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The Great Gatsby - Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis

Here is a summary and analysis of The Great Gatsby, Chapter 8. It’s interesting that the events in this chapter flow immediately from the events of the last one, making these events in chapters 7 and 8 one long series within less than 36 hours. Even though Chapter 8 happens the very next day after Chapter 7, you want to notice the contrast in the weather. Remember that Chapter 7 featured an incredibly hot summer day? What’s the weather like in chapter 8? It’s cool autumn weather…characters talk about how the leaves are changing color and the season is transforming. All of this represents the status of the story – just like the summer, Gatsby’s dream itself is fading. And, in true Gatsby fashion, he refuses to acknowledge the passing of time and insists on using his swimming pool as though it’s still summer. But it’s exactly this passing of time that works against Gatsby. His capacity to dream is so large and so dauntless that he literally envisions time’s stoppage and reversal. It’s not only that reality is cruel, but that his dream is so idealistic that it actually contradicts reality. And it’s for this reason Nick both compliments and condemns Gatsby. In fact, if you haven’t noticed already, almost all of Nick’s depictions of Gatsby throughout the novel contain self-contradictory diction - trying to make sense of the horrific beauty, the perilous idealism that Gatsby embodies. A lot of Fitzgerald’s critique of his era – the 1920’s – stems from the way Gatsby is drawn out. First of all, he possesses an “incorruptible dream” and that “extraordinary gift for hope.” BUT – and it’s a big but – what does he target this dream on? He expends his energy pursuing a rich, pretty girl, and earns the money to do so through morally questionable activities. And this is the enigma that plagues Gatsby and ties to America – Gatsby’s ability to dream big is commendable, but the only manifestation of that dream is expended on the greedy pursuit of wealth and criminal activity. It’s interesting how Nick looks at Gatsby’s love of Daisy. It’s not this pure, admirable love that transcends wealth and status. Rather, Nick sees Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy and pursuit of wealth as one in the same. Re-read in the opening of this chapter where Gatsby explains how he fell in love with Daisy, and you’ll notice that it’s difficult to tell whether he’s falling in love with Daisy or with her house. The first major section of Chapter 8 feature Nick finally telling us everything he knows about Gatsby’s past. It’s funny that Gatsby is only really able to access Daisy’s life at all because of “the invisible cloak of his uniform.” Gotta love a man in uniform, right? Gatsby was too poor to actually get to know Daisy in civilian life, and his military uniform (and his gentlemanly decorum he picked up from Dan Cody) temporarily mask this fact. So because Gatsby falls in love with her, what does he do? He does what any one of us in his position would do – he totally lies about himself and lets Daisy believe he is rich and important. This is forgivable – I mean have any of us NOT misrepresented ourselves to gain the favor of someone we’re crushing on? By the time Gatsby finishes telling his full, honest story to Nick, Gatsby still can’t seem to let go of the possibility that he can still win over Daisy somehow. Nick both thinks this is ridiculous and admirable. In fact, this chapter is fraught with Nick’s attachment to Gatsby, as he can’t even seem to focus on anything else except hanging out with his atrociously admirable neighbor. When leaving Gatsby’s house on his way to work, Nick gives us one of the most sentimental moments of the novel when, overcome with emotion, he turns and shouts to Gatsby, “They’re a rotten crowd! You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together!” To show Nick’s paradoxical, contradictory combination of feelings, he then says, “It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.” The rest of the chapter then centers on George Wilson. Remember that in Chapter 7 he lost his wife, so Chapter 8 picks up his story and shares what happened. It’s not clear how Nick even knows what happened with Wilson since he wasn’t there, but the narration suggests that he learns the information from police reports or an interview with a man named Michaelis later on... Music courtesy of BenSound.com