Daisy is also responsible for Gatsby’s death due to her lack of morals. After hitting Myrtle Wilson, Daisy should have stopped the car and gotten help. Instead, her dark side comes into play when she refuses to stop the car despite Gatsby’s pleads. Gatsby explains to Nick after the incident ‘Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn’t’ (Gatsby, 137). Not only did Daisy refuse to slow down, but instead sped up, intending to not own up to her actions. In the aftermath of Myrtles death, Daisy indeed did not own up to her actions, knowing that her adoring Gatsby would take the blame. She went even as far as leaving town in order to escape her sins. As Nick puts it – about Daisy and her husband Tom – “They smashed up things
Gatsby was murdered by Wilson, because he thought that Gatsby was the one that hit his wife and killed her. Tom is a main contributor to Gatsby’s death because Myrtle was his mistress. Tom was the one that suggested he drive Gatsby’s car to town with Jordan and Nick. Myrtle saw them that day and Nick noticed “her eyes, [which became] wide with jealous terror were fixed not on Tom, but on Jordan Baker, whom she took to be his wife” (125). On the way back home, Gatsby and Daisy were driving the yellow car, which was the car that Tom was driving earlier. Myrtle ran out in front of the car as if “she wanted to speak to [them], [thinking they] were somebody she knew” (143). She ran thinking that it was Tom and that he would stop but, it wasn’t.
Furthermore, through Daisy’s actions, it shows that she is careless and dangerous due to her wealth, since she does not take responsibility of her driving, the feelings of Gatsby and Myrtle’s death. To start, Daisy believes that she should not be held accountable for her actions; but, rather, it is the responsibility of others to prevent any harm done. For instance, when leaving one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties, Nick tells Daisy that she is a terrible driver, in which she responds that if other people are careful, she does not need to be a careful driver (76). In other words, while Daisy acknowledges the fact that she is an awful driver, she admits to Nick that she does not believe that it is her responsibility to be a safe driver, but it is the responsibility of the other drivers on the road. Therefore, because Daisy has enough money to pay any damages done to her car, or any damages done to another car, she
Daisy is also responsible for Myrtle’s death because she is heedless. She was not paying attention to the road and did not stop. We know this because Tom speaks of, who he assumed to be, Gatsby, saying: “‘The God damned coward!’ he whimpered. ‘He didn’t even stop his car.’” (Fitzgerald 141). Unbeknownst that “Gatsby” was actually Daisy. Gatsby mentioned to Nick in confidence that it was Daisy who was driving (Fitzgerald 142). We
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.
Daisy sees this as does almost the exact same thing, only with Gatsby. By expressing this carelessness for each other, one can only begin to imagine the carelessness they have for other human beings. Tom treats Myrtle even worse than he treats Daisy, but Myrtle doesn’t seem to care, because she is mainly interested in his money. Tom doesn’t seem to worry about anyone but himself. In his own spite he ruins his life, as well as Daisy’s, Gatsby’s, and Myrtle’s. Daisy shows her carelessness during the time where Jordan, Tom, Daisy, Nick and Gatsby go to town. Her and Gatsby act like they are in love and make Tom incredibly jealous even though he is having his own affair. Tom accuses Gatsby of trying to start trouble in the Buchanan house, and they begin to fight. Daisy yells at Tom and tells him that she no longer loves him and is in love with Gatsby. Tom proceeds to tell everyone how Gatsby came across his money, and once Daisy finds out it was by illegal gambling and crime, she seems much less interested in him. Daisy appears to be more interested on what is on the outside of people, rather than the inside.
Daisy, who is another careless character in this book is can be blamed for three things, hitting Myrtle with Gatsby’s car, not confessing to it and allowing her affair with Gatsby to start up and continue. Daisy not only hit myrtle with Gatsby’s car but also didn’t decide to stop, “Daisy stepped on it” (151). She had no intentions of swerving before the hit or slowing down and stopping after it. This shows her jealousy towards Tom’s affair with Myrtle, along with that she didn’t take responsibility and selfishly did not confess to what she had done and how it could affect others. Secondly, she subconsciously leads Gatsby on into thinking that he really did have her back all to himself when realistically she was not sure what she was going to do. While talking to Jordan “She realized at last what she was doing — and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all.” (175). Her affair with Gatsby was risky and turned into nothing but damage in the end. Lastly, Daisy says to Gatsby "I did love him once – but I loved you too" (140) referring to Tom. She shows her carelessness over her marriage seeing as she had an affair with Gatsby and didn’t think to put a stop to it. If Daisy had not had the affair with him, there would be no reason for Tom to want revenge on Gatsby in the first place, therefore Gatsby would’ve have been blamed.
Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Daisy Buchanan undergoes many noticeable changes. Daisy is a symbol of wealth and of promises broken. She is a character we grow to feel sorry for but probably should not.
