Chapter 8

What is this chapter mainly about?

How did Gatsby feel physically at the beginning of the chapter?

Why doesn't Gatsby follow Nick's advice and leave?

Fitzgerald wrote that Gatsby "In various unrevealed capacities he had come in contact with such people but always with indiscernible barbed wire between." What is another word for "capacities" in this context?

Fitzgerald wrote that Gatsby "felt their presence all about the house, pervading the air with the shades and echoes of still vibrant emotions." What is another word for "pervading" in this context?

When Daisy was waiting for Gatsby to return from the war she was described in the passage below. What does "artificial" mean in the context of this sentence?

"For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes. "

In the quote below, what does "incessantly" mean in the context of this sentence?

"At the grey tea hour there were always rooms that throbbed incessantly with this low sweet fever, while fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns around the floor."

In the quote below, what does "incessantly" mean in the context of this sentence?

"At the grey tea hour there were always rooms that throbbed incessantly with this low sweet fever, while fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns around the floor."

What letter reached Gatsby in Oxford?

What item did George Wilson find that led him to suspect his wife was having an affair?

When Michaelis tries to suggest that George turn to someone for support, he says, "'Maybe you got some friend that I could telephone for, George?' This was a forlorn hope�he was almost sure that Wilson had no friend: there was not enough of him for his wife."

What does "forlorn" mean in the context of this passage?

What is the last thing George Wilson does in this chapter?

Gatsby tells Nick that when he first dated Daisy, he led her to believe he was wealthy and able to take care of her. Nick tells the reader that, "As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities�he had no comfortable family standing behind him, and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal government to be blown anywhere about the world."

What does "facilities" mean in the context of this sentence?

In the same quote as before (also copied below), what does "liable" mean?

"As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities�he had no comfortable family standing behind him, and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal government to be blown anywhere about the world."

Who tells Gatsby, "They're a rotten crowd…You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."?

What is the last thing that happens to Gatsby in this chapter?

Nick thinks that Gatsby didn't believe a call would come. What causes Gatsby to pay such "a high price"?

Were there any events that weren't clear to you?