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Examples Of Punishment In The Great Gatsby

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Examples Of Punishment In The Great Gatsby
Boubacar Barry Prof. Alpert LIT 326 March 27, 2017 Journal #1
“The Great Gatsby” on Crime and Punishment” In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby is about the lifestyle and prosperity of the working and upper class in New York after the Great War. The Great Gatsby shows how certain people could get away with breaking the law without punishment because of money and power. Beccaria’s idea of “Severity” is being utilized in The Great Gatsby instead of “Certainty” because some of the characters who has committed social crimes and harm goes unpunished like Tom Buchanan. While Gatsby faces harsh punishments by getting killed in this book for a crime he did not commit. According to Beccaria’s explanation of punishment, The Great Gatsby work shows that there is no …show more content…
I believe, Tom deserved punishment for his actions instead of Gatsby. “The god damned coward! … He didn’t even stop his car” (Fitzgerald, p.135). Meaning, Tom fails to state details about Myrtle killing. Knowing it’s Daisy who was driving the car, not Gatsby. But, Tom was trying to murder Gatsby so Daisy can never again be with her secret lover Gatsby. Thus, Wilson considers that Gatsby killed his wife Myrtle even though it was Daisy, who committed the crime this shows an unfair punishment. In chapter 7, Gatsby states, “Anyhow Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn't so I pulled on the emergency brake. Then she fell over into my lap and I drove on” (Fitzgerald, p.151). In other words, Daisy tried avoiding hitting Myrtle. Daisy crime of hit-and-run and killing Myrtle goes unpunished. This case shows how daisy and tom could swindle the system by refusing to admit Daisy’s fault and take blame for the crime she has
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