Loss Of Innocence In The Great Gatsby

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Guiltless Gatsby: How Almost Everyone in the Great Gatsby Is, Directly or Indirectly, a Murderer

The Great Gatsby is an epic tragedy based on misunderstanding, miserably bad luck, and the naive hope of a single man, with underlying themes of greed, racism, classism, and how horrible the true nature of human beings can be. It is also a perfect example of a book not ending on a happy note: the ultimate death of Gatsby and subsequent end of the novel leaves very little in the way of solace and closure for the audience, whom had grown to know the complicated character of Gatsby before his sudden execution at the hands of George Wilson. In fact, the climax of the book is punctuated by not one, but three deaths; the aforementioned death of Jay …show more content…
Gatsby had his fair share of deceits and lies, all of which eventually contributed in one way or another to his eventual death. Gatsby’s lies, unlike those of most of the other characters, seemed to have no intention of malice or ill will, though. However, some of Gatsby’s lies played ill on his moral character. One of the reasons Daisy began to lose faith in him was the when Tom explained that Gatsby “bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (Chapter 7, pg. ). Tom displayed the sin of adultery with his outings with Myrtle and also evidently beat his wife, making him one of the more outwardly despicable characters. He made elaborate lies to cover his outings, such as "[that it’s] his wife that's keeping them apart. She's a Catholic, and they don't believe in divorce" (Chapter 2, pg. ). He shows little to no respect for his wife in these moments, leading to Daisy falling into Gatsby’s arms. His wife, however, was effectively a murderer and a liar who got others killed due to her carelessness. Myrtle also practiced adultery, leading her husband to murder and suicide. It is important to note that the guiltiest individuals are also some of the wealthiest, with Tom and Daisy facing no repercussions despite their equal and more egregious behaviour than that of the Wilsons. The deaths of Myrtle and Wilson are far overshadowed by Gatsby’s at the end of the book, and Myrtle’s death is barely discussed after it occurs. This shows a possible lack of empathy from the narrator, Nick, with his scarce discussion of the unfortunate deaths of two other human
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