Passage Analysis

‘Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtn’t to drive at all.’
‘I am careful.’
‘No, you’re not.’
‘Well, other people are,’ she said lightly.
‘What’s that got to do with it?’
‘They’ll keep out of my way,’ she insisted. ‘It takes two to make an accident.’
(Fitzgerald 59)

This is a short dialogue between Nick and Jordan Baker, after Jordan drove “so close to some workmen that [her] fender flicked a button on one man’s coat” (59). It gives insight into the personalities of both Jordan and Nick, and also serves to foreshadow Gatsby’s fate in two different ways.
Despite Nick’s statements that he is ‘inclined to reserve all judgements’ (7), he is quick to condemn Jordan as careless in this passage. It is very true that she behaved carelessly once, but that may not reflect her personality. Even careful people make mistakes.
Jordan, however, admits that Nick is right. Not state is that her driving is a metaphor for her attitude towards life: again, careless. This reflects all of the East Eggers, such as Tom and Daisy, who are repeatedly states as being careless. However, Jordan’s statement that others will keep out of her way seems to be a joke. The importance of this is that her joke is an admission of her carelessness: “I know I am careless, but I also know that, because I am rich, I have a metaphorical safety net to protect me from the consequences of my own actions. Therefore, I can and will continue to be careless.” In other words, Jordan is shallow and careless as a result of a conscious choice.
Daisy, of course, is the metaphorical and the actual careless driver who causes an accident. Metaphorically because she is far worse than Jordan, and Gatsby is blinded by his infatuation, enough to make him careless; an accident results. The fact that Gatsby’s death was indirectly caused by Daisy’s actual bad driving is both ironic and funny in a pathetic way.