A drunk owl, how ironic. Owl Eyes is, or the Owl-Eyed Man, is a character of The Great Gatsby and a symbol for honesty and wisdom. Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott. Fitzgerald uses an abundance of symbols to convey underlying themes, and the Owl-Eyed man is a perfect example. He stares lustfully at Jordan shortly after Nick’s meeting him from “head to feet” (Fitzgerald 45). He describes how real everything is that is Gatsby’s. Fitzgerald uses Owl Eyes to foreshadow the false front Gatsby uses, and as an ironic candid voice to oppose the facade of Gatsby. Owl Eyes genuity sparks an interest in the life of Gatsby, and sheds light on his facade. Owl Eyes illustrates how genuine he is about things, especially because he is the only partygoer …show more content…
What differs Owl Eyes from the rest, and particularly Gatsby, is that he’s somewhat wise and honest. He perhaps lies about being invited to the party, shown through such sharp defense of his presence at the first party. Maybe he lies when he says he knows “very little about driving” (Fitzgerald 59). He probably drove to the funeral, considering how he steps out of the car and quickly trots out. The difference is that Owl Eyes doesn’t inflate his social status through deception. During the funeral, he describes Gatsby as a “poor son of a bitch” (Fitzgerald 175). He is transparent, and tells others what he thinks, unlike Gatsby, who lies about seemingly everything. Gatsby, in the most literal way, lives a lie. He claims his parents died. He claims he went to Oxford, which is hardly true considering he went for 5 months. He says he owns drug stores, but he’s a bootlegger. By being so blunt and open, Owl-Eyes doesn’t mirror the other partygoers, and he especially doesn’t mirror Gatsby. Gatsby puts up a facade for Daisy, showing his lack of honesty; it makes his life murky. Gatsby sees the past, expressing his lost touch of reality, whereas Owl Eyes sees the future. One last bit of irony: Gatsby is always sober, yet Owl Eyes is always drunk. It is interesting not only that a bootlegger is sober, but also that he does such repetitive foolish deeds. Such an attachment to the past, and such a fixation