The Great Gatsby

1. The Great Gatsby Chapter 8 • Imagery • Characterisation • Key Incident • Climax • Themes • Symbolism

2. Chapter Summary Nick goes across to see Gatsby after the accident. Gatsby decides to tell Nick all about his past and his youth with Dan Cody and all about how he first meets Daisy.Gatsby explains how he fell in love with Daisy and that he was surprised to find she returned the love.Gatsby’s former servant goes to drain the pool but Gatsby says to leave it as he wants to use it.Nick leaves, complimenting Gatsby.Jordan Baker phones Nick at his work and tells him that she’s leaving, they then stopped talking altogether. Nick called Gatsby’s home but the line was being held open for a long distance call, Gatsby was waiting for a call from Daisy.Nick recounts the events of the previous night, telling of what happened with George Wilson after the crash.After the crash neighbour Michaelis looks after Wilson. Wilson believes it was the man in the car who killed Myrtle and he sets out to find him. Gatsby goes down to his pool. Wilson murders Gatsby before taking his own life.

3. Imagery S – The author Fitzgerald describes Wilson moving towards Gatsby who is in the pool. Q - “A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about… like the ashen fantastic figure, gliding towards him through the amorphous trees.” A – The author develops several images within this quote, focusing mainly on the ghostlike image of Gatsby’s surrounding and Wilson. Words such as ‘ghosts’, ‘ashen’, ‘gliding’ and ‘amorphous’ all suggest an otherworldly dream-like situation where Wilson is depicted as a ghost fixed on his target, Gatsby. This imagery is used to foreshadow Gatsby and Wilson’s death, whilst showing how Gatsby views it all, as a dream.

4. S – The author describes how Gatsby must have viewed his surroundings moments before his death. Q – “He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky, through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is, and how raw the sunlight was on the scarcely created grass.”A – The writer creates an image viewed through Gatsby’s eyes. It is an image of an ‘unfamiliar’ world, where Gatsby views the world as it truly is. This image is important as is shows the death of his materialistic views. Where a rose is a representation of love, it is viewed as ‘grotesque’, a reflection of the truth Gatsby has uncovered through his own love for Daisy. The image reflects Gatsby’s detachment to the world, he sees the sky as ‘unfamiliar’ and views his surroundings as ‘raw’ and ‘frightening’.

5. Nick Characterisation S – Nick reveals his true feelings about Gatsby Q – “I disapproved of him from beginning to end.”A – Nick, who thinks of himself as a non-judgemental man, expresses strong disapproval for Gatsby. However good a friend he was of Gatsby, Nick still believed he was not a good man at heart with one thing or another causing Nick to disapprove of him. This could have been the rumours surrounding Gatsby, his suggested involvement with illegal dealings, or most likely, his pursuit of Nick’s cousin Daisy and the methods he used to get to her.

6. S – Nick pays Gatsby a compliment before leaving, the last time Nick will see Gatsby alive.Q – “ ‘They’re a rotten crowd’ I shouted across the lawn, ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together’ ”A – We see the impact that Gatsby had on Nick with this dialogue. However much Nick disapproved of Gatsby, Gatsby still meant a lot to him, enough for him to describe Gatsby as being a better man than the whole ‘crowd’ together, (meaning Daisy, Tom etc). This shows Nick to be a thoughtful man, and lets us see that Nick is possibly Gatsby’s only true friend who likes him for his character instead of the materialistic reasons others hold, (i.e. Daisy’s desire for Gatsby’s wealth).

7. Gatsby S – Gatsby clings to the hope that Daisy will leave Tom for him, until the very end.Q – “He [Gatsby] couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I [Nick] couldn’t bear to shake him free.” A – Gatsby is so in love with Daisy he is willing to risk his own life. He knows that his car will most likely be traced back to the accident and that he could face jail, or more seriously death, as George Wilson wanted revenge. However he held on to the unlikely possibility that Daisy would come back to him and they could leave together. We are shown how devoted and perhaps even foolish Gatsby is.

