Is Jay Gatsby A Christ Figure

Is Tom most responsible for Gatsby's death? Daisy? Myrtle? Gatsby himself? Give reasons why or why not each character is implicated in the murder.

Tom, Nick and Jordan are driving home when at Wilson's garage they come to find that Myrtle has been hit and killed by a yellow car. Tom immediately knows that it is Gatsby who was driving the car and seeks revenge. What he does not know is that the actual driver was Daisy. Gatsby does not tell anyone but Nick that Daisy was driving the car because he does not want anything bad to happen to her. This shows how much he truly cares for Daisy. It also shows that by not letting anyone else know the truth regarding the accident that Gatsby will only trust key people. This trust issue causes many problems for Gatsby and others.

Myrtle Wilson, the wife of George, and the lover of Tom Buchanan, is brutally murdered toward the end of the novel. After an uncivilized afternoon in New York, Daisy and Gatsby head swiftly back to East Egg. Gatsby explains to Nick, “It all happened in a minute, but it seemed to me that she wanted to speak to us, thought we were somebody she knew” (Fitzgerald 109). Myrtle ran out toward the car looking for Tom but sadly for her it is not him. Many know about Tom’s affair, but not with whom he is having it, especially Daisy. Daisy never slows the car down, and she never realizes who she hits. This shows that Daisy is oblivious to Myrtles existence. Myrtle is sleeping with her husband, she ruins their marriage, and Daisy kills her. The irony exists in this because Daisy actually saves her marriage by killing

Tom told George, Myrtle’s husband that it was Gatsby’s car that hit her. So George, seeking revenge, killed Gatsby.

In many instances, Gatsby showed signs of selflessness. But, if the reader were to dig deeper into the roots of the story, they will be able to see that under the kind acts and good deeds, Gatsby’s intentions were always selfish. After the car scene, Tom, Jordan, Daisy and Nick returned to Daisy and Tom’s house. As Gatsby waits outside of the home, Nick, unknowingly, asks Gatsby whether or not Daisy was driving. Gatsby replies saying, “Yes, but of course I’ll say I was” (Fitzgerald 143). When Gatsby took Daisy’s place in the murder of Myrtle, although seeming kind-hearted, his only reason for this was to earn Daisy’s love and to impress her. Gatsby has somewhat put up an image of himself to be the pure and almighty man that deserves Daisy more. Meyer Wolfshiem, Gatsby’s business partner, mentions to Nick of Gatsby’s chivalrous actions towards women saying, “Yeah, Gatsby’s very careful about women. He would never so much look at a friend’s wife” (Fitzgerald 72). Although Meyer Wolfshiem’s comment on Gatsby about him being a gentleman, and how he would never look at another man’s wife, Gatsby proceeds to exceed all expectations and have an affair with Tom’s wife, Daisy Buchanan. Yes, some might say his only reason for doing so was out of true love and destiny but, in either case, it was morally wrong. In every action that Gatsby commits for Daisy, his selfishness secretly hides beneath it, shading itself from light so no one will approach the real man that lurks behind the curtains of self pride.

There are many cases however, that overpower his opinion. The first being the prominent resemblance between Gatsby’s death to Jesus’. Fitzgerald evidently portrays the well known passage of Jesus carrying and struggling with his cross on his own on the way to Golgotha, where he later dies. After Gatsby announces, like Jesus, the account of his death is “God’s Truth”, he depicts Jesus’ crucifixion by showing and describing how Gatsby too struggled when he carried his air mattress to his pool on his own (Christensen 154). Gatsby relates to Christ in another sense when he takes fault for Myrtle’s death and as a result dies for Daisy (Dilworth). Daisy is ultimately responsible for Myrtle’s death even if it was unintentionally.Because it was an accident her action isn’t considered a sin, but her not confessing to it is not only a sin, but also a crime (Dilworth). Carraway asks Gatsby if Daisy was indeed driving, and he replies, “Yes,...but of course I’ll say I was”(Dilworth). Gatsby dies for Daisy’s sins just like Jesus dies for sins that are not his own. Gatsby is most definitely portrayed as a Christ figure.

Gatsby thought he was being chivalrous for Daisy, but he did not care that Daisy chose not to take responsibility for her hit-and-run. Myrtle’s husband, George Wilson, gets revenge for Myrtle’s loss, assuming that Gatsby had an affair with his wife and killed her once he finds a dog leash and Myrtle 's belongings. George kills Gatsby,

Myrtle is the fourth person responsible for Gatsby’s death. If she was not having an affair with Tom then none of this would have happened. Myrtle was taking advantage of her husband’s kindness and his lack of intelligence, “A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity-except his wife, who moved close to Tom” (Fitzgerald 30). if her affair with Tom was non-existent then George would not have known who Gatsby was and he might not have shot him to avenge his wife’s murder. If Myrtle had not run in front of the car that she would still be alive and so would Gatsby. She could have just waited until the next day to see Tom she did not have to run in front of his car.

In the lower class society, The Great Gatsby displays unhappiness in a number of ways and at a variety of extents, this is displayed though the eyes of Myrtle Wilson. Unhappy in her marriage and her position on the social hierarchy. George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, gave an impressionable first encounter; this lead Myrtle to believe he was true gentleman worthy of her love and affection. She comes to find he is nothing short of

The dramatic increase intensifies when Daisy overrides his husband’s paramour, Myrtle Wilson. Retaining his complete and unwavering loyalty to Daisy, Gatsby takes the blame upon himself, while Daisy is conspiring with her husband in the

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).

            While Daisy did not know Myrtle personally, there is a very good possibility that she knew Tom was having an affair with her.  She was well aware of Tom's past behavior, and she made no attempts to deny it.  She simply accepted it because she had no other choice.  After spending the day in New York with the others, she was obviously upset and tense.  The day had taxed her to the limit.  Gatsby had demanded too much of her, and she just was not strong enough to endure any further argument.  She chose to drive him back to East Egg in an attempt to calm her nerves.  When they passed Wilson's garage, Myrtle ran into the street toward Gatsby's car, thinking it belonged to Tom.  According to Gatsby, Daisy turned the wheel toward the oncoming car in the other lane, but she lost her nerve and hit

Daisy accidently ran Myrtle over in Gatsby’s car, and Myrtle died (Hays, “Oxymoron”). Wilson walks to Gatsby’s estate, kills him and then kills himself (“Great”... Fitzgerald). Daisy was the one that took Gatsby’s car without knowing and was Myrtle and Daisy hit and kills Myrtle at the scene of the crime. (“Great”... Fitzgerald). When Myrtle died, Gatsby saying how he feels about Daisy (Farrant).

supposedly in love with Gatsby, until she killed Myrtle and knew that Tom could keep her from

Good morals and values are considered to be good qualities in most people’s perspective. In Fitzgerald’s, morality is something that many characters lack. Murder, bootlegging, and adultery are all traits that the characters in the novel possess. Myrtle Wilson is one of the two characters that is murdered in the story. In this conversation between Nick and Gatsby, “’Well, I tried to swing the wheel—‘ He broke off and suddenly I guessed the truth. ‘Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes’” Gatsby reveals the truth about who was driving (Fitzgerald 143). This proves that Daisy was driving when Myrtle was hit and killed. Gatsby is also murdered in the story. George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, kills Gatsby because he is told that Gatsby is who killed his wife. Hickey writes, “He shot Gatsby and killed himself,” talking about George when he goes to Gatsby’s house in pursuit to Murder Gatsby (4). This proves that George murdered Gatsby.