The Great Gatsby - Daisy Is To Blame For His Death

Fitzgerald does not use a straightforward tone in the Great Gatsby. There are several of questions left unanswered when reading the novel, but the one thing that came to mind immediately is who is truly responsible for Gatsby's death? Many characters could be partly responsible, but Daisy plays the most important role.

Daisy is a careless person who forgets her actions affect other people. Daisy leads Gatsby on by telling him she is going to leave her husband when all the while she is really not sure. This is evident during the argument in the city when "she realized at last what she was doing--and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all" (p. 132). Even though she claims to love Gatsby, she would not leave Tom because he is old money. Gatsby has spent his whole life trying to obtain the riches she desires, and yet his new money still falls short of her standards. He cannot take hearing Daisy say, "I did love him once - but I loved you too" (p.132). In is there, in that hotel room, where Gatsby truly dies. His heart and soul are left there with those words.

Daisy is not only responsible for Gatsby's death, but also for Myrtle's. Her morals and actions after hitting Myrtle lead to Gatsby's demise. Gatsby tells Nick, "Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn't" (p. 144). Daisy does not care enough for another human life to stop the car even though Gatsby is telling her to pull over. She knows Gatsby will end up taking the blame since it was his car she was driving. It is not said specifically, but the reader is lead to believe that Daisy leaves town soon after the accident to avoid being caught when Nick says, "There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture, and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together." Tom, protecting his wife, informs Wilson that is was Gatsby's car that hit

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