Although Daisy may seem sweet, it is difficult not to over think her actions throughout the book. If Daisy was always in love with Gatsby as she proclaimed she had been, then how did she move on so quickly? It is tempting to jump to the conclusion that she had only married Tom for his money. Additionally, it is evident that Daisy is aware of Tom having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Knowing this, was Daisy truly in love with Gatsby after he returned, or was she only acting this way in retaliation to Tom’s affair? If both of these theories are true, that qualifies Daisy as the most selfish person in the novel. These actions cause us to question Daisy’s character throughout the novel; however, there is one incident that is unmistakably an act of selfishness. While Daisy was driving Gatsby and herself home, she ran over Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress. Some believed it was an accident, but Daisy never stopped driving. “The ‘death car,’ as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment and then disappeared around the next bend.”(Fitzgerald 144) Because she was in Gatsby’s car, he inadvertently took the blame and eventually got himself killed. The author merely discloses that Daisy and Tom had gone away never to return. Was Gatsby’s death a result of Daisy’s selfishness? Daisy’s selfish desires destroyed relationships and
Now that I can look back over my life I see that me and Daisy probably wouldn't have lasted long, even if she did leave Tom for me, as Tom was a spiteful man and he would have found a way to rip me and Daisy apart just as he had told George that something needed to be done about me. You see if me and Daisy had run away together, he would have hired someone to hunt me down and kill me. I did not see this man as being very dangerous when I was alive,
“‘Well, I tried to swing the wheel——’ He broke off, and suddenly I guessed at the truth. ‘Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes,’ he said after a moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was’” (154). This quote shows that Daisy was the one who hit Myrtle but would not be taking responsibility for it. This illustrates the motif of a social ladder, Daisy will not admit to killing Mrytle because it would dirty her reputation. Another reason that Daisy is responsible for Gatsby’s death is because of the standards that she held for Gatsby to fit in with the East Eggers, he wanted to achieve the American Dream but she did not believe that it was attainable for everyone, unlike what it should be. “No single individual … and no single group has an exclusive claim to the American dream. But we have all, I think, a single vision of what it is, not merely as a hope and an aspiration, but as a way of life, which we can come ever closer to attaining it its ideal form if we keep shining and unsullied our purpose and our belief in its essential value” (Clark). This quote shows the motif of the social ladder that is present in the American dream that Daisy envisions, which is almost opposite of this quote. Those are the reasons that Daisy is
Gatsby himself is the fifth person to blame for his death. If he was not trying to restore his old relationship with Daisy then Tom would not want to get revenge on him. Another reason that Gatsby is responsible for his own death is that forgot everything except Daisy. He did not think about anything except Daisy. He also should not have kept driving after Daisy hit Myrtle. After he pulled the brake he could have gone back to see if Myrtle was alive and to get help for her, “I tried to make her stop but she couldn’t so I pulled on the emergency brake. Then she fell over into my lap and I drove on” (Fitzgerald 151) He only threw
In the beginning of the novel Daisy’s awareness that Tom has a mistress in New York is revealed, although her identity is unknown. Later in the story after Daisy admits she’s been seeing Gatsby to Tom, Gatsby and Daisy are driving home with each other. On their way back to Daisy’s house, Daisy, being the driver, hits Myrtle and kills her. Although this was an accident, Daisy does not stop the car to tend the victim. Not only does Daisy kill Myrtle, she also drives away from the scene immediately with no hesitation. A quote from Gatsby reads "Yes," he said after a moment, "but of course I'll say I was…..Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand reached the wheel I felt the shock – it must have killed her instantly."(Fitzgerald 143). This quote from Gatsby shows that he cares more about Daisy killing Myrtle than the actual death of Myrtle. Daisy is also letting Gatsby take the blame for the accident and not owning up to her own actions. Another example of this is “I thought so; I told Daisy I thought so. It’s better the shock came all at once. She stood it pretty well.”(Fitzgerald 143). Again all Gatsby is concerned about is Daisy and I know that's all Daisy is concerned about as well. A quote from Tom Buchanan states“I told him the truth,”he said. “He came to the door while we were getting
Tom and Daisy are to blame for this murder. After Daisy runs over Myrtle she should have stopped and no other deaths might have happened. Tom also ratted out Gatsby saying that the yellow car he was driving wasn’t his. “‘That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn’t mine-do you hear?”... “I’m a friend of his.” (Fitzgerald, 140) After this he gets questioned by the car and he mostly has to confess the name. This lead to the event where Gatsby gets killed in his pool by Wilson. Daisy and Tom didn’t do anything to have a different
Daisy is one of the socially eccentric characters who is most responsible for Gatsby's death even though she did not pull the trigger largely because of her carelessness with the people around her. There are many points in
Daisy may not care about much but she cares a lot about Nick (The Great Gatsby: Daisy). Nick is Gatsby’s neighbor and tries helping to get Gatsby with Daisy especially because Gatsby kept begging him to (Fitzgerald). One day Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, Nick and Jordan go out. Daisy becoming upset and trying to escape runs over Myrtle Wilson (Fitzgerald). Daisy does not care or have any sympathy towards her death she doesn’t even confess but let’s Gatsby take the blame because he was in the car with her (Willhite).