Jay Gatsby's Murder

Improved Essays
Fitzgerald kills off the main character at the end of the Great Gatsby therefore he can address what directly represents the American dream. During the book The Great Gatsby certain moments’ drive evidence towards the American dream such as the death of Myrtle, and Gatsby’s murder. Fitzgerald demonstrates his positon on the 1920s wealthy American society through the choices to kill the main character Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s unexpected murder shows how the authors demonstrates that sometimes your goal are unachievable examples such as the amount of people at Gatsby’s funeral, and certain reactions to the death of Jay Gatsby.

During Gatsby’s funeral service only a few people showed up such as Nick, Henry Gatz, the West Egg postman, and Owl Eyes.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The American Dream is an ideal of having equal opportunities to achieve success and prosperity through one 's hardwork. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick, the protagonist tries to pursue his own dreams, hoping to succeed in the ideals of the American Dream. Throughout the story, as more and more people enter Nick 's life, he realizes that the American Dream is simply an unrealistic idea, created to corrupt those trying to achieve it. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream ruined the morality of those trying to accomplish it, and those who 'd already did. Fitzgerald symbolizes Jay Gatsby as the American Dream itself, as his morals were ruined through his selfish pursuit of unrealistic dreams, and eventually led him to his downfall.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This is presented through Daisy’s personification of the American dream, her choice of Tom over Gatsby, and Myrtle’s death. Fitzgerald draws from his own misfortunes to show that the promise of the American Dream is false. He died “believing himself a failure… and he seemed destined for literary obscurity” (Brucolli). Fitzgerald felt as if he failed in literature therefore he had a negative view for the American Dream, which he wasn’t able to fulfill. He used this pessimism of the American Dream as a backdrop for The Great Gatsby.…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who is Responsible for Gatsby’s Death? Love is a serious of complex chemical reactions that no one knows what will happen in next step. In Fitzgerald’s book ‘The Great Gatsby’, a snoopy man who tried to repeat the love in the past was killed. Gatsby is new money whose girlfriend married a man who owns a wealth family, because Gatsby didn 't return after he attended a war.…

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Great Gatsby

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Fitzgerald proves to the audience why he believes in the death of the American dream. The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic reflection on America in the 1920s, the dissolving of the American dream in an era of new fortune and genuine excess. The story of the forbidden love between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, helps emphasize the theme which is to educate and entertain the readers about what it truly means to be American. This existing theme in the novel reaches out to more than just living the “American dream”, it exemplifies the true meaning of being a surviving human being, and not just a human,…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Wilson pulled the trigger that ended Gatsby’s life, but all of the blame should not be placed on George. Gatsby’s death resulted from a chain of many events that all contributed to his demise. The death could be traced back to Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan, or Gatsby himself. The main events that contributed to Gatsby’s death were Myrtle and Tom’s affair, Gatsby’s obsession and affair with Daisy, Myrtle's death, and George Wilson eventually shooting Gatsby. These events all have different causes and effects, but I believe only one person should take the responsibility for Gatsby’s death.…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The theme of the American dream plays a major role in The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the American dream ends in tragedy and death and old money prevails without guilt. Old money is represented by Tom and Daisy, who both survive and move away after Gatsby is killed. Myrtle and Wilson,who were poor, die at the end. Jay Gatsby’s misguided illusion of the American dream and Daisy led to his death.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Great Gatsby illustrate a division in social class based on the characters’ family backgrounds. Several characters have their own goals and dreams, the American Dream. The American Dream is to be born to a world of equality, to have the same equal opportunity, and to achieve goals through hard work. The Great Gatsby present characters who tries to get more than they already have. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in The Great Gatsby, wants more than being a janitor and a rich man; he throws parties every Saturdays to attract Daisy’s attention, but lost everything in the end.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American Dream” (Bruce Springteen). The American dream states that anyone can achieve their dreams no matter their race, gender or social status. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, fighting for the American dream is the biggest source for Jay Gatsby’s sadness and despair. Chasing after a dream that is unattainable only causes pain and ultimately results in destruction. Throughout the story, Gatsby craves Daisy Buchannan’s love and though he was a poor boy, that didn’t stop him from pursuing her.…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the end Gatsby got caught up with himself that if he stopped chasing after the girl of his dream all these people won’t get hurt in the first place. Gatsby’s action has gotten people hurt all to chase one girl that is married and just doesn’t really care for the feeling of others. The other characters are mad or confused for people that know him because he likes to lie a lot and doesn’t care who he hurts as long as he gets what he wants. The conclusion for the story is that the American dream was the ultimate downfall for Gatsby.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scott Fitzgerald is an American author who wrote The Great Gatsby. The concept of the American dream is displayed vividly throughout the novel. Although the American dream is presumed to be about independence, opportunity, and making something of one’s self, it ends up being more about riches, materialism, and pleasure. The story is centered around Jay Gatsby, a man who is very wealthy and has many material things, but has not achieved his dream. His dream is incomplete because he is not with Daisy Buchanon, his first love.…

    • 1546 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scott Fitzgerald, demonstrates the power of the American dream and the positive and negative impacts it can have on a person. The American Dream ultimately destroyed Jay Gatsby. Money was his demise and although it brought him many things in life, it never brought him happiness or the ability to be who he really was. In life, money has a strong hold over people 's wants and wishes. In the end money isn’t everything and material items should never be the focus in one 's…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Gatsby's Death

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In an effort to find Gatsby’s friends and family, Nick “look[s] hastily through…[Gatsby’s] desk,” not able to find a trace of his parents (165). Similarly, Wolfsheim “kindly” avoids coming to support Nick, also claiming he does “not know [Gatsby’s] family at all” (166). Fitzgerald, in effect, demonstrates that even Gatsby’s closest friends cannot even identify his family. However, this reflects on Gatsby as well, who refused to reveal his entire identity to anyone around him, effectively maintaining his air of mystery, even after death. This also extends to Gatsby’s family, particularly his father, who believes Gatsby would have “helped build the country” (168).…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    American Dream: The Great Gatsby In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. S. Fitzgerald writes about a time period in American history where achieving anything was possible, at least that was the common belief. Not only does he describe the economic, social, and historical circumstances that drive his characters, but also a glimpse into the minds of the characters that they use as a way to justify their actions and motives. The most basic reason for the actions that take place in the course of the book is towards an idea that many people are familiar with. It’s the American Dream.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On the surface of the novel written by Scott F. Fitzgerald, one may say that "The Great Gatsby" illustrates a classic American story with a plot twist, having one of the preeminent characters pass in an abrupt and unforeseen way. However, underneath that very surface lies the resounding theme of the novel—The American Dream. "The Great Gatsby" is a pure symbolic reflection of America in the 1920s, depicting the effects of the sudden boom in the marketplace and the intensified materialistic views people gained. The American Dream in the novel is stripped of its ambition and gaiety once Fitzgerald spun a mordant critique of that particular decaying illusion in the society of the '20s, where people 's ethical significance was splintering, and their giddy greed for wealth and superfluous material items resulted in hedonism—which very well still happens today.…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The main theme behind Fitzgerald’s literature is the demise of the American Dream. By examining his portrayal of the “elite society” it is very easy to perceive that the American Dream is no longer about hard work and dedication to reach success. Rather Fitzgerald argues that it has now become solely about manipulation to become materialistic and corrupt. For example, on the surface Jay Gatsby is perceived to be a successful man with a dashing personality, expensive clothes, and a luxurious mansion. But upon taking a look at how he attained all of those things he is the exact opposite of what the American Dream was originally about.…

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays