The Great Gatsby
Prompt #9 · The Great Gatsby
Prompt Type: Scene Analysis
George Wilson arrives at Gatsby's mansion and shoots him dead in his swimming pool. Analyze how Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's death to explore the consequences of his romantic idealism and the moral indifference of the society around him. Explain how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Quote 1
“He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass. A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about … like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees.”
Chapter 8
Argument
This quote from the death scene itself uses surreal imagery and metaphor to capture Gatsby's final disillusionment as his romantic dream collapses into grotesque reality, with Wilson appearing as an 'ashen, fantastic figure' emerging from the moral wasteland that ultimately destroys him.
Quote 2
"They're a rotten crowd," I shouted across the lawn. "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."
Chapter 8
Argument
This quote from the death scene establishes the moral contrast central to Gatsby's tragedy: Nick's declaration of Gatsby's worth directly precedes his murder, highlighting how Gatsby's romantic idealism makes him morally superior to the careless society that abandons him.
Quote 3
“From the moment I telephoned news of the catastrophe to West Egg village, every surmise about him, and every practical question, was referred to me. At first I was surprised and confused; then, as he lay in his house and didn't move or breathe or speak, hour upon hour, it grew upon me that I was responsible, because no one else was interested—interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which everyone has some vague right at the end.”
Chapter 9
Argument
This quote from after the death scene exposes the moral indifference of Gatsby's society through the stark fact that no one claims responsibility or shows 'intense personal interest' in his death, leaving Nick alone to care for a man whose parties once drew hundreds.
Quote 4
“But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room.”
Chapter 7
Argument
This quote from the Plaza confrontation captures the precise moment Gatsby's romantic dream dies before his physical death, as the personified 'dead dream' continues fighting futilely even as Daisy withdraws—establishing that Gatsby's idealism has already destroyed him before Wilson arrives at the pool.
Quote 5
“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 …”
Chapter 9
Argument
This quote from after the death scene directly names the moral indifference that enables Gatsby's murder: Tom and Daisy's carelessness 'smashed up' Gatsby and then retreated into their wealth, leaving Wilson to kill the wrong man while they escape accountability for the chaos they created.