The Great Gatsby Review Film Studies Essay

Fitzgerald does not use a straightforward tone in the Great Gatsby, which leaves unanswered questions throughout the book. Especially at the end where Gatsby is killed by George because of the death to his wife in a car accident. It have been said that it was a yellow royal royce which ran over Myrtle. For that reason, George thinks it is Gatsby who caused the accident, although it was Daisy who drove the car. In spite of the fact that it is only Nick, Gatsby, Daisy and apparently Tom, who knows that it was Daisy behind the wheel, Tom takes the advantage and blame the accident on Gatsby to a frustrated and distressed George. In the whole, this leaves us suspicious and curious with the question, who is the most responsible for Gatsby’s death?

To begin with, George contributes a major role to Gatsby’s death and is morally responsible since he ultimately pulled the trigger. It is a pity that George was victimized by the immorality of the rich, however murder is an immoral act and George did not have a right to put a bullet through Gatsby’s head, no matter what the circumstances. In my opinion, George should have let justice and take its course by letting the police handle the situation. Nevertheless, he did pull the trigger and for that reason George is in part and morally responsible for Gatsby’s death.

In spite of Tom’s affair with Myrtle and his tattling on Gatsby, he can be morally blamed for the murder. Tom was the one who gossiped to George and told it was Gatsby’s car that hit Myrtle, however he did not mention that it was Daisy driving. Although it was never directly shown that Tom knew that Daisy was behind the wheel, we get an insight of Tom’s knowledge because they leave town the day after the accident. However, the car accident was not the only provocation that gave George intention to kill Gatsby, but also his impression of Gatsby being the one having the affair with his wife. Tom seized his opportunity and took the advantage to get off the hook for his sin and directed it to Gatsby. On the whole, this made himself even more morally incorrect and hence, is Tom clearly justifiable taking the blame by contributing to Gatsby’s death.

There is no denying that Daisy is also an addition to the contribute to Gatsby’s death. She on the other hand, plays a relatively major role and can be put morally responsible for it because of her bad behavior. She is playing immaturely with Gatsby and enjoy their secret affair as long as she can. However, when the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy became complicated, Daisy obviously traps back to Tom which was secure, leaving Gatsby heartbroken. After all, it was the car accident which led more directly to the death of Gatsby, when Daisy killed Myrtle behind the wheel and neglected to stop. Due to the deep love that Gatsby has for Daisy and his desire to protect her, he accepted to take the blame for the accident. Furthermore, Daisy accepts these circumstances with no doubts and regrets, and for that reason, she conceals her guilt and allowed Gatsby to be murdered. In spite of Daisy and her carelessly advantage of Gatsby’s deep love for her, she is morally responsible because this led directly to the death of Gatsby,

George, in his grieving haze, makes a connection between Gatsby’s car and his wife’s infidelity and begins to pursue his suspicions and hears, mistakenly, that Gatsby was driving the car when in fact it was Daisy who was behind the wheel and responsible for the death of Myrtle. Gatsby himself told no one that it was not he who was driving, in order to keep Daisy safe from the repercussions. The lies and half-truths told by most of the characters leading up to this point explode in a terrible and ultimately pointless catastrophe.

All of the characters contribute to Gatsby’s death, escpecially Daisy because he loved her and she didn’t want to leave Tom for him. The fact that Tom is having an affair with Myrtle contributes to Gatsby’s death because if it weren’t for the affair, Gatsby would have never been involved with Myrtle’s death. Everyone’s greedy grabs for the “American Dream” was the cause of Gatsby’s death.

Many characters were responsible, in part, for the death of Jay Gatsby, the main character of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but each to his or her own degree. Tom Buchanan, a wealthy member of a socially solid old family, played a minor and relatively indirect role in the death of Gatsby. Daisy Buchanan, a beautiful socialite married to Tom, very selfishly used Gatsby to better herself at all costs, one of those being Gatsby’s death, but, although she was directly responsible, she was not most responsible for the death of Gatsby. Gatsby himself was most responsible for his own death by blindly doing anything he had to win the love of and protect Daisy.

