Who Was Responsible For Gatsby's Death

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the driven, love stricken, and enigmatic character, Jay Gatsby, was shot at the end of the novel. Many would believe that the one most responsible for Gatsby’s death was George Wilson, the one who pulled the trigger, or the one who advised Wilson that Gatsby was responsible. Considering all the events leading up to that event, the unknown past of Gatsby, character’s decisions, specific settings, and the decisions of Gatsby and other key characters, there are other characters that are more responsible for Gatsby’s death including Gatsby himself and Daisy Buchanan, his love. Due to Daisy Buchanan’s unethical mentality and the decisions she made, long-term and short-term, that lead to Gatsby’s death, she was ultimately …show more content…
Daisy came from the East Egg, which is associated with wealth and class and Daisy was symbolized with purity and the color white many times in this novel. As the novel progressed, more of Daisy’s character was revealed, which showed she was quite the opposite of purity and these actions lead to Gatsby’s death. In this novel, Daisy was very impatient. After her and Gatsby fell in love, she didn’t wait on him to come back after the war. Gatsby was so in love with her, his plan for the future was centered around Daisy. Daisy wanted to get married right then and she wanted to marry for wealth. She didn’t consider going back to Gatsby because she saw Tom as the better option because of money and her wanting to get married. Daisy’s carelessness was also a big factor that lead to Gatsby’s death. Daisy got married to Tom even when she still loved Gatsby. Daisy also had an affair with Gatsby, which further revealed her carelessness. When Gatsby visited her house she first kissed Gatsby in her husband’s house. “As he left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulled his face down, kissing him on the mouth. ‘You know I love you’ she murmured.” She also acted as Tom wasn’t even in the picture when she introduced her daughter to Gatsby. “She doesn’t look like her father,’ explained Daisy. ‘She looks like me.’” Her choices lead to Tom and Gatsby becoming …show more content…
Daisy grew up wealthy, which caused her to center her life around money. She was never taught to be careful with her decisions, and most of the time her decisions were made for her or she decided because they centered around wealth. To prove this idea, Daisy made an unethical decision to marry Tom in this novel. “And she wanted her life shaped now, immediately—and the decision must be made by some force—of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality—that was close at hand. That force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan. There was a wholesome bulkiness about his person and his position, and Daisy was flattered.” This was an unethical decision because Tom was not a pleasant man: he was rude to her, he cheated on her multiple times, and he was not even there when their child was born. Even though Daisy loved Gatsby still, she decided to marry Tom due to his wealth and name. Daisy was often mad at Tom according to Jordan Baker, “I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back, and I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband. If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily, and say: ‘Where’s Tom gone?’” Daisy knew he was cheating but out of her greedy perspective, she stayed with him. She didn’t wait for Gatsby because she figured out he wasn’t wealthy and she wanted to make a decision and get