The Great Gatsby Chapter 8

1. The Great Gatsby Chapter 8 By Sarah, William and Eszter

2. Summary • Chapter 8 is the chapter where the murder of Gatsby takes place. After a sleepless night, Nick goes over to Gatsby’s to learn that nothing had happened at the Buchanan's after Nick had left the night before. Nick ties to convince Gatsby to leave Long Island, but Gatsby refuses to leave Daisy behind. Gatsby tells Nick more about his days with Daisy and how he felt “married to her”. The gardener interrupts Gatsby’s story with the question of draining the pool as autumn is closing in. Gatsby tells Nick that he did not use the pool all summer.

3. The chapter continues with looking back at what had happened with Wilson during that same night after Myrtle’s death. Wilson had decided to go to Tom as he had drove the car earlier and he had known who the car belonged to. After learning from Tom that Gatsby was the man whom Myrtle had an ‘affair’ with, Wilson decided to pay a visit to Gatsby. Nick comes home from work to find Gatsby’s lifeless body floating in the pool and Wilson’s body by the side.

4. Daisy Buchanan Daisy’s laugh is one of her best quality. She has a sweet and charming voice which is hard to resist. Her role in the book is to tempt Gatsby, to lower him into her spider web of love, then to leave him to take the blame for something that she did. She is described as a charming yet foolish young girl who doesn’t care about anybody, not even her own daughter. She is only interested in staying amongst the rich. “Laughed an absurd little laugh”

5. Tom Buchanan “Two shining arrogant eyes” Tom is an aggressive and violent men. Although he has a hot temper, has affairs and is the example of a complete snob he loves Daisy. He represents the American Dream itself. His role is to show the reader how the rich behave when they have everything that they have ever wanted.

6. Jordan Baker “Her wan, scornful mouth smiled” She is self-centered, a liar, and has no interest in other people. She attends parties to keep herself occupied. She only cares about herself. Her role is to be Daisy’s friend and also to represents the “new woman” of the time. She is beautiful yet completely dishonest.

7. Nick Carraway “Reserving judgments is a mater of infinite hope” Nick has his own opinion, he is not influenced by what other people think. He is a good judge of character most of the time. He is an un-innocent bystander, as he is friends with Gatsby and is related to Daisy. His main role in the book is to arrange the first meeting between Gatsby and Daisy after their 5 year gap. He is also Gatsby’s closest friend whom organizes his funeral.

8. Myrtle Wilson “You can’t live forever, you can’t live forever” Myrtle is the kind of person who knows what is right and what is wrong, but because she wants to live the lifestyle of the rich. She seems to think that the two are the same. She tends to be quite demanding because she knows that Tom can afford to buy whatever she wants. She loves her husband, Wilson but she is unfaithful to him because she knows that by having an affair with Tom she can get the kind of lifestyle that she desires. Her role in the book is to ruin Tom and Daisy’s marriage. Her affair with Tom is also one of the main causes of Gatsby’s death.

9. Jay Gatsby “He was picking his words with care” Gatsby is mysterious, not any of his guests really know anything about him. He doesn’t seem to fit into any of the groups attending his parties as he is always standing alone. He is loyal to true love as the only reason why he started getting into illegal stuff to get money so he can buy everything that would impress Daisy, the love of his life. Last but not least he has a smile as unique as Daisy’s voice.

10. Themes in the chapter • Nostalgia:it is represented when Gatsby is revealing his past with Daisy to Nick. Gatsby gets nostalgic as he is still head over heels in love with Daisy. • American Dream: The American dream is about the pursuit of happiness in the chapter has degenerated into a quest for mere wealth, Gatsby’s powerful dream of happiness with Daisy has become the motivation for lavish excesses and criminal activities. Gatsby himself became the symbol of America.

11. The passage of time Throughout this chapter, the narrative implicitly establishes a connection between the weather and the emotional atmosphere of the story. Just as the geographical settings of the book correspond to particular characters and themes, the weather corresponds to the plot. In the previous chapter, Gatsby’s tension-filled confrontation with Tom took place on the hottest day of the summer, beneath a fiery and intense sun. Now that the fire has gone out of Gatsby’s life with Daisy’s decision to remain with Tom, the weather suddenly cools, and autumn creeps into the air—the gardener even wants to drain the pool to keep falling leaves from clogging the drains. In the same way that Gatsby clings to the hope of making Daisy love him the way she used to, he insists on swimming in the pool as though it were still summer. Both his downfall in Chapter 7 and his death in Chapter 8 result from his stark refusal to accept what he cannot control: the passage of time.

12. Class Class is an unusual theme for an American novel. It is more common to find references to it in European, especially British novels. However, the societies of East and West Egg are deeply divided by the difference between the newly rich and the older moneyed families. Gatsby is aware of the existence of a class structure in America, because a true meritocracy would put him in touch with some of the finest people, but, as things stand, he is held at arm's length. Gatsby tries desperately to fake status, even buying British shirts and claiming to have attended Oxford in an attempt to justify his position in society. Ultimately, however, it is a class gulf that separates Gatsby and Daisy, and cements the latter in her relationship to Tom, who is from the same class as she is. The theme of class is represented while Gatsby is talking about his time with Daisy.

13. “Daisy began to move again with the season, suddenly she was again keeping half a dozen dates with half a dozen men” pg 144 Daisy recollected herself and became the person she was before Gatsby. She was tired of waiting for him and decided to move on. But she was obviously just trying to fill her loneliness with men to occupy her time and take her mind off of Gatsby. A leopard can never change its spots and even though we all knew/ thought she loved Gatsby, she decided to forget him and date other men. “move again with the season” shows that no matter what the circumstances were, she’d still continue to put herself out there with other men though she knew it wasn’t right and that she doesn’t love any of them.

14. “They are a rotten crowd, I shouted across the lawn. You are worth a whole damn bunch put together” pg 145 • Despite not liking him since the start, Nick learned to love Gatsby as a friend. Watching their relationship grow throughout the book, makes this quote a lot more meaningful because it ties their relationship up and shows that Nick really does think he’s worth more than them. Nick implies that Gatsby’s heart is much more worthy than Tom’s wealth and fame. • Also this quote is the last thing that Nick says to Gatsby. Last words are always touching but these last few words with Gatsby’s reply on the next page “Radiant and understanding smile” brings out the deepest feeling in the reader. Nick might have said it to cheer Gatsby up but the words came out to form something even more meaningful.