Mystery of Jay Gatsby's Death
When two people are in love, more in love than Romeo and Juliet. The kind of love that their significant other shows them often blinds them, causing them to be selfish and lose sight of what defines love. Daisy is caught up in the amount of love that Gatsby shows to her. Daisy is misleading Gatsby to believe that she is going to leave Tom to be with him. Gatsby ends up in a debacle that leads to his death, all because of the amount of trust and love that he has for Daisy. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy is the one most responsible for Jay Gatsby's death; although she does not pull the trigger, she is playing games with Gatsby's heart and is a selfish person, conveying the message that love clouds a person’s judgment.
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First off, Fitzgerald makes it clear that Daisy is the one to blame for Gatsby's death, when she forgets that her actions are affecting the people around her.
Fitzgerald writes, “She realized at last what she was doing and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all” (Fitzgerald 139). Daisy is leading Gatsby on throughout the story, because she leads him to believe that she is going to leave Tom when she has no intentions of doing so. Daisy tells Gatsby, “‘I did love him once- but I loved you too’” (Fitzgerald 140). Daisy shows her confused feelings regarding her love for both Tom and Gatsby. She is confused and does not want to have to choose between the two of them. Daisy takes advantage of the love that Gatsby has for her which gets him killed in the long
run. Another reason that Daisy is responsible for Gatsby's death is the fact that she let Gatsby take the blame for killing Myrtle. Nick asks Gatsby, “‘Was Daisy driving?’” (Fitzgerald 151) and Gatsby tells him that she was. This conversation between Nick and Gatsby shows how selfish Daisy is for letting Gatsby take the blame. It also brings up the notion that if she really loved him she would have spoken up and told the truth to everyone. Additionally, Fitzgerald shows that Daisy does not care for Gatsby when Nick explains, “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken luggage with them” (172). This shows how daisy’s judgement becomes cloudy because she is in love with tom and if she stays to give Gatsby a chance Willison will find out the truth and kill daisy. “What if I did tell him? [Wilson] That fellow had it coming to him” (Fitzgerald 187). Nick is saying this because Nick knows if Gatsby would have told Wilson the truth about who killed Myrtle when he asked, Gatsby's fate would have been different. Daisy was selfish and made the wrong decision by letting Gatsby take the blame for Myrtle's death. If Daisy would have been truthful than Gatsby could have still been alive. Daisy’s inability to love anyone but herself and her extensive part in Gatsby's death conveys the message that love clouds people's judgment. Her actions put Gatsby in a tough position. He is led to believe that she loves him more than Tom, and he also is tricked into taking the blame for Myrtle's death. All in all, Daisy is self-seeking and constantly shows throughout the novel that she does not care about anyone but herself. Daisy is responsible for Gatsby's death. If she was more attentive of her actions Gatsby may have lived longer.
Her only profession is finding ways to keep her husband satisfied. So, that he should procure whatever she currently desires. The constant state of leisure that surrounds her everyday life gets too boring for Daisy. She seeks new, exciting, and passionate beginnings in her life. After all, Daisy Buchannan always gets what she wants. When Jay Gatsby finds himself reacquainted with his lost love, Daisy takes this opportunity to entertain her presently dull lifestyle. Their escapades all suited Daisy, until Gatsby presented Daisy with an ultimatum. She had to tell Tom she never loved him, and then she can run away to live happily with a man who adores her. The idea seemed romantic, until Tom caught on to Daisy’s deception. Of course he would still want her, and he made a few convincing arguments to keep Daisy from leaving him. Daisy left for the Buchannan’s house with Gatsby feeling conflicted and confused about Tom’s promise of a better marriage. In her disgruntled state, Daisy wound up killing Tom’s mistress in a hit-and-run car accident, a true show of irony. She didn’t even stop to see if the person she hit was alright, and she honestly didn’t care. Daisy continued her way home, because her relationship was more important than the death of a human
The character of Jay Gatsby was a wealthy business man, who the author developed as arrogant and tasteless. Gatsby's love interest, Daisy Buchanan, was a subdued socialite who was married to the dim witted Tom Buchanan. She is the perfect example of how women of her level of society were supposed to act in her day. The circumstances surrounding Gatsby and Daisy's relationship kept them eternally apart. For Daisy to have been with Gatsby would have been forbidden, due to the fact that she was married. That very concept of their love being forbidden, also made it all the more intense, for the idea of having a prohibited love, like William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, made it all the more desirable. Gatsby was remembering back five years to when Daisy was not married and they were together:
