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Kiley Branum
Mrs.Schenck
English 11
Period 5
15 February 2022
Gatsby Essay
In the historical fiction book The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerlad, Gatsby had been
tragically murdered, while the man who is seen behind the gun is George Wilson, Daisy
Buchanon, and her husband Tom should be the one at fault since they had caused the
misconception. The Great Gatsby takes place in New York during the roaring ’20s. A wealthy
new money man by the name of Jay Gatsby is trying to pursue a past lover that he still has
feelings for by the name of Daisy Buchanan. Daisy had left him when he was poor for a man
with money, Gatsby worked hard to gained success and riches throughout the years in hopes of
getting the love of his life back, Daisy had gotten remarried and the book continues to go further
into depth on what happens between them and the rest of the characters throughout the story.
Daisy and her husband Tom should be held accountable for their actions throughout the
book. They both portray the destroyer archetype because of how careless they act throughout the
story within themselves and by the way they treat others. Tom and Daisy are also the main
reason for Gatsby’s death, Which proves they cannot take accountability for their actions. An
example in the text is when Nick Carraway, the non-biased narrator describes them by saying,
“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.”(Fitzgerlad) This claim supports
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the fact that they are reckless and are liable to blame for Gatsby’s tragic death. The whole
incident that had caused the death of Gatsby was because Daisy had been driving incautiously in
Gatsby’s car around town when she had hit and killed Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson’s wife.
Once the incident had occurred, Daisy had feared for her own self that she was going to be in
trouble so she carelessly drove away and had stated ``I won't stand this".cried Daisy."Oh, please
let's get out".(Fitzgerald 133) Daisy not only fled the scene after running over Myrtle with no
empathy or regard that she had fled away in Gatsby's car, but she also was not considerate
enough to stop and see if Myrtle was okay and made a heartless decision. Not only Did Daisy do
a hit and run but when the policemen were at the scene trying to gather details, Tom had claimed
“I’m a friend of his'', “He says he knows the car that did it, it was a yellow car”(Gatsby 140).
Tom had gone into interrogation and blamed the whole incident on Gatsby knowingly that Daisy
was the one driving. Between the two of them, they have already caused the entire
misconception that the car accident was all due to Gatsby. Tom was seemingly scornful towards
Gatsby after he had found out Gatsby was in love with Daisy and had blamed him on authorities
on purpose to make himself feel better. Tom did this because of the fact that his wife is unfaithful
towards him and saw Gatsby as a threat. This proves That Tom and Daisy had an unhealthy bond
in their marriage, it also provides a sense of how they handled issues in their relationship. This
further provides to the reader how Daisy and Tom were both responsible for the lead-up to
Gatsby's death.
Another person responsible for Gatsbys murdering was George Wilson. George was the
man who did the dirty work of shooting Gatsby. George was clearly in shock and distraught that
his wife had been killed, “Some man was talking to him in a low voice and attempting from time
to time to lay a hand on his shoulder, but Wilson neither heard nor saw. His eyes would drop
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slowly from the swinging light to the laden table by the wall and then jerk back to the light again
and he gave out incessantly his high horrible call. ‘O, my Ga-od! O, my Ga-od! Oh, Ga-od! Oh,
my Ga-od!’”(Fitzgerlad) seemingly still facing shock and anger, George did not know what to do
with himself. It is clear that George had gone through the different stages of grief and was trying
to process his emotions, he also was falling into a depressive state, in the book it says “Wilson’s
glazed eyes turned out to the ashheaps, where small gray clouds took on fantastic shape and
scurried here and there in the faint dawn wind.”(Fitzgerald) This state that Wilson is facing was
causing him anger and wanting to seek revenge after he had been grieving. Once he had found
out from Tom that ‘Gatsby’ was the one who killed his wife, he showed up to his mansion with a
gun. Wilson had coldly murdered Gatsby while he was sitting in his pool. Once Gatsbys servant
had heard gunshots they stated” It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the
gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was
complete.”(Fitzgerald 162) Wilson was so depressed and angered his plan was to murder Gatsby
than murder hismelf so he would not have to face the consequences of punishment or pain from
It is confirmed throughout the textual evidence stated in the book that Daisy and Tom are
the main reasoning for Gatsby's death. Although Wilson had shot Gatsby, all of this could've
been avoided if Daisy were to be less reckless and if Tom were not to misconstrue the
information to the police and tell George Wilson That Gatsby had run over Myrtle Wilson.