Emma Riesner Mrs. Damuth Honors English 10 - 5th Hour 21 March 2023 Deadly Decisions Since 2019, there has been a 14% increase in deaths related to drunk driving (“Drunk Driving”). In the book, The Great Gatsby, one of the largest tipping points in the story occurred because of drunk driving, severely altering the ultimate fate of Jay Gatsby. Despite a century passed, drunk driving continues to remain a serious issue in the United States. In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Myrtle gets run over by Daisy, who had been drinking all day. Myrtle dies on impact, and her husband is seeking revenge. Since he thought that Gatsby was driving, he goes to his house and kills him. The quote, “Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn’t, so I pulled on the emergency brake,” shows how Daisy’s judgment was severely impaired, since she did not stop the car after she ran someone over (Fitzgerald 88). This is important because Daisy suffered no consequences from the law; everything fell onto Gatsby. Her actions led to the death of 3 people - Myrtle, Gatsby, and Myrtle’s husband. Beyond that, Daisy will live the rest of her life knowing that three people died due to her actions. Similarly to how today, drunk driving accidents don’t only affect …show more content…
Some reasons for this is that the media likes to glorify alcohol; for example, “borgs” have become a very popular social media trend that includes drinking half a gallon of vodka mixed with flavored water in one sitting. According to Elizabeth Shepard, “75 percent of young teens say that alcohol is easy to require.” This is a huge problem because the three leading causes of death in young adults are car crashes, homicides, and suicides- alcohol being the leading factor in all three (Shepard). Therefore, underage drinking trends contribute to the issue of drunk driving in the United