Even though at first when they finally got together after all those years and everything seem great and romantic but good things always come to an end. The affair effected Gatsby in his life by having him back the old love he first had for Daisy even hoping for a lifetime future together. His dream is very much vivid about his romantic hopes about Daisy in his mind, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). He seems to be falling deeper in love with her even maybe more than the love she really had for him even though through the end of the chapters her love that she claims to have for him seemed not truly. In New York, the truth comes out more about she feels about Gatsby by being questioned and feeling guilty when Tom gets to the fact that she loves him and not Gatsby but Gatsby rejects his sayings and tells Daisy to say how she truly feel about him. Over all the excitement, Daisy tells how she truly feel about the whole love affair, “I did love him once but I loved you too” (132). It is possible that the leading of Gatsby’s death was caused from Tom’s jealousy of his wife’s confessed love for Gatsby. Tom would had told Wilson that Gatsby was the driver of the car that killed Myrtle and her secret
“’Did you see any trouble on the road?’ he asked after a minute. ‘Yes.’ He hesitated. ‘Was she killed?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘I thought so; I told Daisy I thought so. It’s better that the shock should all come at once. She stood it pretty well.’ He spoke as if Daisy’s reaction was the only thing that mattered.” Gatsby’s hesitation before asking “Was she killed” means he has bad memories from mentioning murder, especially since he was involved in one. The damage in reputation that this kill could possibly result in is enough to hurt Gatsby, and his achievements will have become worthless. During the part where Gatsby claims that he “thought so; I told Daisy I thought so. It’s better that the shock should all come at once. She stood it pretty well,” Gatsby
Wanting to be with her true love again, she sneaks visits with him without Tom knowing. Just like Myrtle had, Daisy torn into her own marriage. She loved both men, but as soon as it was found out, the men began fighting for her. “I glanced at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband…” (Fitzgerald 143). This isn’t what Daisy wanted at all. At some point Daisy loved Tom, and it’s very likely that she still does, regardless of all of his cheating. Living a life of riches for so long has affected her with affluenza, blinding her morals as it did to Tom. When someone already has everything they could ever ask for, they’re still going to want more. Something to work for, or else life becomes boring as Daisy points out many times in the novel. When both men she loves are threatening each other and fighting for her fondness she’s realized what she’s done wrong. She’s fallen into the same trap as Myrtle, being stuck between two men, but she still has feelings for Tom.“I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back and I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband. If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily and say ‘Where’s Tom gone?’” (Fitzgerald 83). Gatsby tries to convince Daisy that she loves him and only him, yet Daisy actually loves them both. After Daisy was married she could think about anything except Tom, while Gatsby has spent the five
Gatsby’s true dream is made abundantly clear throughout the entire text; winning Daisy back and reigniting the flaming love they once had. Gatsby’s dream of having Daisy divides him from his power at one critical point in the text, “Then I turned back to Gatsby-and was startled by his expression. He looked-and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden-as if he had ‘killed a man.’ For a moment the set of his face could be described in just that fantastic way” (134). As Gatsby is arguing with Tom over Daisy and whom she loves, he loses himself to his temper and emotion. He embarrasses himself and soils the image of himself that he's built up for others to see, and loses his perceived power. Gatsby also shows a lack of personal integrity, esteem, and power when he requests for Daisy to say she never loved Tom at any point in time, such as when he says, “‘Daisy, that’s all over now,’ he said earnestly. ‘It doesn’t matter any more. Just tell him the truth-that you never loved him-and it’s all wiped out forever’”
Tom suspects that Gatsby and Daisy are having a relationship, but has no evidence to prove it. However, whenever Tom would leave the room, Daisy would immediately run into Gatsby’s arms to show her affection. To their dismay, Tom sees this: “She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw” (Fitzgerald 126). This leads to a confrontation between Gatsby and Tom, where Gatsby boldly declares that “Your wife [Daisy] doesn’t love you …She’s never loved you. She loves me” (Fitzgerald 139). Gatsby feels untouchable, and his confidence in Daisy’s love for him allows him to declare this to Tom. However, Tom slowly gains control of Daisy, reminding her of the experiences they shared together. Realizing this, Gatsby becomes desperate, and attempts to force Daisy into saying things she doesn’t believe, but Daisy tells Gatsby the truth: “’Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom… It wouldn’t be true’” (Fitzgerald 142). Gatsby is delusional because his only thought is proving to Tom that Daisy doesn’t love him, and fails to realize that he is slowly losing Daisy. He is once again so absorbed by Daisy that he fails to realize what is going on around him. Even after Daisy runs over a woman murdering her in cold blood, Gatsby is willing to take the blame for her, and states “of course I’ll say [to the police] I was [driving]” (Fitzgerard 154). Gatsby still loves Daisy after she commits murder, which is a testament to his obsession and delusion over her. Gatsby is willing to go to prison and lose everything because Gatsby still believes that Daisy loves him despite Tom proving