Tom Buchanan played a relatively minor role in Gatsby’s death. Tom is a man whom Gatsby views as very insignificant, a minor obstacle in his way to Daisy. When Gatsby was off at war, leaving Daisy alone and vulnerable, Tom “…came down with a hundred people, in four private cars,”(82) and he blinded her with money and social status, something that Gatsby didn’t have at the time. Daisy married Tom soon after and they had a child together. Gatsby does not see Tom as a threat because he does not believe that Daisy had ever loved Tom. But Daisy did love Tom, and she continues to love the money and social status that goes with the marriage. Tom and the child are what keeps Daisy from permanently being with Gatsby. If Tom were not around, Gatsby would have Daisy, and there would be no conflict leading to Gatsby’s death. Tom, just by being married to Daisy, plays a role in the death of Gatsby, but that role is minor and indirect.

Daisy plays a more important and direct role in Gatsby’s death than Tom. Daisy is very self-centered and needy. She always wants to feel loved and important, and she will do anything to feel that way, even if it hurts others. Daisy was very much in love with Gatsby prior to his departure for the war, and she continued to love him up to her wedding day, where she was found “…drunk as a monkey…with a letter in the other [hand],”(81). It was a letter from Gatsby. She did not think she could go through with the marriage because she still loved Gatsby. She did marry Tom, unable to commit to Gatsby, claming that, “Rich girls don’t marry poor boys,” (139). Daisy was always out to better herself at the cost of anyone else. Due to Tom’s affair with Myrtle, Daisy was feeling very unwanted and unloved, so it was almost natural for her to accept the deep love of Gatsby. She was simply out to have fun with Gatsby, with no real commitment. She did not realize, or failed to acknowledge, how deep Gatsby’s love was for her. She playing around with it very immaturely, enjoying it for as long as she could. But just when it became complicated, she fell back to what was secure, leaving Gatsby and returning to Tom. More directly leading to the death of Gatsby was the car accident. Daisy killed Myrtle Wilson while driving Gatsby’s car and neglected to stop. Gatsby, due to his deep love for Daisy and his desire to protect her, accepted to blame for the accident. Daisy, with no regret, accepted these circumstances, and she allowed for Gatsby to be murdered rather than admit her guilt. Daisy, by carelessly taking advantage of Gatsby’s deep love for her, directly led to the death of Gatsby.

Jay Gatsby himself was the most responsible for his own death. Daisy was the only woman whom Gatsby had ever loved, and he devoted his entire life to getting her back after the war. Gatsby was hopelessly romantic and deeply in love with Daisy. He bought his extremely ostentatious house simply to be across from Daisy. He threw lavish, incredibly expense parties, with the very romantic notion that Daisy would wonder in to find him with all his money and power. He hoped that he would sweep her off her feet, and it would be just like it was before he went off. He based his entire life around his love for this one girl, who, unfortunately, did not return that love. Gatsby gave Daisy all he possibly could, but Daisy used it only to better herself. Gatsby failed to realize that Daisy was a lost cause. He failed to realize that she was not what he had envisioned her to be. Basing his life around something that was so volatile was very romantic, but also very irresponsible. He would do anything for Daisy, putting her before himself at all costs, which was eventually his life. Specifically, Gatsby took the blame for the car accident, hoping to protect Daisy, even though obviously endangering himself. Gatsby’s lifestyle was very irresponsible; he committed himself to things that were unpredictable, eventually leading to his death. Gatsby could have easily avoided death by avoiding a married woman, and, if he could not live without Daisy, he could have avoided death by having some control when it came to Daisy. For Gatsby, it was all or nothing, and it was that lifestyle that killed him.

Many characters in the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, played roles in the death of Gatsby, but none greater than the role Gatsby played himself. Gatsby’s hopelessly romantic lifestyle was most responsible for his death, far more responsible than Daisy’s self-centered actions or Tom’s presence.