The Great Gatsby Chapter 8

Chapter 8 147-162

Summary: After a night without sleep, Nick goes over to Gatsby’s house early in the morning. Gatsby says that he was at Daisy’s house until four in the morning and nothing happened. Nick tells Gatsby to just leave and forget about Daisy, but Gatsby can’t do it. He also tells Nick about his past with Daisy, their love for each other when they were younger, and how she married Tom after he had left. Later in the day, Nick talks to Jordan on the phone and Nick looses interest in Jordan and doesn’t want to see her that day. George Wilson is really depressed that Myrtle is dead and Michaelis tries to comfort him. George wants revenge and goes to Gatsby’s house to kill him. After he shoots Gatsby, he also kills himself. 

a. Michaelis

b. “Still later Michaelis had to ask the last stranger to wait there fifteen minutes longer, while he went back to his own place and made a pot of coffee. After that, he stayed there alone with Wilson until dawn” (156).

c. Michaelis is a young Greek man who runs the coffee shop next door and was a principal witness of the accident. We see that Michaelis is very caring because he stays with George after the accident and tries to comfort him. He is one of the more trustworthy characters in the story and cares about George and others around him.

d. I think Michaelis is important in this chapter because he tries to bring back hope in George who has become depressed when he found out Myrtle cheated on him and died. Michaelis asks him, “How long have you been married.” and tells him “you ought to have a church, George, for times like this” (157). He tries to bring back the gleam of hope that was in George’s eyes in the beginning of the book. This hope in George is now lost, and became dull like the valley of ashes. Michaelis tries to snap George out of it and bring back hope.

Quote: “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever game him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end” (154)

This quote stood out to me because I somewhat agree with Nick when he tells Gatsby this. As the story progressed, Gatsby seemed more of a suspicious character and one that I didn’t like when I found out he created a fake identity and cheated to be wealthy. However, I can understand why Nick says that he is better than all the others. Gatsby had a dream and something to live for unlike Daisy, Myrtle, Tom, and even Nick. They all wanted wealthy, but had no purpose for it. Even though Gatsby was too caught up in his dream, he had a purpose for living, and this was to get Daisy. Unlike Tom, who cheated on his wife, or Myrtle, who just cares about material things, Gatsby seems like a good man. This quote was also interesting because we also see that Nick judges people. In the beginning of the book, Nick tells us that he reserves judgment of people. However, we see here that he is very critical of the other characters in the story.