- Michaelis- In this chapter, Michaelis attempts to comfort George Wilson after the death of his wife, Myrtle. Michaelis stays with him for hours, and tries to calm him down. He asks him question about his life, Myrtle, and suggests that Wilson go to a church or talk to a priest. When Wilson tells him of his suspicion that someone purposely tried to kill Myrtle, Michaelis assures him that it was an accident. Then, when Wilson refers to the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg as God, Michaelis replies, "That's an advertisement (pg. 167)." I believe that Michaelis could possibly symbolize good, because he is the only one to stay with Wilson all day, and he does not seem corrupt. He could even symbolize reason, as he tries to reason with George that his wife was not murdered and that the advertisement isn't really God.
- Wolfsheim- Wolfsheim is very briefly mentioned in this chapter: "The chauffeur- he was one of Wolfsheim's proteges- heard the shots (pg.169)-" This could further show that Wolfsheim symbolizes corruption, as the chauffeur, his supposed protege, did not think much about the shots he heard.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Minor Characters in Chapter 8
In this chapter, the only minor character we really see in Michaelis:
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5 comments:
I think it's interesting that you considered Michaelis as both a symbol of good and reason. Doesn't it seems that those involved with corruption live in their own worlds with little logic?
for some reason to me, (maybe because of Parker's history class) I feel like Michaelis the Greek also represents naivete. The author makes an effort to distinguish him as "the Greek" and so I think it's safe to assume that he's a new immigrant to the country. I feel like this with the time period ties into how he's naivete and hopeful, surrounded by corrupted people and immortality - but yet does not seem phased by it.
I also thought while reading that Michaelis was one of the only good person in the whole strory. Why do yo think they did not talk about him as much in the story?
Michaelis is a nice contrast to the normal theme of corruption in the story as he does good instead of the evil that most of the events in this book are founded upon
To Kevin's comment: I agree that he is the only good person, and I feel that they only mention him briefly because it might interrupt the corruption throughout the book. Corruption is not "nice" so it was probably intended to not take away from the extreme representation of everyone else.
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