The group ends up at the Plaza hotel, where they continue drinking, moving the day closer and closer to its tragic end. Tom, always a hot-head, begins to badger Gatsby, questioning him as to his intentions with Daisy. Decidedly tactless and confrontational, Tom keeps harping on Gatsby until the truth comes out: Gatsby wants Daisy to admit she’s never loved Tom but that, instead, she has always loved him. When Daisy is unable to do this, Gatsby declares that Daisy is going to leave Tom. Tom, though, understands Daisy far better than Gatsby does and knows she won’t leave him: His wealth and power, matured through generations of privilege, will triumph over Gatsby’s newly found wealth. In a gesture of authority, Tom orders Daisy and Gatsby to head home in Gatsby’s car. Tom, Nick, and Jordan follow.
As Tom’s car nears Wilson’s garage, they can all see that some sort of accident has occurred. Pulling over to investigate, they learn that Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress, has been hit and killed by a passing car that never bothered to stop, and it appears to have been Gatsby’s car. Tom, Jordan, and Nick continue home to East Egg. Nick, now disgusted by the morality and behavior of the people with whom he has been on friendly terms, meets Gatsby outside of the Buchannans house where he is keeping watch for Daisy. With a few well-chosen questions, Nick learns that Daisy, not Gatsby, was driving the car, although Gatsby confesses he will take all the blame. Nick, greatly agitated by all that he has experienced during the day, continues home, but an overarching feeling of dread haunts him.
Nearing dawn the next morning, Nick goes to Gatsby’s house. While the two men turn the house upside down looking for cigarettes, Gatsby tells Nick more about how he became the man he is and how Daisy figured into his life. Later that morning, while at work, Nick is unable to concentrate. He receives a phone call from Jordan Baker, but is quick to end the discussion—and thereby the friendship. He plans to take an early train home and check on Gatsby.
The action then switches back to Wilson who, distraught over his wife’s death, sneaks out and goes looking for the driver who killed Myrtle. Nick retraces Wilson’s journey, which placed him, by early afternoon, at Gatsby’s house. Wilson murders Gatsby and then turns the gun on himself.
After Gatsby’s death, Nick is left to help make arrangements for his burial. What is most perplexing, though, is that no one seems overly concerned with Gatsby’s death. Daisy and Tom mysteriously leave on a trip and all the people who so eagerly attended his parties, drinking his liquor and eating his food, refuse to become involved. Even Meyer Wolfshiem, Gatsby’s business partner, refuses to publicly mourn his friend’s death. A telegram from Henry C. Gatz, Gatsby’s father, indicates he will be coming from Minnesota to bury his son. Gatsby’s funeral boasts only Nick, Henry Gatz, a few servants, the postman, and the minister at the graveside. Despite all his popularity during his lifetime, in his death, Gatsby is completely forgotten.
Nick, completely disillusioned with what he has experienced in the East, prepares to head back to the Midwest. Before leaving, he sees Tom Buchannan one last time. When Tom notices him and questions him as to why he didn’t want to shake hands, Nick curtly offers “You know what I think of you.” Their discussion reveals that Tom was the impetus behind Gatsby’s death. When Wilson came to his house, he told Wilson that Gatsby owned the car that killed Myrtle. In Tom’s mind, he had helped justice along. Nick, disgusted by the carelessness and cruel nature of Tom, Daisy, and those like them, leaves Tom, proud of his own integrity.
On the last night before leaving, Nick goes to Gatsby’s mansion, then to the shore where Gatsby once stood, arms outstretched toward the green light. The novel ends prophetically, with Nick noting how we are all a little like Gatsby, boats moving up a river, going forward but continually feeling the pull of the past.
