Jay Gatsby’s Involuntary Suicide

No, obliviously Jay Gatsby did not commit suicide, at least not in the literal or physical sense. Many characters in the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, played roles in the death of Gatsby, but none greater than the role played by Gatsby himself. Gatsby lived a life based entirely upon two things: achieving the American Dream and Daisy Buchanan.

It is understandable for a young man such as Gatsby to attempt to search and work towards gaining the American Dream.However, the subject of Daisy is slightly more difficult to understand. Gatsby’s hopelessly romantic and lavish lifestyle was most responsible for his death, far more responsible than Daisy’s self-centered actions, Tom’s arrogant and hypocritical presence, Nick’s tolerant and honest manners, or even Wilson’s murderous and vengeful ways. The beginning of the downward spiral of Jay Gatsby’s life began when he was just seventeen. Considering his past, and how Gatsby overcame his troubles, the reader might feel a perception of respect for him.However, reading farther into the story the reader will notice just how lame and caddish Gatsby really is.

He seems to have a wonderful life and “had come a long way[,]… and his dream… seemed so close that he could… grasp it. [But] he did not know that it was already behind him” (Fitzgerald 180). His dream, since he seemed to have everything needed to accomplish the American Dream, was to have Daisy for himself, like it was before he went off to war. Although he knew Daisy was already married, Gatsby bought his extremely ostentatious house simply to be across from her.He threw these profligate, incredibly expensive parties with the very romantic notion that Daisy would wander in and find him with all his money and power and they would slow motion run into each other’s arms.

Although Daisy and Gatsby did eventually come together, it did not seem to work out the way Gatsby had planned. Even back in the 1920’s humans seemed to have the inexplicable urge to want what is not good for them. In Gatsby’s case, it was Daisy. Some would say that it was Daisy, carelessly taking advantage of Gatsby’s love for her, which directly led to his death.

The fact that Daisy ultimately killed Gatsby by not saying that it was she who ran over Myrtle, could be a good excuse to blame Daisy for his death. However, during the time of the 1920’s, women in Daisy’s position would do anything to keep their safe, plush, and exclusive lifestyles, even if it meant letting someone they knew die in their place. It is understandable why Daisy would not admit to the murder, since Gatsby said that he would take the blame for the car accident. Gatsby would do anything to keep Daisy safe at all costs, the price eventually being his life.

Gatsby, basing his life around something as volatile as Daisy, was very romantic, but also very irresponsible. Daisy also acted very irresponsibly when she did not tell Tom that he should not tell on Gatsby to Wilson. Although many would state that Tom, in the long run, killed Gatsby by telling Wilson that it was Gatsby’s car that struck Myrtle, there is one major factor that gives Tom an alibi. Primarily, Tom could have been defending himself. Whether he was defending his honor, his life, or both, Wilson had a gun. What is to say that he did not threaten Tom first?After telling Wilson about Gatsby, he probably realized in a way that he would be killing three birds with one stone.

First, he would be rid of Wilson, who was pestering Tom for business. Secondly, Tom would also be rid of Gatsby, which would put an end to Gatsby and Daisy’s affair. And finally he probably thought his life would go back to something that somewhat resembled a normal one. Just as some people think that either Daisy or Tom, or both, are responsible for Gatsby’s death, many will agree that Wilson was the one person who should take sole responsibility for the murder of Jay Gatsby.Wilson was the man who pulled the trigger on Gatsby.

That is the reason why readers believe that Wilson killed Gatsby. Although he did physically kill Gatsby, Wilson does not realize that Jay Gatsby was already dead. Yes, he was alive when Wilson shot him; however, Gatsby seemed to already be dead on the inside. He had been dead since he found out that Daisy was married to another man. He tries desperately to get Daisy to leave Tom for him; he truly believed that she would, too.

[“Gatsby himself… felt that he had lost the old warm world, [and he] paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (Fitzgerald 161).Here Gatsby and Wilson had something in common. They both had women they loved, and couldn’t live without. Only Gatsby and Daisy wanted to be together, but could not, while Wilson and Myrtle were married while she was having an affair with Tom, and Wilson still loved her to no avail. So, when Myrtle was murdered, Wilson was overcome by grief. He wanted revenge and when he learned of Gatsby running over his wife, he did not stop to think of what he was doing.

It was only until after he had shot Gatsby that Wilson realized his actions and shot himself.Wilson was stricken by sorrow at the death of his wife and he only wanted those responsible to pay for what they had done. It could have been that Wilson had become temporarily insane and had no control over his actions. However, the reader might never know since Nick was so unbiased about the entire event.

Nick showed just enough emotion and judgment throughout the complete novel to be considered an active and non-omniscient character. There are those who believe that since Nick was so unemotional towards other characters, he was responsible for not staying with Gatsby and was finally liable for his death.There were only two reasons that he was even in this story. First, there might not have even been a story if he had not reintroduced Gatsby and Daisy. And moreover, who else would have been able to narrate the story? As hard as Fitzgerald tried to keep Nick the impartial storyteller, he eventually becomes biased toward and interested in Jay Gatsby. He quickly develops a curiosity with the way that Gatsby lives and why.

This curiosity continued until the very end and even after Gatsby’s death. Nick was not fully responsible for the death of Jay Gatsby because of his upbringing.He was brought up to not care about other people or their problems. Only at the end does the reader learn that Nick had become slightly inclined to care about Gatsby. Nick understands that Gatsby was living his entire life in the past. He was trying to forget about and change it.

In the end, Nick finally grasps the realization that in order to live and move on into the future, one must accept his past. Gatsby had never accepted his. Jay Gatsby, even after changing his name, leaving his family, and moving east, could not escape his past.Although he seems to essentially erase it, there is one fact he holds on to for dear life: Daisy. But if he had taken the time to sit down and think about what he was doing and what he really wanted, and if he knew that he would have to pay with his life, would he still have made the same decisions? Yes, because “Gatsby believed in… the orgastic future that year by year recede[d] before [him]…” (Fitzgerald 180).

This proves that Gatsby unknowingly set himself up for failure. He aids in his own death by not accepting his past.Even after Daisy goes back to Tom, Gatsby seems to still deny that he cannot change anything that happened in his former years. He was single minded, and would not agree to anything other than what he wanted. What he really wanted was to live in those few years that he and Daisy were together and happy.

“So… [he] beat on, …[a boat] against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 180). This mentality that Gatsby had, of living in the past, eventually led to his own death. A person cannot amputate his history from his destiny; by not knowing this, Gatsby had committed involuntary suicide.