The Great Gatsby
Michaelis
The coffee-shop owner
A kind Greek coffee-shop owner who runs the shop next to Wilson’s garage and stays with him after Myrtle’s death.
Michaelis runs a coffee shop in the Valley of Ashes, close to Wilson’s garage. He is gentle, patient and steady, and he is probably the kindest person in the neighborhood. He wears a neat mustache and has sympathetic eyes.
He is a neighbor first and a witness second. He is on the scene after Myrtle is struck and is the one who looks after Wilson, which makes him the voice of compassion in a place that has very little.
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Michaelis is the one who sits with George Wilson after Myrtle dies. He tries to comfort him, urges him to rest, and stays beside him through the long night. Wilson stares at the faded eyes of Doctor Eckleburg and talks about God seeing everything.
When Wilson sets out on foot with a revolver, Michaelis cannot stop him. He remains in the story as the witness to the aftermath, one of the few people who understood how much George had lost.
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