Great Gatsby Selfishness

The Tragic Side

It is believed tragedy is the cause of devastation. Many may not know what a tragedy is, or know what classifies as one. A Tragedy is an awful incident that should not have taken place because at least one person is always hurt. One thing to remember is every tragedy has a fatal flaw which could be almost anything desired in your mind. Subjects such as selfishness are a main cause especially in this book. All three characters talked about carry this trait with them, since it is inside them. In the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald many characters have the fatal flaw of selfishness that leads to great tragedy.

Daisy Buchanan is a selfish rich woman whose best interest is in money solemnly. She

This causes tragedy to happen and it is all through a sequence of events. Simply Myrtle does not love George because he is poor, she decides to have an affair with Tom Buchanan. Even when she is abused by Tom she does not care because all she wants to do is be with Tom since he has more money than he knows what to do with. Nobody wants to be abused it is inhumane. We hear of the abuse when Nick sees, “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. Then there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and women's voices scolding and high over confusion a long broken wail of pain”(ndjnj). Tom decides to hit Myrtle because she says Daisy's name, which is not a valid reason to break someone's nose. Myrtle does not even care that much she would rather be abused and with Tom than with her husband who cannot provide for her. It really is interesting what women put up with from Tom. At a certain point George her husband suspects she is having an affair with someone. He is going to move Myrtle to another location since he is scared he will lose the love of his life. Meanwhile she couldn't care less about him. Tom realizes Myrtle is leaving when he is filling up with gas and George has a conversation about it, “What do you want money for all of a sudden?’ ‘I’ve been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go west’. ‘Your wife does’ exclaimed

Jays love for Daisy is so strong that he scares her and ends up pushing her away since he asks too much of her. Asking someone to say to say you never loved your husband of a few years is unrealistic, causing Daisy to leave. He does not know this until Daisy tells him at the hotel, “‘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 to’. Gatsby's eyes opened and closed. ‘You loved me too?’ he repeated.”(140). Daisy explains to Gatsby he asks too much from her, it’s something she simply cannot give him. We can tell Gatsby is in shock from hearing this because she is all that matters to him. He does not want to admit that it has been to long to go back and change it. Daisy just denies him which hurts. Even after he gets rejected he decides to lie for her in the end it is the death of him. Everyone believes Gatsby was driving the car but really it was Daisy when Myrtle was killed. Jay tries to protect Daisy, he literally died for her. It all makes sense when he he tells the story to Nick after Myrtle gets killed, “‘Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes’, he said after a moment, ‘But of course I’ll say I was. You see, when we left New York she was very nervous and she thought