Oh my: Pages 169-170 (The Great Gatsby)

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

To say the least, a lot happened in this section.  Like in the real world, when these tragedies occur, sense is an extremely difficult relief to find.  I had a lot of theories and random thoughts while reading this section.  Therefore, this post will essentially be my attempt to find meaning in this tragedy.

First, I decided to tie in the murder of Gatsby and suicide of Wilson to the overall tragic nature of the upper class.  The reason Wilson shot Gatsby was because Wilson believed Gatsby was both her lover and murderer.  The reason Wilson found Gatsby was because he was able to track down Gatsby's yellow car which is a famous symbol for his extravagant lifestyle and the car that killed his wife.  Therefore, I suppose that Fitzgerald claims that materialistic life often restrains and even takes life.  Myrtle's desire to escape her impoverished life led her to run to what she thought was Tom's car which led to her death which led Wilson to kill Gatsby and himself.

However, Gatsby had absolutely nothing to do with Myrtle, so why was he the one to take the blame?

I believe that Fitzgerald chose to kill off Gatsby in order to demonstrate the wide range of people who suffer from the search for wealth.  As he was innocent in the case of Myrtle's death, he was also (sort of) innocent when it came to his quest for wealth.  His reasons for pursuing wealth were two-fold: to invalidate the attacks on his status from his early life and to win Daisy's heart. Nevertheless, he affiliated himself with the wrong crowd.  Wolfsheim, Gatsby's closest business partner, is no stranger to the deaths of associates and seems to be surrounded by shady characters:  "But when I'd shouted 'hello' several times in vain, an argument broke out behind a partition, and presently a lovely Jewess appeared at an interior door and scrutinized me with black hostile eyes" (Fitzgerald, 170).  While Gatsby himself had pure intentions, his decisions in pursuing his intentions directly led him to danger and indirectly led him to his death.

Another message I contemplated in this section was that the tragedies of wealth are not limited in the slightest to the wealthy.  Just like the accounts of the butlers and servants toiling to prepare Gatsby's party, Wilson had been exploited.  Tom's refusal to accept that his life had slowed down and Myrtle's refusal to accept that she would not be pampered like her new dog utterly destroyed Wilson.  Any idea that he could provide anything for her wife was challenged by the knowledge of her affair and shattered by her death.  Even though the shortcomings of wealth often tax the wealthy, they more often than not bankrupt those who bear no blame.