Gatsby thinks he is heroic for standing
guard outside the Buchanan's home.
When Nick remarks at the end of the tumultuous evening that
just took place in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The
Great Gatsby that, “I’d had enough of all of them for one day” (Fitzgerald,
142), I could not agree with him more; I am literally so annoyed, angry, and
disgusted with Gatsby and Daisy at this point that I’m almost too frustrated to
even be able to describe my feelings in a blog. Tom, on the other hand,
actually surprised me with his impressive level of self-control and composure;
after all, he ascertained that his wife was having an affair with another man
and tragically discovered the death of his mistress that he apparently loved
all in one evening, yet he still had the self-control to return to his home
that night and speak to Daisy in a civil conversation at the dinner table. Nick
remarked after Myrtle Wilson’s death that he detected a difference in Tom
Buchanan, and I wonder if the reality of the horrors that befell him on this
night will actually be sufficient enough to convert Tom Buchanan into a better
person. I will also be very interested to see how Tom will now address the
issue of Daisy’s love for Gatsby: will he let her go, or will he fight for her
affections? All of this is not to say that I have miraculously transformed into
a Tom Buchanan fan, for I still resent all the horrible atrocities that he
committed against his wife, but I genuinely am hopeful that he will have the
wisdom and maturity to undergo a major conversion of heart as a result of the
tragedies he is currently struggling with.
In contrast, I am convinced that Gatsby and
Daisy’s reactions to the night’s events were so disgraceful that I may never be
able to respect them again. I’m sorry that this sounds so rude, but I
personally find Daisy to be nothing short of a pathetic idiot; the fact that
she killed a woman because she, being true to her whiny and childish behavior,
insisted on driving home and still appears as though she feels little guilt
repulses me. She’s a wife and a mother, so when is she going to realize that
she is old enough to start showing some responsibility for her actions and face
the consequences of her own mistakes? More than any other character, however, I
am severely disappointed and furiously upset with Gatsby. His irresponsible
actions in allowing Daisy to drive the car home literally cost a woman her
life. He may not have known that that woman whose blood is now on his hands was
Tom’s mistress, but the point is irrelevant. For all Gatsby knows, that woman
could have been the mother of four young children, and yet he had the gall to
mow her over with a car and not even harbor the decency to turn around and face
the consequences of his stupidity. I was able to make a somewhat personal connection
to this event because my mom lost a cousin who was like a brother to her at a
very young age because he was struck down by a drunk driver. He was killed as
instantly as Myrtle, and in a flash of a moment, his fiancée, parents, family,
and friends were left without their loved one. Because I have seen firsthand
the effects of a reckless driving accident and recognize how severe this pain
can be, the fact that Gatsby was able to drive away from the scene of an
accident which he caused quite literally disgusts me. Gatsby could care less
who the woman whose life he claimed was as long as his beloved Daisy was not
distraught about the incident. I agree completely with Nick when he observes, “He
spoke as if Daisy’s reaction was the only thing that mattered” (Fitzgerald,
143). Love is the most important thing in the world, but that love for another
should never be an excuse for someone to destroy the lives of other people and
disregard their feelings; his actions are unjustifiable. The fact that Gatsby
acts like such a valiant and heroic man for acting as a sentinel outside Daisy’s
home all night to ensure that Tom does not hurt her while he is the one who murdered a person is repugnant to me. I truly cannot
comprehend how Gatsby has the nerve to be incapable of remorse for his actions,
and until he does, I will never be able to respect him again.
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