Rationale:
This
written task revolves around the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott
Fitzgerald. The written task revolves around the scene of the death of Myrtle
from the car accident up to the end where Wilson murders Gatsby and commits
suicide in chapters 7 and 8 of the novel. This task is based on the accident
that killed Myrtle and is written in the perspective of George Wilson through a
police investigation.
The
task intends to explore the novel in the scope of a minor character. The
character of George Wilson is chosen because he is a minor character that plays
a crucial role as the novel comes towards an end. In order to do so, I reread
the novel and tried to imitate Wilson’s dialect by using a dumb tone and using
a small range of vocabulary to suit the character of Wilson as a merely
educated man to match the characterization of Fitzgerald. The aim of the task
is to view the novel in the point of view of Wilson and attempts to understand
the thoughts and emotions that Wilson felt towards Gatsby after discovering
that he killed (and had an affair) with his wife, Myrtle. Wilson is enraged at
Gatsby for taking away the life of his wife and seeks for revenge.
The
text type used in the task is in the format of a police file/report where
George Wilson is interviewed about the accident and tells his story of what
happens. At first, I considered writing a diary record that Wilson keeps, but
it doesn’t seem to suit his character and so I decided to file a report
instead. This format serves as a mean to discover the character of Wilson and explores
his thoughts before he attempts to murder Gatsby.
WORD COUNT: 295
words
CASE
FILE#0714
VICTIM:
GEORGE WILSON
DATE: Aug.24.1922
TIME: PST.21:00 P.M.
LOCATION: AUTOSHOP, VALLEY
OF ASHES
An
incident occurred last night around est.8.00 pm in front of George’s Wilson
automobile shop where George Wilson’s wife, Myrtle Wilson, was killed by an
anonymous car speeding down the road as she attempted to cross the street.
According to Michaelis, a bystander who witnessed the event, the car is bright
yellow in color and the driver hesitated to stop, but ended up speeding away.
An
interview with George Wilson took place on the night of the accident to get a
better scope of the tragedy. The interview below was conducted after Mr. Wilson
has settled down and has remained in a calm state of mind.
Q.)“Please
introduce yourself.”
A.)“Well, my name is
George Wilson, and there’s my wife, Myrtle, lying there on the table, dead. Me and
Myrtle got married a while back and we’ve been livin’ at this automobile shop since.
We make a living off buy’n and sell’n cars, but business here doesn’t seem to
run smoothly so we decided to head off to the West to escape from this heat and
settle down somewhere else, somewhere nicer; but that never happened… Myrtle’s
gone.
Q.)“What
happened before the accident and why did Myrtle run out?”
A.)“To be honest, we
were having quite a heavy fight back there. Myrtle’s a cheater. A sneaky little cheater.., but I
loved her. Caught her wearing this pearl necklace that I don’t seem to remember
getting her; so she must’ve gotten it from someone else, right? Let’s say
things got physical, I was mad and confused and was kinda shocked actually.
I’ve never expected Myrtle to cheat on me like this, with another man, still
could hardly believe it. So yeah, we were shouting and yelling at each other. I
tried taking hold of her, but she ran off. She just ran out of the house, but
for some reason, as that ridiculous yellow car came by, it almost seems like
she was running towards the car, as if she knew the person driving it, and so I
thought that the driver was for sure the man who stole Myrtle away from me.”
Q.)“Who
are the suspects?”
A.)“I know who’s
responsible for this! It’s that bloody fella, Tom Buchanan. You see, Tom was
here to refill his gas during the afternoon and he was driving a yellow car,
just exactly like the one that hit Myrtle. Oh that bastard, how dare he hurt my
Myrtle. And in his car was a man, I believe he’s a Nick, a Nick Carraway, and
there was a woman –a famous golfer or something –don’t remember her name. It
could be anyone of them. This also gave me a suspicion that Tom is the one secretly
cheating with Myrtle! Why in the heavens would Myrtle head to the city every
single time Tom stopped by?! After all, he visits us most often… You bastard
Tom, you’ll pay for this.”
This gave us the
lead we needed. Mr. Wilson was put on hold for him to cope with his lost as the
interrogation of eyewitnesses and investigation for evidence in the crime scene
took place.
DATE:Aug.25.1922
TIME:PST.8:00 A.M.
LOCATION:AUTOSHOP, VALLEY OF
ASHES
Another interview
took place at George Wilson’s automobile shop in the next morning for more
information.
Q.)“Do
you have any new information of who the suspect might be?”
A.)“Well actually,
yes, I did receive further information over the night. A couple of minutes
after the interview last night, I don’t know, around half past ten? Tom showed
up. I tried to strangle him, of course I did! I thought he killed my wife! Apparently,
Tom just came back from the city. He explained everything. He wasn’t driving the yellow car. He said he
knew the guy. Gatsby. Jay Gatsby. Tom lent his car to Gatsby during the
afternoon. At first, I thought he was lying too, until I saw his blue coupé. Furthermore,
Tom said he knew this “Gatsby” really well. He told me that this Gatsby has
been sneakin’ around and having affairs with women all over the place, and
Myrtle was probably one of them. I’ve never met him before, but if he’s the one
having an affair with my wife, things won’t end pretty for that filthy dog. Everything
is clear now, you see, Myrtle ran out to the middle of the streets because of HIM.
She knew it was HIM, and she thought he was going to help her. Little did she
know that he did not give a damn about her. That’s all I have to offer for now.
If you would excuse me, I have an important meeting to attend.”
TIME:PST.8:46 A.M.
LOCATION:AUTOSHOP, VALLEY OF
ASHES
George Wilson
leaves his garage. Jay Gatsby added to notorious list. Further inspection of
crime scene and continued interview sessions.
TIME:PST.10:38 A.M.
LOCATION:GATSBY MANSION,
EAST EGG –LONG ISLAND
Time
of death:Approx.
PST.9:29 A.M.
Suspect: George Wilson
Crime
scene:The
body of Jay Gatsby found floating on the pool in the backyard of the Gatsby
mansion. George Wilson’s body found several meters away on the lawn of the
backyard.
Evidence:Smith&Wesson M1917
pistol (4/6 rounds loaded)
Suspected
cause of death:
Wilson shot Gatsby with his pistol and committed suicide afterwards.
Witnesses:
No
reported eyewitnesses when the murder took place. A few of Gatsby’s workers who
belonged to Meyer Wolfsheim that were stationed at the Gatsby’s mansion
reported that gunshots were heard, but nobody saw Wilson wander in.
An
interview with Meyer Wolfsheim and his workers took place during the evening. No
eyewitnesses were reported. No further information received for continuation of
the case.
Closing
Remarks and Conclusion of Case
Both suspect and
victim are dead; the case is dropped. In conclusion, the motive for murder
of Gatsby committed by Wilson was due to internal conflict between the two
caused by the affair between Gatsby and Wilson’s wife, Myrtle. Jay Gatsby
accused with murder charges of Myrtle Wilson.
CASE CLOSED.
WORD COUNT: 998 words
