At the same time Wilson, Myrtle’s faithful, true, hardworking husband, discovers Myrtle’s unfaithfulness, and so locked her up. Wilson at this point does not know whom his wife is having an affair with. Myrtle escapes and runs out onto the road, while escaping Gatsby’s car hits her and she is killed. We find out later that it was Daisy who was the one in the driver’s seat of Gatsby’s car. Wilson was hurting and he could not take what Myrtle had done to him. From this he kills Gatsby because it was his car that killed Myrtle. After this death Wilson commits suicide. Nick plans Gatsby’s funeral and only three people showed up. Nick then returns to the West and meets with Tom Buchanan. Finally Nick had taken one last view of Gatsby’s house.
Gatsby is the main focus of the novel and also the prime example of pursuing the American Dream. We do not learn much about Gatsby in the first couple of pages. We only had some glimpses of the gossip and rumours about Gatsby. The rumours made Gatsby sound very mysterious and he was presented as a man of mystery. F. Scott Fitzgerald had made it very interesting. It was clever in the way he made us read on and find out more about who Gatsby really was. It made us in our own mind build and make an identity for him. By introducing Gatsby in the way the author had and that created an atmosphere of suspense and really built up the tension.
Different characters in the novel are presented as having very different attitudes towards Gatsby.
Tom does not like Gatsby. He didn’t from the start. He didn’t trust him and became ver suspicious of him. At the end of the day it had all added up to Tom being jealous of Gatsby. He was jealous of the wealth and power that Gatsby had. He didn’t show it and never admitted to it, but you could see right through him. The one thing that Tom was not jealous or afraid was of Daisy. He knew that she would never leave him for Gatsby. Tom seems to be in the way of Gatsby and Daisy’s love. He never appreciated Daisy, but she would never leave him, she loved him, no matter what. In the novel everything seems to symbolise something else on a wider scale. Tom sees Gatsby as no match for himself, as at the end of the story he knows he has won Daisy and she will never leave him for Gatsby.
Myrtle is only concerned with possessions, it is clear she regrets marrying Wilson, as she thinks she could have done better than a gas attendant. She, like Tom, is not grateful for having such a devoted husband. Myrtle is blinded with the power and wealth of Tom. She is not concerned with Gatsby.
George is a very hard working husband to Myrtle. He has no idea that Myrtle is having an affair and when he does find out he takes out his anger on everyone, especially Gatsby, who he thinks was driving the car that killed Myrtle.
Daisy loved Gatsby once, but she loves Tom now. The material possessions are more important to Daisy than anything else. Tom supplies her with all these possessions and does not need Gatsby. She has learned to love Tom, or so she thinks it is love. She does not want to change anything in her life, just as she knows Tom is having an affair, but she still wants to stay with him. Daisy did not see Gatsby beyond than his money.
Nick shows great faith and trust in Gatsby. No matter how a person of a certain lifestyle presents himself, Tom for example, Nick will still remain open to the idea that others of the same lifestyle can and will be different, like Gatsby for example. The mere fact that Tom is seeing another woman does not impress Nick much, and does not further help provide him with an impressive image of people of Tom’s lifestyle. We can tell Nick does not hold a very high opinion of Tom by the way he describes him, “arrogant.” On the other hand Nick seems to admire Gatsby and sees him as an escape from the normal upper class snob, he seems a man of genuine integrity. Nick is an open minded person who “inclined all judgements.” He did not believe the rumours and the gossip that was surrounding Gatsby. Nick believed that he should get to know the person first, before making judgements. Nick had used Gatsby to get closer to Daisy. This is because of the love Gatsby had for Daisy. It was not for material possessions of others that would strive for. This was for Gatsby’s love and it was so strong it made Nick hold great respect for Gatsby. This is when Nick realised that Gatsby dedicated his whole life to his dreams.
The Great Gatsby is about the American Dream and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its illusionary goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is central to this novel. This dream is different for different people, but in The Great Gatsby, for Gatsby, the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness Gatsby must reach into the past and relive an old dream and in order to do he must have wealth and power.
Gatsby is the central figure of this novel. He is the one character who longs for the past. Surprisingly he devotes most of his adult life trying to recapture it and finally, dies in its pursuit. In the past, Gatsby had a love affair with Daisy. Knowing he could not marry her because of the different social status, he leaves her to collect wealth to reach her economic standards. Once he acquires this wealth, he moves near to Daisy, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay,” and throws extravagant parties, hoping by chance she might show up at one of them. He, himself, does not attend his parties but watches them from a distance. When this dream doesn’t happen, he asks around casually if anyone knows her. Soon he meets Nick, who agrees to set up a meeting, “He wants to know…if you’ll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over.” Gatsby’s personal dream symbolises the larger American Dream where all have an opportunity to get what they want.
Gatsby still believes that Daisy loves him. He is convinced of this as is shown when he takes the blame for Myrtle’s death. “Was Daisy driving?” “Yes…but of course I’ll say I was.” He also watches and protects Daisy as she returns home. “How long are you going to wait?” “All right if necessary.” Gatsby cannot accept that the past is gone and done with. Gatsby is sure that he can capture his dream with wealth and influence. He believes that he acted for a good reason, beyond his personal interest and that should guarantee success.
Nick attempts to show Gatsby the foolishness of his dream, but innocently replies to Nick’s assertion that the past cannot be relived by saying, “Yes you can, old sport.” This shows the confidence that Gatsby has in fulfilling his American Dream. For Gatsby, his American is not material possessions, although it may seem that way. He only comes into riches so that he can fulfil his true American Dream, Daisy.
Gatsby doesn’t rest until his American Dream is finally fulfilled. However, it never comes about and he ends up paying the ultimate price for it. The idea of the American Dream still holds true in today’s time, be it wealth, love, or fame. But one thing that never changes about the American Dream; everyone desires something in life, and everyone, somehow, strives to get it. Gatsby came close and yet so far, for his dreams were just illusions, which could never be reached at all. His false hope led him to his tragic death, in the end. Gatsby “turned out all right in the end” and that made a difference to what he set out to do in the end.
