The Great Gatsby Essay

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Nick Carraway says: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (Fitzgerald 170). Nick makes this observation about his family in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald. In the spring of 1922, Nick moves to West Egg and meets a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby; there he witnesses Gatsby longing for a life with Daisy Buchanan and failing to achieve the American dream. Tom and Daisy initially show their carelessness by deciding to marry each other when neither of them were fully committed. Their thoughtless behavior carries on through their marriage as they both partake in affairs and emotionally torture their partners. When the Buchanans show their next act of carelessness it results in the death of three people. In “The Great Gatsby”, Tom and Daisy continually show how careless they are and there are many repercussions to their actions. Tom and Daisy Buchanan originally show how careless they are by deciding to get married and having love play a very small role in the decision. Daisy’s love for Jay Gatsby is undeniable, but as he spent many years away from her, the pressure to do something with her life grew. She grew tired of waiting for Gatsby to return from the war and: “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately – and the decision must be made by some force” (Fitzgerald 144). Daisy felt a burden to get married and the feeling of loneliness from Gatsby’s absence gave Tom the opportunity to come into her life. She was careless in her decision to get married and similarly, Tom was careless in his decision ... ... middle of paper ... ...ne he shows no remorse. He is responsible for their deaths and he refuses to own up to it. Tom and Daisy’s carelessness cause the deaths of three people and they both do not hold themselves accountable. With many consequences to their careless actions, Tom and Daisy from “The Great Gatsby” don’t understand the enormity of their wrong doings. Their decision to marry each other was one of the first careless acts that they perform together. Later on in their marriage they both have affairs and carelessly, without thought, lead their partners on and play with their emotions. The thoughtless and reckless behavior continues on and ultimately results in the death of Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson and George Wilson. It seems that the only people who get caught in the aftermath of Tom and Daisy’s careless actions are innocent bystanders, and never them, themselves.

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