Tom’s jealousy compels him to “[tell Mr. Wilson] the truth” regarding the death of Myrtle Wilson (178). Full of rage and depression, Mr. Wilson murders Gatsby and proceeds to commit suicide. However, according to Nick Carraway, Tom feels “that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified” (179). Despite all that Tom and Daisy smash up, they can always “[retreat] back into their money or their vast carelessness” (179). It is as though money can solve any problem. Therefore, Tom and Daisy have no worries, which translates into carelessness. When Nick searches for them in order to inform them about Gatsby’s funeral, they were nowhere to be found. They simply took their “baggage with them,” “left no address,” and did not “say when they’d be back” (164). There was absolutely no method of contacting them. However, although money was a source of reliable protection for Tom and Daisy, Gatsby’s life was the ultimate price that has to be
How can one be so careless? In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom and Daisy were both careless in their actions. Their choices affected those around them, in the end killing three people. Tom showed his carelessness by cheating on his wife Daisy, openly showing off his mistress Myrtle, and telling Wilson that Gatsby owned the car that killed his wife. Daisy showed her carelessness by cheating on her husband Tom, openly showing her love for Gatsby in front of Nick and Jordan, and killing Myrtle without stopping like any sane person would. Tom and Daisy 's actions caused negative impacts on the people around them, however they had their money to lean on. Their money got them away at last where they didn
As you read on, Daisy’s true character is slowly revealed, and you come to achieve that she is a very careless person. She seems to never care about the consequences of her actions, and this is proven when she is driving home from the city, and hits Myrtle with Gatsby’s car. Unlike most other people, she didn’t even hesitate and just drove home, without a care in the world about what she had done. One of Nick Caraway’s final assessments of Daisy after the accident is that she is very careless. He even says; “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made”. (Fitzgerald 187) This quote is proof that people i...
Fitzgerald uses devices like Dr T. J. Eckleburg, The Valley of Ashes, The Green Light, cars and colours in ‘The Great Gatsby’ to convey varying themes such as hope, longing, foreboding and one of the main themes, corruption, specifically corruption of the American Dream.
To start off, Nick Carraway is responsible for the death of Gatsby. During the harmonious relationship with Jordan Baker, Nick displays tolerance of Jordan Baker’s dishonest behavior and considers her dishonesty as incurable. Nick expresses his thought to Jordan by saying, “It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply ” (58). However, Nick’s forbearance of woman’s dishonesty develops, and his tolerance of dishonesty reaches an apex. Nick soon covers and hides the origin truth of Myrtle Wilson’s death, and he lets Gatsby assume the responsibility of Myrtle’s death. The next day, Nick sees the abandoned corpse of Jay Gatsby at his pool. After the death of Jay, Nick hides the secret of Myrtle’s death from Tom, but displays his disappointment toward Tom. If Nick had told anyone that Daisy was driving the car, George would not have shot Gatsby. Nick Carraway’s wrong decision that was not to tell anyone Daisy ran over Myrtle has led the Gatsby’s death. Moreover, Carraway’s wide tolerance has not prevented the death, but caused it. He is respo...
The destruction of Gatsby’s dream of a life in love with Daisy is foreshadowed in the physical destruction of Gatsby’s car and Myrtle Wilson’s life. The car is seen as a major instrument of destruction within the novel, and bad driving is often connected with a lack of moral direction — Daisy, self-centred and shallow, kills Myrtle while driving Gatsby’s car, and Gatsby, obsessed with money and status, is pulled over for speeding. It is ironic that Daisy kills Myrtle, as Tom’s mistress is possibly what Daisy would have been without the protection of money and class. Myrtle, like many of the characters, is overwhelmed by her desire for the American Dream, a state of monetary stability and security that was thought to ensure a life of prosperity and happiness. Myrtle’s death at the hands of Gatsby’s piece of the American Dream coincides with the death of Gatsby and Daisy’s love. The way in which Fitzgerald refers to Tom as “Daisy’s husband” when Tom confronts Daisy and Gatsby over their affair contrasts Tom with Gatsby, separating them in terms of the risk Daisy was not prepared to make for love and the security and status she instead chose. The mortality of both love and humanity is illustrated in this scene, contrasting with Browning’s adamant belief in the eternal nature of love. There is a strong sense of irony in the fact that Browning, a powerless woman in the restrictive
Fitzgerald describes them as: “careless people, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money, or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (179). Tom’s mindset of innate superiority allows him to overtly cheat on his wife on multiple occasions. He also thinks nothing of breaking Myrtle’s nose and destroying her marriage with George Wilson. Equally, Daisy has a careless affair with Gatsby and doesn’t think about the damage she might cause to her marriage and daughter. The deaths of Myrtle, George and Gatsby lay at the feet of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Daisy runs over Myrtle killing her instantly, while Tom misleads George and gives him the address to Gatsby’s house, knowing that George has a gun. Then they simply pack up their stuff and leave other people to deal with the aftermath. Their response to the situation and refusal to accept responsibility for their actions demonstrate the moral depravity of their social