8. S – The author describes how he thinks Gatsby must have felt, knowing that his time was up and the end was near.Q – “He must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.”A – Gatsby has lost the comfort of his love for Daisy and his own life. He realises that to live with his sole dream of being with Daisy was wrong as he has only been hurt and has paid a high price, now facing his demise because of it.

9. George Wilson S – George is driven to madness by the death of his wife Myrtle.Q – “He flinched and began to cry, ‘Oh, my God!’ again in his groaning voice.”A – The death of Myrtle has ruined George and his mental state. He has become childlike, unable to speak more than a few words at a time and breaking down into tears. It is this madness which leads him to murder Gatsby, unable to rest peacefully until the death of his wife is avenged.

10. Symbolism S – Wilson looks up the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, he views them as a symbol for god. Q – “ ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’… He was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg… ‘God sees everything’ ”A – Whether Wilson’s deteriorating mental state has led him to believe the advertisement outside his house represents God or not, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg certainly symbolise God and Wilson’s knowledge of his wife’s adultery and the car collision.

11. Climax Chapter 8, the chapter in which Gatsby is murdered, is the dramatic climax of the book.S – Gatsby is found murdered in his own pool, shot by Wilson.Q – “The chauffeur – he was one of Wolfsheim’s protégés – heard the shots… the pool… a thin red circle in the water… The gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass.”A – The close of the chapter describes Gatsby’s death. Wilson murders Gatsby by shooting him in his pool. Although the chauffeur hears the shots, Gatsby is not discovered until later on, along with Wilson’s own body further off after he had committed suicide. This is the climax of the book as the main character, Gatsby’s, life comes to and end and his dramatic story is finished.

12. S – The author closes the chapter with a short sentence, describing the situation.Q – “The holocaust was complete” A – The author uses a dramatic description to emphasise the importance of Gatsby’s death, he likens Gatsby’s demise to a holocaust finishing (a holocaust being an act of mass destruction and loss of life), or perhaps even the holocaust of 1941 – 1945, where Hitler murdered millions of people. This comparison shows just how huge an impact Gatsby’s life has been, with huge amounts of destruction having been caused, emotionally and physically (death of Myrtle), and that now it has come to an end.

13. Key Incident S - Gatsby reveals the secrets of his past to Nick.Q – “It was this night that he told me the strange story of his youth”A – Gatsby tells Nick all about his youth and past, how he came to be so wealthy and how he first fell in love with Daisy. This is a key incident as Gatsby has been a mysterious figure throughout the book and kept his past a secret, so for him to reveal it is an important act. This is the first point that we find out how Gatsby came to fall in love with Daisy, he describes himself as having been surprised to find out that she was in love with him, however he “didn’t care” as was in love with her also.

14. S – Wilson loses sanity and sets out to get revenge.Q – “It was the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he didn’t stop… Wilson was gone.”A – Wilson blames Gatsby for the death of his wife Myrtle, he also suggests that it she was ran down deliberately, “he didn’t stop”. After similar talk, Wilson is found to be missing as has set out to gain vengeance for Myrtle’s death. This is a key incident as builds the tension, foreshadowing a disastrous climax close by.

15. Love S – Gatsby describes the foundation of his love for Daisy.Q – “I can’t describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport… She was in love with me too… there I was, my off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn’t care.”A – Gatsby describes Daisy and his love for each other initially as surprising, possibly because he didn’t think it was possible for love to bridge the class division, being poor himself whereas Daisy was incredibly wealthy. However he goes on to describe that he quickly fell deeply in love with her and “all of a sudden… didn’t care.” By this Gatsby means that he lost care for anything except from his relationship with Daisy, and didn’t care about the consequences of his love for her.

16. Questions 1) “He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky, through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is, and how raw the sunlight was on the scarcely created grass.”Make up a statement for this quote and analyse it.2) Find the most important quote within the chapter, give it a statement and then analyse it.3) At the close of the chapter, what comparison did the author make to Gatsby’s death, and why was this important?