1. + The Great Gatsby Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis May 2011

2. + Chapter Eight – Summary Nick wracked by anxiety – hears Gatsby come home and heads to his house Gatsby had been outside of Daisy’s house all night Nick advises Gatsby to leave town – Atlantic City, Montreal Cannot leave Daisy

3. + Chapter Eight – Summary Gatsby tells Nick the real story as to how he first met Daisy 1917, Louisville Smitten with her wealth, beauty and youthful innocence Gatsby lied about his poverty and past Daisy promised to wait for him after the war Daisy married Tom, her social equal and her parents’ choice When Nick leaves, he gives Gatsby a compliment “worth the whole damn bunch [of the Buchanans and their East Egg friends] put together.”

4. + Chapter Eight – Summary Valley of Ashes George Wilson being consoled by Michaelis George Wilson tells Michaelis that he confronted Myrtle with the evidence of her affair She could not hide it from the eyes of God George Wilson mistakes Dr. T.J. Eckelburg for the eyes of God Assumes the driver of the car was Myrtle’s lover

5. + Chapter Eight – Analysis Although Gatsby has a criminal past and nouveau riche affectations, Nick cannot help but admire him for his nobility Nick does recognize Gatsby as a visionary, capable of grand passion and great dreams Represents an ideal that had grown rare in the 1920s, which was an age of cynicism, decadence and cruelty

6. + Chapter Eight – Analysis Nick believes Gatsby’s great mistake was loving Daisy American Dream has degenerated into the crass pursuit of material wealth Gatsby strived only for wealth once he had fallen in love Gatsby, not murdered for his criminal activities, but his unwavering devotion to Daisy Nick writes, Gatsby “[pays] a high price for living too long with a single dream.”

7. + Chapter Eight – Analysis Gatsby unable to accept that his dream is over – continues to insist that Daisy may still come to him Clear to everyone, including the reader, she is bound to Tom Gatsby’s death seems inevitable – dreamer cannot exist without his dreams Through Daisy’s betrayal, he loses his reason for living

8. + Chapter Eight – Analysis Wilson – Gatsby’s grim double in Chapter VIII Fundamentally alters the course of his life by attaching symbolic significance to something that is, in and of itself, meaningless Gatsby, Daisy and her green light Wilson, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg Destroyed by their love for women who love the brutal Tom Buchanan Both consumed for longing for something more Gatsby, “American Dreamer” – in-so-far as his dreams of wealth Wilson, exemplifies the fate of the “Failed Dreamer” – poverty deprived him of even his ability to hope

9. + Chapter Eight – Analysis Wilson – Gatsby’s grim double in Chapter VIII Gatsby’s death takes place on the first day of autumn Decision to use his pool in defiance of the change of seasons Gatsby’s unwillingness to accept the passage of time Summer = reunion with Daisy End of summer = end of their romance

10. + Chapter Eight – Key Questions 1. How does Fitzgerald achieve a melancholic mood in the beginning of this chapter? 2. How are seasons used in constructing this novel? 3. Who is Dan Cody and what is his significance in Gatsby's life? 4. How does Nick's statement "You're worth the whole bunch put together" show a change in Nick from the beginning of the novel? 5. How does T. J. Eckleberg affect Mr. Wilson?