George Wilson killed Gatsby with a gun in Gatsby’s house and then shot himself dead. Wilson was devastated by his wife’s death, who died in a car accident. Assuming that the driver was Gatsby himself, Wilson decided to kill him. But such a tragic ending is just a simple misunderstanding.
Detailed answer:
The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is not the one with a happy ending. The book’s events revolve around Jay Gatsby, who wants to win Daisy back, a higher social class girl. In the past, Gatsby and Daisy fell in love with each other. However, he went to war and returned just right after it ended. It wasn’t necessary for him to stay there longer, but it changed everything. By that time, Daisy married another man, Tom, and notified Gatsby about it in a letter.
Gatsby finds out that Daisy has married another man and returns to the US. There he tries to restore his loving relationship with Daisy. At the same time, Daisy’s husband has an affair with Myrtle, George Wilson’s wife. As the narration proceeds, all the characters come to know about each other. Wilson finds out that Myrtle has a lover, but he fails to discover his identity. Therefore, he locks her in a room to prevent her from running away. George wants to go to the West with her in a few days.
Tom also finds out about an affair between Daisy and Gatsby. Gatsby tries to fulfill his dream and tells Tom that Daisy has never loved him. But the girl reveals that she loved her husband, and Gatsby’s dream seems to be ruined. Tom laughs at Gatsby and orders him and Daisy to drive home in Gatsby’s car. As Daisy and Gatsby go back home, Myrtle breaks out of her room. She suddenly rushes into the street and gets run over by Gatsby’s car. Daisy is in the driver’s seat, and she does not stop after the accident. Gatsby wants to blame himself and stays outside of Daisy’s house to be there for her if she needs help. Yet, she never comes out to him and stays at home with Tom.
Wilson is devastated by his wife’s brutal death. He spends the whole night talking to his neighbor about Myrtle. In the morning, he gazes at a poster near his garage. The eyes on that billboard seem to be the eyes of God. At this moment, Wilson comes to the conclusion that the driver of the car must have been his wife’s lover. It appears to be a sing that God wants him to take revenge.
Wilson goes to Tom and Daisy’s house because he thinks that Tom must know the car owner. He comes to this conclusion because he saw Tom driving this car before the accident. But soon after the accident, Tom came to him in another vehicle, so he could not be the killer. Tom tells Wilson that the car that ran Myrtle over belongs to Gatsby. Wilson assumes Gatsby himself was in the driver’s seat and is responsible for his wife’s death.
With the intent of revenge, Wilson comes to Gatsby’s house. He finds Gatsby floating on an air mattress in the swimming pool. Wilson shoots and kills him instantly. After that, still grieving at his wife’s death, he shoots himself.