Chapter 8 Pages 154-170

Summary: Nick goes to check on Gatsby, and tells him he should get out of town for a while. Gatsby talks about his past with Daisy and how she couldn’t wait any longer for Gatsby to leave the war and be rich, so she married Tom. Nick tells Gatsby that he is a good guy, and he also talks and ends things with Jordan. Meanwhile Michaelis was looking over George. George went crazy and ended up killing Gatsby.

Character: 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 tryin to keep him more quiet” (Fitzgerald 165).

            Michaelis is a very good man. He sees Myrtle die and realizes that George is in a lot of pain. He decides to go over to George’s and take care of him. He sits with him all day to make sure that he is doing okay. He and his friends take shifts watching George and making sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Michaelis tries to make small talk with George and get his mind off things, but nothing he does works. He is very friendly and an honest guy who tells the police everything he knew about the accident. Michaelis tries to help and please everyone.

            Michaelis is the prime suspect for the accident where Daisy runs over Myrtle. He tells the policemen as much as he knows, and tries to comfort Wilson. He talks to George about religion and brings up his marriage. George starts to tell him that Myrtle was cheating on him, and that’s why she was killed. Michaelis was only trying to help, but he brought up a touchy subject that eventually led to George’s breaking point. The more he thought about his life with Myrtle the madder he got until he went and killed Gatsby. Michaelis tried his best to make things better and help George, but in the end he helped get Gatsby killed.

Quote: “He had intended, probably, to take what he could and go—but now he found that he had committed himself to the following grail. He knew that Daisy was extraordinary but he didn’t realize just how extraordinary a ‘nice’ girl could be” (Fitzgerald 156). Daisy is Gatsby’s dream. He spends his whole life searching for her and trying to get her, but can never do it. She is like the Holy Grail. So many people want her because she is rare and beautiful, but she is impossible to obtain. Gatsby tries several times to win her back, but no matter what he does it doesn’t work. This dream of Gatsbys is an illusion because it can’t be reached.