Journal Entry #8

Chapter 8: Pages 147-162

Chapter Summary:

After a long night of no sleep, Nick visits Gatsby at his house and finds that Gatsby had waited at the Buchanan’s all night, but nothing had happened. Nick warns Gatsby that he should leave town, but Gatsby can’t imagine leaving Daisy behind, so he refuses. Nick tells us about how Gatsby had originally been with Daisy only for the sex but had ended up falling in love with her and finding out just how good of a girl she was. Daisy told Gatsby she would wait for him to return when he left for war, but when Gatsby returned, he was notified that she was married to a Tom Buchanan. As Nick leaves Gatsby’s, the gardener tells Gatsby that he would like to drain the pool because he doesn’t want any trouble with the newly falling leaves in the filters. Gatsby tells him that he doesn’t want it to be drained today because he’s never gone for a swim in it before. Nick leaves Gatsby’s and goes to work but can’t concentrate. He falls asleep as is woken up by a phone call from Jordan Baker, whom he refuses to see for a date later in the afternoon. Then, Nick’s narrative switches to tell us what happened at the garage the night before. Michaelis had stayed up with George Wilson all night talking about Myrtle and comes to the conclusion that whoever was driving the car that murdered Myrtle was her lover. Wilson rules out Tom then arrives at Gatsby’s a little later. Chapter 8 ends when he finds Gatsby on an air mattress in his pool. First, he shoots Gatsby, and then he shoots himself.

Character:

a) George Wilson

Most Defining Quote:

b) “I’m one of these trusting fellas and I don’t think any harm to nobody, but when I get to know a thing I know it. It was the man in that car.” (George Wilson 159)

Characteristics:

c) George Wilson is a tender and trusting man who is stomped all over by his cheating wife, Myrtle.

Role in the Book:

d) George Wilson symbolizes a major transitional character in the novel. Going from a man who didn’t care about living like the wealthy, by the end of the book he has changed from a nice, lower class married man, to a crazy and angry lower class man trying to live up all because of the death of his wife.

Quote:

“They’re a rotten crowd. You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” (Nick 154)

This quote is a significant part of the book because it shows a change in Nick, the narrator. In the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick told us that he reserves his judgments of people because that’s what his father had taught him. In Chapter 8, with this quote, we see the first look into Nick’s view of the wealthy people he has been hanging around so far.