Daisy was somewhat of a bystander. She stood around and watched as Tom had an affair with Myrtle, and then as Gatsby and Tom hatched it for long periods of time. With an abusive husband like Tom, Daisy didn’t exactly have the strength and confidence to stand up for herself and choose what she wanted. She did not really love Tom, or Gatsby wouldn’t have been of love interest to her, so when Tom and Myrtle had this affair, it didn’t phase her. Although, she had these feelings towards another man, she knew she couldn’t leave Tom because he was much stronger than her, and could easily hurt her. It was clear to me that she wanted to leave with Gatsby, but when put in the situation of admitting it to her husband, she was panicked. Tom, of all people, should understand the possibility of loving another, but is extremely hypocritical and scares her into staying. On the contrary, Daisy performed one despicable act that resulted in the death of her true love. She was the driver of the car that hit, and killed Myrtle, but instead of fessing up to it, she blamed Gatsby. He was shot because of the accusation that he was the murder, and bashed all over town; so much so that all those people that came to all his parties, refused to come to his funeral. Daisy herself, failed to make an appearance at this event, which makes me wonder whether Gatsby was her love, or her
To start off, Gatsby was convinced he was in love with Daisy, however that’s not the case. Jay Gatsby was a twisted man who was obsessed not with Daisy but with the idea of having her. Gatsby’s feelings for Daisy were not genuine; he just loved the crazy notion of having her. She played along with it and made him think that she would leave Tom, but lets face it, it was never going to happen. Daisy did not give a crap about Gatsby and everyone knows it, except for him. Daisy used Gatsby to make her husband jealous because she knew that Gatsby would do anything for her.
Daisy Buchanan, in reality, is unable to live up the illusory Daisy that Gatsby has invented in his fantasy. After Daisy and Tom Buchanan leave another one of Gatsby’s splendid parties, Fitzgerald gives the reader a glimpse into what Gatsby’s expectations are. Fitzgerald claims that “he wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’” (109). Here it is revealed that Gatsby’s one main desire is for Daisy to go willingly...
The Great Gatsby is a romantic tale built upon lust, mistrust, love, and jealousy. This
“He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it; he did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in the vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” (Fitzgerald, 180). This novel, The Great Gatsby, was written by an insightfully amorous man names F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story was, loosely, based off of his life of love, trouble, parties, and death. The Great Gatsby is a story about an observant unbiased man named Nick Carraway who helps out young proscribed love. But he fails to perceive the foreshadowed future of the two estranged couple that is Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Throughout the entire novel, all the way till the end, Gatsby never gives up on his hope to win Daisy over from Tom. Whenever Gatsby feels that he has won, something happens that brings everyone, including him, disappointment.
Throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, relationships developed and the inevitable happened. Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby rekindled their love, or so it seemed. Daisy Buchanan has an unmistakable elusive quality about herself. Fitzgerald correlates Daisy with the sun because of this quality. Fitzgerald also correlates Gatsby with darkness. Darkness can not survive where there is light, therefore Daisy’s and Gatsby’s love can not survive.
The Great Gatsby presents the main character Jay Gatsby, as a poor man who is in love with his best friends cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby was in love with Daisy, his first real love. He was impressed with what she represented, great comfort with extravagant living. Gatsby knew he was not good enough for her, but he was deeply in love. “For a moment a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted like a dumb man’s”(Fitzgerald 107). Gatsby could not think of the right words to say. Daisy was too perfect beyond anything he was able to think of. Soon Gatsby and Daisy went their separate ways. Jay Gatsby went into the war while telling Daisy to find someone better for her, someone that will be able to keep her happy and provide for her. Gatsby and Daisy loved one another, but he had to do what was best for her. Gatsby knew the two might not meet again, but if they did, he wanted things to be the same. “I 'm going to fix everything just the way it was before”(Fitzgerald 106). He wanted Daisy to fall in love with him all over again. Unsure if Daisy would ever see Gatsby again, she got married while he was away. The two were still hugely in love with one another, but had to go separate ways in their
In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy struggles between her desire to be with someone she truly loves and her rational to be with someone who will give her social and financial stability. Ultimately, Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby as he is the safer option once Gatsby is revealed to be untruthful, showing that she is predominately interested in a steady life.