Gatsby --- Irony

"Was Daisy driving?....Yes, but of course I'll say I was. You see, when we left New York she was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive - " pg 143

There are many ironies throughout the novel that lead up to the one big one that illustrates the overall theme. One irony is that Wilson wants a car from Tom, a "relation" to his wife. Their relationship shows irony because its as if Tom is repaying him for letting him "use" his wife - although Wilson does not know about the situation. The main irony is the excerpt above. Daisy is forced to deal with knowing of Tom's mistress, so she loves Gatsby. Once Tom finds out, he is ironically angry even though he is cheating too. Their confrontation causes Daisy's "panic" so she drives in order to calm herself down. The root of the irony lies in the fact that Daisy was the person driving the car that hit Myrtle. The wife hit the husband's mistress..unknowingly of course.