Chapter 7 (p.113-145)

Summary:
This chapter begins with Gatsby firing all of his servants and hiring friends of Wolfsheim so that there will not be any gossip about his and Daisy's affair. Jordan, Nick, and Gatsby all go over to the Buchanan's house for lunch, and it is then that Tom realizes Daisy is having an affair with Gatsby. They go into the city and rent a hotel room to sit in and there Gatsby makes Daisy tell Tom that she never loved him. On the way home, Daisy and Gatsby hit Myrtle Wilson in a freak accident and she dies. At the very end of the chapter, Nick sees Gatsby standing outside of Daisy and Tom's house "keeping watch" in case Tom tries to go into her room and hurt her, but when Nick walks their window, he sees Tom and Daisy talking normally and eating dinner.

Character:
George Wilson
- "[...] he was one of these worn-out men: when he wasn't working, he sat on a chair in the doorway and stared at the people and the cars that passed along the road. When any one spoke to him he invariably laughed in an agreeable, colorless way. He was his wife's man and not his own." (FITZGERALD 136)
- George is described as being a bit of an idiot because he does not realize that his wife is having an affair. However, he seems to be a nice guy who really loves his wife.
- It seems that in this chapter, he goes a little bit crazy. He tells his neighbor, "I've got my wife locked in up there [...] She's going to stay there till the day after to-morrow, and then we're going to move away." (FITZGERALD 136)
- Nick thinks that he is sick because he realized that Myrtle was cheating on him and the thought of it made him physically ill.
-- "He had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world, and the shock had made him physically sick." (FITZGERALD 124)

- In this chapter, we feel bad because we realize that George's life is kind of pathetic and sad. He has spent the last 10 or 15 years loving his wife unconditionally, doing everything he can for her, and he then finds out that she doesn't love him and that she's having an affair. The shock of finding out about Myrtle's affair makes him physically sick and he goes crazy and locks Myrtle in their house until they can run away. It seems as if all George wants out of life was to make a sufficient living and love his wife, yet Myrtle never realized that. When she is hit by the car, George completely falls apart and can't stop screaming and moaning. George is an important character because as the story evolves we just feel more and more bad for him.

Meaningful Quote:
"He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight- watching over nothing." (FITZGERALD 145)
- This quote stood out to me because it made me feel very sad. Gatsby has been in love with Daisy for 5 years and his sole purpose in life has been trying to get her back. Yet, Daisy has forgotten about him, gotten married, and had a child. However, Gatsby still believes that she has never loved Tom and that they are going to run away together. Gatsby is standing outside of Daisy's house, watching her bedroom window to make sure that Tom doesn't try to hurt her. Instead of being in her room, Daisy and Tom are sitting in their kitchen, eating dinner and looking relatively normal. So, Gatsby believes he is watching over the woman he loves, while in reality he is staring at a window that shows an empty room.