How many deaths occur in The Great Gatsby?

Three deaths occur during the main events of The Great Gatsby: Myrtle Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and George Wilson. Their deaths form the tightly connected tragic climax of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel.

Myrtle dies when Daisy Buchanan, driving Gatsby’s car, strikes her near Wilson’s garage. Gatsby accepts responsibility to protect Daisy, although she was driving. George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, is devastated and wrongly concludes that Gatsby was both the driver and Myrtle’s lover. He then shoots Gatsby at his mansion and takes his own life.

Readers sometimes count deaths mentioned in characters’ backstories, such as Dan Cody, Gatsby’s former mentor, who died before the novel’s present-day action. However, the standard quiz answer refers to the three deaths directly depicted or immediately reported in the central narrative. The pattern is significant: the people who die are those pursuing love, escape, or a better life, while Tom and Daisy Buchanan—whose choices help cause the disaster—survive and retreat behind their wealth.