Chapter 8

Chapter 8
Pages 147-162


Summary- Chapter eight starts with Nick going to Gatsby's house for breakfast. He tells Nick that he waited outside for Daisy until four in the morning, but she never showed up. Nick says Gatsby should leave Long Island and forget about Daisy but he can't leave her. He then tells Nick about their relationship in the past and how she was his first love and he was in awe of her wealth and huge house and let her think he was of the same class of her just to impress her. After they slept together, Gatsby felt married to her, and thought Daisy would wait for him when he left to fight in World War 1, but Daisy eventually moved on and married Tom. The gardener tells Gatsby he is going to drain the pool, but Gastby asks him not to and says that he's going to use it for the first time this summer. On his way out, Nick tells Gatsby that he is worth more and better than everyone else they know, which makes Gatsby really happy. Nick gets a phone call from Jordan while he is at work that ends up badly but Nick doesn't really seem to care. Then, Wilson talks to Michaelis about Myrtle and her death and how he thinks that the man driving the car must have been her lover because she ran out to see him. He then finds out that it was Gatsby's car that hit her, but he doesn't know that Daisy was driving. Wilson goes to Gatsby's house and see's him floating in his pool, waiting for a call from Daisy. Wilson then shoots Gatsby and then goes off and shoots himself out in the grass. 


Michaelis- “He didn’t like to go into the garage because the work bench was stained where the body had been lying so he moved uncomfortably around the office—he knew every object in it before morning—and from time to time sat down beside Wilson trying to keep him more quiet” (165).
-Michaelis is a very caring and loyal man. He puts George and his needs before his own. He is hard-working and dedicated to his shop. 
-Michaelis doesn't have a huge role in the novel. He is a coffee shop owner who cares deeply about his neighbor, Wilson, especially after his wife, Myrtle, is killed. He was the only one who fully witnessed her murder. He only wants good things for Wilson and has his best intentions at heart. He stays with him all night and tries to comfort him. 


Quote- “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154).
-Nick says this to Gatsby as he is leaving his house after breakfast the morning of his death. I think it is significant because Nick is saying that unlike everyone in their group of friends Gatsby actually proves to be a good person. He may have been involved in gambling and done wrong things, but inside he is a good and kind person and has never hurt anyone like the others all have. Throughout the book we see Gatsby buying the most extravagant things and showing off his wealth, but we learn he didn't do any of it for him but for everyone else that he cared about. The other characters in the novel generally never thought of others or put others thoughts first the way Gatsby did, such as when he said he would take the blame for Myrtle's death, and I think that was the point Fitzgerald was trying to make through this quote.