The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Essay The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, introduces the reader to scenes of violence that contribute to the meaning of the complete work. Wealthy, powerful characters such as Tom Buchanan are the major causes of violence introduced because they are selfish and careless. Through an accident that killed Myrtle Wilson, or the passionate murder of an innocent man, Fitzgerald incorporates themes of the novel. The violent act that begins the downward spiral in The Great Gatsby is when Tom Buchanan hits Myrtle, his mistress, in the face. It was a body capable of enormous leverage — a cruel body (Fitzgerald, 12). † is how Nick describes Tom’s intimidating physique when he first meets him. So it is not surprising that when Myrtle begins to taunt him by repeating his wife’s name that he reacted and â€Å"broke her nose with his open hand (Fitzgerald, 41). † This scene of violence demonstrates that people like Tom, living in East Egg, think that they are better than everyone else and can disrespect or ignore others because of social status. This is the underlying cause of the deaths in the novel. One of the most tragic scenes of violence occur when Daisy Buchanan is driving in the car with Gatsby, returning home from their dramatic visit to the city with her husband. She is hysterical because Tom revealed that Gatsby is a bootlegger. While passing through the Valley of Ashes, Myrtle runs out to the car because her husband is forcing her to move and she needs help. â€Å"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). is how the killing is described. As a result of Daisy’s recklessness, she brutally ran over Myrtle Wilson. Besides the fact that Myrtle was murdered, the importance of this scene is that Daisy did not even stop to take a look at the damage her state had caused. Her ignorance ultimately was the cause of Gatsby’s death. Fitzgerald purposely included wealthy, irresponsible characters in his novel that caused the violence and completed story. To sum up the importance of the crowd with â€Å"old money†, this is a quote from when Nick is speaking to rejected Gatsby. He says, â€Å"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- 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. (Fitzgerald, 188)† It is clear that all they cared about was themselves, and after the murders occurred, they left town and did not attend one funeral. The last act of violence, when Gatsby is murdered, leaves an important impression on the reader and the novel. George Wilson is devastated by his wife’s death and thinks that God wants him to kill the person who is responsible for it. Naturally, he went to the Buchanan’s to get some answers because it was their car. Tom was in a fragile state because he truly loved Myrtle, and directed George to Gatsby. Gatsby did not kill anybody but he paid the price for it. He was laying in his extravagant pool and saw â€Å"that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees (Fitzgerald, 172). † First George shot Gatsby, then he shot himself and ended two innocent lives. It was because Gatsby constantly chased one single dream his whole life that the scene of violence had to happen. Daisy was not good for him, and dreams keep getting pushed farther and farther away from people because the past is haunting and unchangeable. The violent scenes Fitzgerald included in The Great Gatsby are the altering moments that support the underlying themes of the past, society and class, and love. Tom’s powerful nature, cheating on his wife, and violence represent the danger and authority. Fitzgerald made a point to include careless, wealthy characters in the novel that contributed to completing the violence and work as a whole.