Weather In The Great Gatsby

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Pages: 4

Chapter 10: It's More Than Just Rain or Snow.. Foster talks about weather as a way to foreshadow upcoming events in literature. In the book "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, weather is used continuously through the book to symbolize the beginning and conflicts of the story. In the first chapter of the book, Nick, the narrator says he felt as if "life was beginning over again with the summer". Summer is a time of renewal, in the sense that winter has passed and everything is coming back to life. It's a time of crisp air and beautiful horizons. Nick is telling the story of Jay Gatsby, whose story starts with his desire to start over and achieve his dreams. Jay had a past relationship with a girl Daisy which ended abruptly. He returns …show more content…
Imagination is based mostly on feelings. When we imagine something it's because we haven't truly experienced it but are curious. When we read, not everything is obvious to point out. For me, I read and often feel connections between the experiences of the characters and my life. From there I can use my personal knowledge to form a meaning to the literature. Foster says “ imagination isn't fantasy.” We need imagination to figure out the hidden meanings held by events/words/objects in stories. In August Wilson's play “Fences” there are many hidden meanings. In the play A man Troy and his son build a fence around the house. This may have no meaning to some but I take this as Troy trying to keep his family safe from the cruel world. Troy in his mind was unfairly subjected to a life of disappointment. He couldn't have the career he wanted and blames that on the world's treatment of him. He sabotages his son's career in football because he doesn't want what happened to him, to happen again. So in essence he creates a fence around him to protect him from outside elements that could destroy him. On another note, it could represent the built up emotions that Troy has inside. It's clear with the affair that Troy wasn't one hundred percent happy with his relationship, but instead of confronting those emotions and getting through them with his wife, he keeps it fenced up inside. It also could represent the blocked chances Troy had and how he continues …show more content…
Foster says “ you don't need fangs and a cape to be a vampire”. He talks about how to be considered a vampire you must be a older figure that prays on a younger person while stripping away their energy and youth for self gain. This reminded me of the novel, “The Scarlet letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the novel Roger Chillingworth is a older, highly respected physician who is married to Hester but, they have been separated for some time. During that time she has a child with a young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. Arthur was a young, kind man who everyone admired. When Roger returns and finds out that Hester had a child with someone else, he dedicated his life to torturing Dimmesdale for revenge. He is described as a “leech” because he was sucking the life out of Arthur mentally and physically. Roger made Arthur feel guilty indirectly about keeping a secret and the guilt made Arthur physically and mentally sick. It says “The glow, which they had just before beheld burning on his cheek, was extinguished, like a flame that sinks down hopelessly among the late decaying embers. It seemed hardly the face of a man alive, with such a deathlike hue”.(Hawthorne) Physically Arthur became ill and was hurting himself and mentally could not deal with the guilt. Roger got pleasure out of torturing Dimmesdale, and when Dimmesdale dies, Roger begins to deteriorate and dies as well because he is no longer feeding of Dimmesdale. Intentional or