Who Was Responsible For Gatsby's Death Essay

Michael Tatten

Ms. Marcucio

American Literature

24 April 2023

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, readers are left with many questions at the end, but the question that triumphs all other questions is, who is responsible for Jay Gatsby’s death? There are many characters that could be deemed responsible. Among those characters is Jay Gatsby. He is the main character in the novel. Some would argue that his obsessions in life, is what leads to his downfall. Another man that could be blamed is Tom Buchanon. Tom is an arrogant, old-fashioned man, who can make a lot of things go his way in life using his money and power. The man who shot Gatsby takes some blame as well. His name is George Wilson. Some could argue Daisy,

Tom manipulated George Wilson into believing that it was Gatsby who killed Myrtle in the accident, while in reality, it was Daisy. “He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped his car (Fitzgerald 136).” The excerpt above is what Tom told George Wilson, Gatsby did. He said Gatsby killed Myrtle. This obviously led to Wilson’s hatred for Gatsby. Tom also convinced George that it was Gatsby, having an affair with Myrtle, when in reality, it was really Tom. Tom told George that Gatsby was Myrtle's lover. “I told him the truth (Fitzgerald 136).” Tom told George that Gatsby was the one who was taking his wife from him. Wilson’s anger and hatred for Gatsby grew and Wilson killed Gatsby. All of this misinformation from Tom, got a man murdered. Tom didn’t pull the trigger, but many will argue he is the main cause. Not all the blame can go on Tom though, because he isn’t the one who pulled the

Daisy is responsible because she leads Gatsby to believe there is a future between them. At Gatsby’s second party, Daisy is openly flirting with Gatsby in front of Tom. This is an example of Daisy leading Gatsby on. After Gatsby died, Daisy didn’t seem to care. She didn’t attend the funeral, send anything, or even talk to Nick. “There were careless people, Tom and Daisy, — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or vast carelessness… and let other people clean up the mess they had made (Fitzgerald 137).” This shows Daisy really didn’t care about Gatsby and is really just attracted to the lavish lifestyle she lives. She never deserved Gatsby, and could take some blame for his death. This argument deserves refuting because Daisy can’t control how Gatsby feels about her, therefore she probably should not be blamed for his