Fitzgerald shows disillusionment and carelessness to be a cause of moral decay. According to Nick, Tom and Daisy never thought about the consequences of their actions, as they “were careless people… They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” This decay of moral value and carelessness can be seen when Daisy, who is meant to love and care for Gatsby, is prepared to allow him to take the blame for Myrtle’s death. It is then shown again after the death of Gatsby as “she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them,” Daisy didn’t bother to show up to Gatsby’s
Gatsby ignored the fact that he was new money and fell in love with Daisy “with a creative passion adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way” (Fitzgerald 95). He fabricated an obsession with Daisy and it did not concern him that he was in a different social class because he was blinded by love and obsession. When Daisy got home, after killing Myrtle, Gatsby waited outside her window because he was afraid Tom might get violent; Gatsby tells Nick, “I want to wait here till Daisy goes to bed” (Fitzgerald 145). This demonstrate Gatsby's insistence even though Daisy doesn’t make any effort to contact him after the car crash, Gatsby's finds it fitting to sit outside her house and protect her. Also taking into account that she went home with her husband and is talking to him. Tom will have a chance to convince her to stop her relationship with Gatsby while Daisy doesn’t even give Gatsby a chance to convince her otherwise. Gatsby believes Daisy will call after all that happened, Nick depicts that, “No telephone message arrived, but the butler went without his sleep and waited for it until four o'clock” (Fitzgerald 161). Gatsby hangs on to the hope of still being with Daisy regardless of her not returning his calls. He even leaves his phone line open all day just in case she calls. During the
Over time, there have been several technological advancements that have shaped the world in which we live and are familiar with today, and one advancement, in particular, that has influenced American society significantly is the automobile. Since the automobile’s beginning, it has continuously been improved and modified pushing the rest of technology to keep up with its rapid pace of innovation. Americans have frequently taken advantage of the automobile’s many benefits, but what they often fail to realize is that the automobile has given American society more than just the luxury of driving. In fact, the automobile has influenced this nation and the people within it both historically and culturally
“The cars from New York are parked five deep in the drive, and already the halls and salons and verandas are gaudy with primary colors and hair shorn in strange new ways, and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile” (Fitzgerald 40). During the 1920s, people enjoyed the carelessness of life, attended parties, participated in new fashion and were generally prosperous. In the book, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, the main characters rich neighbor, has huge parties every weekend in his mansion outside New York in hopes of meeting his long-lost-true love. Gatsby made his money through illegal activities and bootlegging alcohol for his parties. Beside the protagonist, Nick, the characters are rich and present traits common during that time: carelessness, selfishness, greediness and a low self-esteem. “Four solemn men in dress suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken women in a white evening dress. Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. Gravely the men turn in at a house-the wrong house. But no one knows the women’s name, and no one cares” (Fitzgerald 176). Usin...
Cars as a Symbol in The Great Gatsby Cars play a very important part in the telling of The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a very dark, unhappy book, and the cars really. exemplify the need for this. " â€cars change their meaning and become a symbol of death" (Dexheimer, et al.). Cars also give the reader insight into some of the different characters in the book.
As we all may know, the 1920’s were not only known as the jazz age. There was music, moving, news everywhere you would turn, and exquisite parties. In any case, the one thing that truly developed to be prevailing was the automobile industry. The automobile industry influenced Fitzgerald when composing The Great Gatsby. In The Great Gatsby, composed by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the automobiles were symbolized as destruction, and status in the novel.
The Great Gatsby takes place during the infamous jazz age of the 1920s, where only the wealthy were able to enjoy it in all its hedonistic decadence. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, constantly depicts the upper class during the novel as self-indulgent and careless people. He does this by portraying acts of carelessness through the upper class and showing the irresponsibility in which they possess. The epitome of this carelessness can be seen through two of the main characters in the novel, Tom and Daisy Buchannan; when they consistently make messes and refrain from cleaning them up due to their vast money and contemptuous nature. Recklessness while driving is also displayed throughout the novel to show this theme of irresponsibility within the wealthy; this can be seen when Tom and Gatsby drive along with Jordan and Daisy. Therefore it can be said that throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald demonstrates his disgust for the upper class through Tom and Daisy’s careless acts and irresponsibility for their actions.
Prominence in The Great Gatsby is imperative for life in Long Island and also reflects 1920s America. Gatsby throws magnificent parties, boasts about his car, and flaunts his costly materials. Gatsby’s materials and riches result in his vast popularity. During one of Gatsby’s parties, Nick becomes intrigued when he overhears a group gossiping about Gatsby. The gossip “was a testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world”(Fitzgerald 48). Gatsby’s fo...