While George Wilson’s misguided belief contributes to Jay Gatsby’s demise in “The Great Gatsby,” a deeper examination reveals that Daisy Buchanan’s reckless actions behind the wheel and in her life are the catalyst for Gatsby’s death, which is shown through their individual choices, highlighting the effect of moral behaviors in Fitzgerald’s narrative. George Wilson’s incorrect belief that Jay Gatsby was responsible for the death of his wife, Myrtle Wilson, served as a catalyst for Gatsby’s demise. George's misunderstanding stems from the chaotic events surrounding Myrtle's tragic death, where she was struck by Gatsby’s car, driven by Daisy Buchanan. Blinded by grief and fueled by a desire for vengeance, George fixates on Gatsby as a culprit, …show more content…
Daisy’s affair with Gatsby leads to Gatsby’s death because of the reckless path Daisy is going down in her life. Daisy is currently in an unfaithful marriage with Tom, where both partners are infidelity. Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy are all together and Gatsby is eager for Daisy to confess that she never loved Tom and only loves him. However, Daisy is conflicted in her emotions and acknowledges her love for both men. Daisy tells Gatsby “I did love him once- but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 102). Despite Daisy’s declaration of love for Gatsby, her inability to fully commit to either man leads to tragic consequences in the future. Daisy having an affair exemplifies her distorted morals which lead her to go down a careless path in life where she will make more careless mistakes. While George’s actions directly lead to Gatsby’s death, the deeper layers of responsibility lie in Daisy’s hands. The domino effect in a series of unfortunate events leading to Gatsby’s death starts when Daisy Buchanan decides to drive recklessly. Daisy has a heated interaction with her old lover, Gatsby, and her now husband, Tom, and Tom tells her to drive home in Jay Gatsby’s
In the 1920s novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Wilson shoots and kills Gatsby. But whos to blame? The man who pulled the trigger or other characters like Daisy, Myrtle, Tom or Gatsby himself, this leaves readers suspicious and curious with the question, who is the most responsible for Gatsby's death? Many characters throughout the novel have part with Gatsby’s death. The ending comes as a surprise to some readers which leaves the responsibility for Gatsby’s death unclear.
Though one of the smallest characters in the book, Fitzgerald took the time to craft a character that represents weakness just by being himself, and that person is George Wilson. Wilson is one of the smallest yet most important in all of The Great Gatsby. He is claimed by his wife, Myrtle, to be a “‘dirty little coward”, which is most likely one of the reasons she leaves him in the dust behind her(137). This statement establishes the fact that Wilson has a weakness of living almost in fear. Wilson is living in an emotionally abusive relationship, and like most in this situation, he does not have the courage to stand up for himself and fight back. However, this fear backfires when Wilson finds a beautiful, silver dog collar. After finding it,
Gatsby's death at the hands of George Wilson, who doesn't know Daisy killed his wife because
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
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
Instead of always being on the lookout for themselves, they often make sacrifices for others. The Great Gatsby’s selfish, egocentric acts contrast with the altruistic, selfless acts in The Grapes of Wrath through demonstrations of self sacrifice, greed, and the ability to persevere and help others in the direst of situations. After a traumatic, horrible event takes place, there are often further issues as to who will take the blame for it or who will sacrifice themselves for the blame. After an automobile hits and kills Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby, her husband George is ravenous in his attempts to find her murderer. Although it is clear that Daisy Buchanan drove the car that killed Myrtle, George shoots Gatsby due to the fact that Tom Buchanan leads him into thinking Gatsby is the driver.
The novel The Great Gatsby displays deceitfulness in many of its characters. The deceit brings many of the characters to their downfall. Gatsby had the greatest downfall of them all due to the fact it took his life. In The Great Gatsby , “ Gatsby goes to spectacular lengths to try to achieve what Nick calls ‘his incorruptible dream’ to recapture the past by getting Daisy Buchannan love” (Sutton). Gatsby always had an infatuation with Daisy, Jordan Baker said,”Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (Fitzgerald 83). Gatsby and Daisy did have a past together. While Jordan was golfing, “The Officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime[…]His name was Jay Gatsby and I didn’t lay eyes on him for over four years-even after I’d met him in long island I didn’t realize it was the same man” (Fitzgerald 80). Daisy is now in an abusive relationship with Tom Buchannan, “Nick Carraway attends a small publicly blames Tom for the bruise on her knuckle” (Sutton). When they meet again Gatsby showers Daisy with love and affection, wanting her to leave her husband Tom, but she does not want to in their society. Tom and Gatsby get into an argument and tom tells Daisy about Gatsby’s bootlegging that brought him to his riches. Tom yelled, “He a...
Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy leads to his death when he allows Daisy to drive his car when they go home from the city. Gatsby was so devoted Daisy that he would not let her take the blame for hitting and killing Myrtle. When no one confessed for the crime, George Wilson started to go from garage to garage trying to find the owner of the yellow car that killed his wife. Eventually, George arrived at the Buchanan residence, where Tom insinuated that Gatsby was the one who was driving the car and who was Myrtle’s lover. While George was at their house, Daisy did not come forward and reveal that she was the one driving the car, letting George believe Gatsby was at fault. Gatsby was shot and killed in his pool by George Wilson the next day as a result of Myrtle’s
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
The Importance of George Wilson in The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a superbly written and intrinsically captivating novel that deals with the decline of the American Dream and how vapid the upper class is. To illustrate and capture the essence of these themes, Fitzgerald uses characters Gatsby, who epitomizes the actual American Dream, and Daisy, who is based on the ideal girl. Yet, as these characters grasp the topics Fitzgerald wants to convey, there is something inherently missing from the story as a whole. To fill this void, Fitzgerald utilizes minor characters as a means to move the plot along, develop characters further, and build upon the themes present in the novel. One such character is George Wilson.
During the 1920s, the social scene was gradually changing because of the Prohibition Law; with the influence of prohibition, new waves of modern gangsters were created, and they were primarily involved in such crimes as “bootlegging” and “bank robbery.” The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote the novel of The Great Gatsby, which focuses on the unachievable love affair between Gatsby and Daisy. In this novel, Jay Gatsby confronts death by getting shot on his back by flaming pistol triggered by Mr. Wilson. However, Mr. Wilson is not the only person who is responsible for Gatsby’s death; Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan are also accountable.
On the night Myrtle was killed, Gatsby revealed to Nick that Daisy was behind the wheel, “yes he said after a moment, but of course I’ll say I was” (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 143). Without hesitation, Gatsby took the initiative to take blame for what occurred and flee the scene of the accident with Daisy. If Gatsby would have stayed or returned to the scene and let Daisy deal with her legal responsibilities, George would not have had the chance to be misled and seek
After their reunion, Gatsby and Daisy pick up where they left off, talking about old memories and future plans, Gatsby however does not see that these future plans are not entirely possible. He claims that he is going to “fix everything just the way it was before” and that he wants to restarts their new life together and leave the past couple of years behind them (118). This is saying that the pursuit of Ideals can cause a man to think irrationally and impulsively. In addition to this, Gatsby has a false sense of of safety, he states that he “wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and Say ‘I never loved you’”, obliterating three years of marriage with the statement (117). This shows how through focusing all of himself into chasing his dream, Gatsby sees his situation through rose coloured glasses.He sees only the good and ignores all the negative repercussions are at inevitable in his case. Gatsby is also shown to be very overconfident in his dream, acting impetuously and arrogantly. He confronts Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby goes to Tom and tells him that his “wife doesn’t love [him]” and that “she never loved [him]” (139). This caused Daisy to move farther from Gatsby, realizing his addictive and obsessive nature towards
Following a particularly emotionally strenuous encounter between he and Gatsby, Tom recommends that the whole group (Gatsby, himself, Nick Carraway, Daisy and Jordan Baker), head downtown, but insists that the two men swap cars. Daisy and Gatsby, who have unknowingly been suspected of their affair by Tom take off and, drunkenly, run over a woman who has run out into the street. Daisy’s hands were on the wheel. When the husband of the deceased woman inquires what really happened to Tom, as she was killed with his car. Tom blames Gatsby, and why should he not? As far as Tom knew, Gatsby was a frivolous, careless and untrustworthy man-- and all of this as a result of Gatsby’s own actions. Gatsby lives a gaudy and attention-seeking life solely for the recognition of one woman, he blatantly lies about his past and does not believe that he will be caught, and made passes at Tom’s wife right in front of him. A mix of retribution and mistaken identity take George Wilson, the woman’s wife, to Gatsby’s home, where he patiently awaits a phone call from Daisy-- presumably professing her love for him or something of the like-- that will never come. Gatsby is shot by Wilson, believing until the very end that his forbidden fruit was not lethal, and that he possessed the innate right to all of his greatest desires. It is remarked by Nick that Gatsby “paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (Fitzgerald 163);
In the story “The Great Gatsby”, by Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is shot and killed by George Wilson. Which character is to blame for this horrific incident; Gatsby himself, Daisy or Tom? In some aspects of the novel, Gatsby could have caused his own death, but its unlikely. Tom also could have been talking crap on Gatsby to get others to dislike him or think he is someone he is not. On the other hand, Daisy may be the most responsible for the death of Gatsby for her lying and not being honest about what really went on then she kit Meryl. There are many characters at fault for Gatsby’s death; however, Daisy holds the most blame.