The Greek man who runs the coffee shop near the garage in The Great Gatsby is Michaelis. He operates a small coffee shop beside George Wilson’s garage in the Valley of Ashes, the bleak industrial area between West Egg and New York City.
Michaelis becomes important near the novel’s climax. He sees that George Wilson is distraught and has locked Myrtle upstairs, then witnesses Myrtle run into the road and get struck by the car returning from New York. Nick later identifies Michaelis as the principal witness at the inquest, making him the main source for the account of Myrtle’s death.
After the accident, Michaelis stays with Wilson through the night and tries to comfort him. Readers sometimes confuse him with George Wilson, the garage owner; Catherine, Myrtle’s sister; or Chester McKee, who appears at Tom and Myrtle’s Manhattan apartment party. Michaelis is a minor character, but his testimony connects the car crash to Gatsby’s death and the novel’s final tragedy.