In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I believe that Daisy is to blame for Gatsby’s death. This claim can be proven through Daisy’s continuous affair with Gatsby despite Tom’s suspicions, Daisy selfish nature, and the fact that she killed Myrtle herself and let Gatsby take blame.
For example, Daisy’s continuous affair with Gatsby despite Tom’s suspicion was one of the factors in Gatsby’s death. One example of this is when Nick witnesses “Daisy’s face was smeared with tears, and when I came in she jumped up and began wiping at it with her handkerchief” (89). This quote is significant because this is Daisy and Gatsby’s first meeting and beginning of their relations after five years. Furthermore, Daisy was emotional due to the nostalgia of her love with Gatsby. This relates to his death because if Daisy and Gatsby never had an affair, Tom and Gatsby would never have had a confrontation. Furthermore, Gatsby wouldn’t have had to drive Daisy home, thus meaning Myrtle’s death would never have occurred, meaning Gatsby would have never been shot by Wilson.
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It is known that Daisy resides in the East Egg, full of people of old wealth and superficial standards. Gatsby lives in the West Egg, where residents of new money live and he gathers income through illegal means. Daisy’s East Egg personality shines through when asked by Gatsby if she loves Tom and responds with, “I never loved him” (133). This quote proves she is self-centered because in the end she chooses Tom and the comfortable, secure life he gives her. Whereas Gatsby lives a life of illegal activity that ruins her status. Therefore, “Daisy then turned her back on Gatsby and ran back to her husband leaving Gatsby alone.” Throughout this, Gatsby still adores her and will do anything for her, including take responsibility for a murder he never
Daisy, despite being completely at fault, allows Gatsby to take the blame, even though she supposedly once loved him. This shows how desperate she is to keep other’s view of her untainted, she wants to remain pure in their eyes, and killing someone with a car would shatter her image. She could not claim it was an accident for it would make her look inattentive, while if she claimed it was not an accident, it would make her look callous, neither of which would benefit her reputation. Her only option left was to let Gatsby take the blame and walk away with no consequences. If Daisy had truly loved Gatsby, it is possible that she could have bought her way out of the situation, but she didn’t love Gatsby, and this is what led to him taking the blame.
In the Great Gatsby, each character has contributions to Jay Garsby death, but some are small contributions and some are major. The character Daisy Buchanas the wife of Tom Buchanan. They live in East Egg, which represents old money. There Tom Buchanan who cheats on his wife and figures out who Jay Gatsby really is. The second to last person is George, a mechanic who lives in the Valley of Ashes who ended up killing Gatsby.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald novel “The Great Gatsby”, the character George Wilson shoots Gatsby dead. But who is really to blame for his demise? Daisy Buchanan is the real person to blame because she lead gatsby to believe she would leave Tom for him and because she should have admitted to her mistakes. Daisy Buchanan plays her share in the blame for Jay Gatsby’s death because of the way she treated Gatsby. Daisy leads Gatsby on by letting him think she was gonna leave her husband while they run away together “... she realized at last what she was doing - and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all” (132).
It is a given that every piece of work that people read will contain all sorts of characters. Those characters can range from villains, victims, or venerables. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he very thoroughly presents each of those types of characters to his readers. Mr. Wilson matches the definition of a victim in this novel by the way people deceived him and lied to him the entire time, Nick Carraway presents himself as a venerable, otherwise known as an honorable character, due to his outstanding loyalty, and Daisy Buchanan, although not seen by most, is a villain because of her actions that cause detrimental issues.
Seen by others “As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host, but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way, and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements, that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table – the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.” (Fitzgerald, 42) This quote describes Nick and how he gets invited to Gatsby’s party when he doesn’t know who Gatsby is. He asks people at the party and they have never seen him before. Gatsby is seen as mysterious to many people.
He loved her before he went to war. Gatsby is led to believe when he comes back that Daisy would return his love, but by the time he does come back, Daisy has found herself another man. She enjoys the wealthy lifestyle, one which Gatsby did not have. Gatsby decides to change this. He thinks if he could become wealthy, then Daisy would finally love him.
