Who Is Responsible For Gatsby's Death

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.

The first event that contributed to Gatsby’s death was Myrtle and Tom’s affair. Tom decided to cheat on Daisy and have an affair with …show more content…
This death was very odd because Myrtle was the one who ran into the street, yet everyone put the blame on the driver for killing Myrtle. No one knew who the driver of the car was that struck her, but Myrtle thought that Tom was driving the car and she was hoping that he would stop to visit her. It was actually Gatsby’s car that killed her, but Daisy was driving. Most of the characters in this book could take responsibility for this accident, Tom caused Myrtle to run into the road, but Myrtle should have known better, also Gatsby should not have had the heated argument with Tom which caused Daisy to drive home erratically and to show no remorse after killing a woman. Daisy did not even stop after hitting Myrtle which infuriated George and caused George to seek revenge on whoever murdered his wife. Daisy allowed Tom to continue his affair with Myrtle which caused her to run into the street where Daisy hit her and drove off. These actions directly triggered George to hunt down the murder of his wife, so if Daisy would have driven more carefully and stopped after hitting Myrtle then maybe that would have saved Gatsby’s …show more content…
Unfortunately no one interferes so Gatsby was killed and only one person should take the blame for his death. Based upon research and analyzing the situation Gatsby is the one at fault for his own death. It was his life that was taken and he had the most opportunities to prevent his death. Initially this entire situation could have been avoided had it not been for Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy. Although her marriage was not the happiest she had not seen or interacted with Gatsby for five years, and she had probably lost most of her emotions for Gatsby. Five years is too long to suddenly try and re-enter someone’s life, especially if they are married, so Gatsby should have moved on and avoided the whole situation. Whenever Daisy murdered Myrtle he should have taken some initiative and cleared his name instead of waiting for his unknown punishment. Gatsby probably did not expect to be shot, but he had to have assumed someone would figure out it was his car that killed Myrtle. If Gatsby went to George and told him the truth then he definitely would have survived. Tom’s affair with Myrtle, Gatsby’s affair with Daisy, and Myrtle's death all contributed to George Wilson shooting Gatsby, but Gatsby is the one who had the most control over the situation so he is the one at fault for his own