Hidden Truths In The Great Gatsby

In the book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster, he explains the hidden truths the authors write in their books. These hidden truths include symbols, irony, and even the most common things such as weather. These can greatly affect the mood of the book, and also amplify its effects. Many of these examples can be found in the book, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald uses many of the hidden truths explained by Foster to create greater effect and meaning. First, in chapter 10 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster describes how weather always means something more in literature when he explains, “Weather is never just weather. It’s never just rain” (Foster 75). In The Great Gatsby, the day

In chapter 22, Foster states, “It is nearly always the case that figurative seeing and blindness are at work” (Foster 204). In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was blinded by the past, and all he focused on was saving Daisy from her delusional life. In chapter 5, Nick observes, “He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” (Fitzgerald 98). All Jay could see was how Daisy used to be and how much they used to love each other. He could not see through Daisy’s selfishness and thus allowed Daisy to use him to relive her glory days. Jay was blinded by his love for the Daisy he used to know, and later died, still blinded by the past.

Lastly, in chapter 26, Foster explains how authors tend to put irony into many works of literature, he claims, “Nearly all writers employ irony sometimes, although the frequency of occurrence varies greatly” (Foster 244). There are a lot of ironies present in The Great Gatsby, Nick states, “Nobody came” (Fitzgerald 186). Jay Gatsby threw huge parties in which many people attended. But when Jay had died, no one showed up to his funeral. This is ironic because usually the people who throw huge parties tend to have many friends, but it turns out Jay’s only true friend was