The Great Gatsby Chapter 8 p147-162

The Great Gatsby

Ch 8 p147-162

Summary

Nick, having this worried feeling about Gatsby, goes to Gatsby’s house to escape because his car might be recognized. However, Gatsby only wanted to be with Daisy so he could wait for her decision. Gatsby then goes on about his past with Daisy and Dan Cody. He mentions how Daisy was very nice and loving her was a surprise to him. He also compares Daisy to a holy grail. During the war, Gatsby and Daisy wrote letters to each other, but Daisy’s letters had a feeling of despair, but she still wanted to see Gatsby. Daisy wanted her life to be complete, however, which led to her meeting Tom. Gatsby thinks Daisy never loved Tom, but had a bit of doubt, thinking that she loved him when they were first married, but still loved Gatsby more. Nick didn’t want to leave Gatsby after listening to his story. Gatsby and Nick finish their breakfast, and Nick goes to the city. Jordan calls him, and the conversation they have is very mutual. After, he calls Gatsby’s house. While he is on the train, Nick hears a man talking about Myrtle Wilson. The story goes to Wilson and a crowd at his garage. Wilson, who was being cared by Michaelis, wanted to know who killed Myrtle. He also talks about Myrtle being unable to fool God, and he looks at the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg. Michaelis goes home for a while, but when he comes back, Wilson disappeared. Meanwhile, Gatsby goes to his pool to have a swim. A little later, Nick immediately rushes to Gatsby’s house finding Gatsby dead on the pool and Wilson dead on the grass.

James Gatz/Jay Gatsby

“If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.”

Gatsby is a very rich man who came from a poor family. We see him as a person who sets his bar really high. Gatsby only wanted one thing in his life: Daisy. When she left him for Tom however, Gatsby went to extreme measures to meet Daisy’s standards. Gatsby got rich, moved to a house close to Daisy’s, and hosted weekly parties hoping for Daisy to attend one. Gatsby sets his goals to an unattainable level. He thinks of Daisy as equivalent to a holy grail, describing how great he thinks of her. Gatsby also hangs out with criminals, i.e. Wolfsheim.

This chapter marks the end of Gatz’s life, but more importantly, the end of the illusion called Gatsby. We see him come to reality, leaving his controllable illusion he created. In the beginning, Gatsby starts out as a mysterious figure reaching out for a green light. We see him throwing weekly parties with an endless guest list of unknown people. We see the people he hangs out with, and one of them is a criminal. As the story continued, we see the true nature of Gatsby’s parties and why Nick and Jordan were personally invited: they have a personal connection with Daisy. His one goal is to get Daisy to love him. Gatsby’s main role in the novel was to represent a person trying to achieve the American Dream. For Gatsby, his dream was Daisy. While trying to achieve his dream, Gatsby created an illusion where he could control everything, all to impress Daisy. Because of this, Gatsby lost sight of what’s real and lived in the dream.

“He had intended, probably, to take what he could and go—but now he found that he had committed himself to the following of a grail.” (149)

Gatsby treats Daisy as a treasure. However, a holy grail, even though extraordinary, is something that has never been found. Gatsby’s treating Daisy as something unobtainable. Gatsby describes her as a grail because even before she met Tom, she was a rich woman who was living a full life, and at that time, Gatsby had nothing to offer her. Daisy must be a worthwhile treasure in Gatsby’s eyes.