew up having everything that lead him to being a person who hated other people. Tom Buchanan is also Daisy’s husband, who is powerful. He is controlling, he likes to tell people what to do and likes to boss them around. He is also an unfaithful man; he doesn't like to keep things serious as he is supposed to. Tom is a strong built man who has a very conceited manner as if he is better than anyone else.
Daisy represents hypocrisy in the novel. Her character shows that people can be so blinded by money and wealth, that they will save themselves over the ones that love them. The novel suggests that at one point she was madly in love with Gatsby. When he comes back to her, after many years, she has been too altered by wealth to see that she still loves him deep down. This is shown through the quote "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" (246). Daisy’s name also suggests that her character is pure and innocent on the outside, but tainted and impure in the center, correlating with the petals of a Daisy with a yellow center. She is called “The Golden Girl” and is also called white many times throughout the novel suggesting that she puts on a clean and perfect persona to the general public. Another example of her being a fraud is when she hits and kills Myrtle Wilson with Gatsby’s car. Gatsby was in the passenger seat when the accident happened, but wouldn’t let Daisy take the blame because of his immeasurable love for
One of the main reasons for Gatsby’s death was himself. He had one major flaw that brought his whole life to ruin. Even though Gatsby could’ve prevented his own death, Myrtle and Tom were also big causes that led to it.
Daisy Buchanan is the person that Gatsby is in love with. She is an example of perfection in Gatsby’s eyes; she is wealthy, graceful, sophisticated and charming. She is the symbol of what Gatsby strives for. “Was Daisy driving?” “Yes” “but of course I’ll say I was.” (143) this Shows that daisy is careless about other people’s lives, she let Gatsby take the blame for the accident she caused that killed Myrtle. And she shows no concern or guilt about Gatsby’s death. “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone except for me.” (130). This proves that Daisy was materialistic and all she wanted was money, even if it meant she wouldn’t be happy. Daisy shows the corruption of the American Dream through her materialistic
To everyone else, Gatsby was an “Oxford man,” as he called himself, mysterious, and extremely private about his personal life, and thus many rumors circulated around him. Nobody knew of the real Jay Gatsby, small town James Gatz, because he was simply unglamorous and uninteresting to the American public of the 1920s. Furthermore, everything that he did was for Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby tried to win her love back and failed, a nonsensical belief on his part; however, he pursued it anyway. It was his obsession with her ultimately led to his death since he would do anything to protect the girl that he loved even though she would not reciprocate his feelings completely or do the same for him. Jay Gatsby would be undoubtedly deserving of being called “great” had it not been for Daisy Buchanan who was like his
Even though he has achieved his goals, his longing dream has been just a lost hope in his empty heart. Similarly, to Tom he has wealth, power, and his wife’s love; however, he has a mistress thinking that would be sufficient to cover his emptiness. Another similarity is how both of them use people to do what they want. For instance, Tom Buchanan took advantage of George's emotional state and poverty to get involved with his wife, Myrtle. In order to, cover his infidelity with Myrtle accused Gatsby of killing his wife and of having an affair with Myrtle. He took advantage of his emotional state when Myrtle died to poison George against Gatsby, which he got Daisy back and got rid of Gatsby, simultaneously. In the book, states, “He was crazy enough to kill me if I hadn’t told him who owned the car. His hand was on a revolver... He broke off defiantly. "What if I did tell him? That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy's, but he was a tough one” (
Undoubtedly, Tom is responsible in part for Gatsby's death because he tells Wilson that Gatsby killed his wife. Tom admits that Wilson came to his house with a loader revolver to ask Tom about who killed his wife. Tom recalls the experience to Nick: “What if I did tell him? That fellow (Gatsby) had it coming” (178). Some may argue that Tom thought he was telling the truth and here, but even if he has not yet spoken with Daisy -- and thus lying outright to protect her -- there exists some doubt in his mind
To add with Tom, Daisy is the most immoral person in the novel. In the beginning of this novel, she is portrayed as a sweet and innocent girl from Louisville. Throughout the story, she develops into the character that is needed in order to convey the meaning of moral decline. Daisy is immoral because she runs over and kills Myrtle, and she is careless about her crime. The “Death Car”, as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered around the next bend” (139). She is losing her values because she is using Gatsby to get back at Tom for cheating on her. At the end of the novel, she goes as far as leaving town with Tom; she doesn’t even attend Gatsby’s funeral nor leave any flowers. Daisy is just a complete immoral character all-around.
Jay Gatsby’s downfall was inevitable from the start of the story, who caused his downfall is the main unanswered question in the plot. It can be said that Wilson, Gatsby’s killer, caused his downfall. One can also claim that Gatsby himself caused his downfall through his strange obsession with Daisy. However, i believe the main culprit in the story is Tom. Due to Tom being married to Daisy, telling Wilson about Gatsby’s car, and being higher on the social scale, he is the clear character responsible for Gatsby’s downfall.
Next, in every version of the great Gatsby, there was someone who said, “somebody told me that he killed a man once” or “it’s more that he was a German spy during the war.” He was nothing but a self-made man who almost obtained his goal. He never tells anyone who he truly is except for Nick, because he really trusts Nick more than anyone he’s ever met even Daisy. Which shows his real Identity and friendly persona.