There may be many despicable characters in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but Daisy Buchanan is a main character that causes feuds between not only Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, Tom being her husband and Gatsby being the one she falls in love with, but Myrtle Wilson and George Wilson. Daisy is by far the most disappointing character in the book, because she leaves her child to be raised by nannies, which includes her having an affair, ends up killing someone without taking the blame, and she never shows up to Gatsby’s funeral. Daisy might have loved Tom at one point, but she really never wanted to marry him. When Gatsby comes into the picture, she instantly is overwhelmed with Gatsby’s devotions towards her.
Fitzgerald uses his characters to perfectly convey the theme of secrecy and treachery. What makes this theme so important is that it creates the plot of The Great Gatsby. It’s what makes the story so exciting and heartbreaking. Without Daisy telling the truth that she drove the car that killed Myrtle, Gatsby would not be dead. If Tom had not cheated on Daisy with Myrtle, George would have never hit her, or found out about the affair.
Daisy was morally responsible for Gatsby's death because of her willingness to have an affair with him knowing she was married, and also for allowing Gatsby to take the blame for Myrtle's death. She also caused problems between tom and Gatsby. Daisy did not have morals and could be considered manipulative. Daisy should also have been held responsible for Gatsby's death even though George shot him to death. Daisy could have been honest and told everyone the truth that she ran over and killed Myrtle.
Nick put it best when he said, ¨ 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.” There were many people to blame for the tragic ending of The Great Gatsby but the one who had possibly some of the most responsibility is Daisy. Daisy’s materialistic attitude and her ditziness and her dishonesty toward Gatsby and Tom contributed immensely to the outcome of the book. Her irresponsible and childish behavior indeed led to the great tragedy of The Great Gatsby. One of Daisy’s failing traits is her materialistic attitude.
Once denying the offer to come inside the Buchanans house, Nick explains,”’I had not gone twenty yards when I heard my name and Gatsby stepped from between two bushes into the path’”(Fitzgerald 142). The night of Myrtle’s death Gatsby went to the Buchanan 's house and hid in between two bushes, so that he could watch over Daisy. By sitting outside and watching over Daisy, shows the love and compassion that he has for Daisy, so that she does not get hurt. After Myrtle’s death Nick asks was Daisy driving, Gatsby explains, “’yes’, he said after a moment,’ but of course I’ll say I was’”(Fitzgerald 143).
Who is responsible for killing Jay Gatsby? Was it Tom? Daisy? George? Was it just simply himself?
(99) In this moment, Gatsby makes it clear to Daisy that he could easily provide her with the same lifestyle she shares with Tom. Once Gatsby captures Daisy’s affection, he becomes full of greed and doesn’t want to believe she ever gave any of her love to Tom. “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’” (118) When Daisy states “‘Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,’ (142), Gatsby begins to feel a “touch of panic” (142). All of his parties, stories, and entire persona were all fabricated to win Daisy back.
In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Daisy is portrayed as a modern woman; she is sophisticated, careless and beautifully shallow. Daisy knows who she is, and what it takes for her to be able to keep the lifestyle she grew up in, and this adds to her carelessness and her feigned interest in life. In all, Daisy is a woman who will not sacrifice material desires or comfort for love or for others, and her character is politely cruel in this way. Daisy’s main strength, which buoyed her throughout her youth and when she was in Louisville, is her ability to know what was expected of her and feign cluelessness.
In my opinion, Tom is most responsible for Gatsby’s death. I believe that Tom is most responsible because Tom forgot to tell George that Daisy was the driver of Gatsby’s car the night Myrtle was hit by it. Tom forgot to tell George that because him and Daisy were plotting this out. I could tell something was up when Nick refers that “Tom and Daisy talking in the house(146). I also think that Daisy is a little bit responsible because she took on some bad morals when she hit Myrtle because she could have stopped the car after she hit Myrtle.