Unforgiving Weather (Great Gatsby Essay)
Caleb Figueroa
Mr. Bakker
Advanced English 11
20 February 2013
Unforgiving Weather In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, life moves fast and there’s no time for people to care about each other’s problems. Now, this is not simply because people have become selfish. Instead, it’s the fact that pretentiousness has consumed the moral compass of East and West Eggers alike. Fitzgerald shows this ugly truth by using various symbols like cars and colors to represent different things. One motif or symbol that is evident throughout this novel is weather--which helps to set the mood of the current situation, foreshadow character’s emotions in the coming pages, and emphasize the presence of the theme: The moral corruption of the upper-class, materialistic American. The repetition of different weather patterns is definitely noticeable, and it ends up affecting how the reader views certain situations. And not only does the weather affect the dialogue (they mention how it’s raining, hot, etc.), but it also affects the overall mood of where the characters are and what they’re doing. The first instance that one notices this was when Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby were all getting together for tea at Nick’s house: “The day agreed upon was pouring rain . . . An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold colored tie hurried in.” (88-89) The fact that it was raining when these characters first interacted gives key insight into the mood of this small get-together and how each of them is feeling. Typically people relate rain to sadness but in this case it’s used to describe how Gatsby is feeling nervous and ambivalent about seeing Daisy again; thus creating an awkward mood for the beginning of the evening. Weather captures the mood of the current situation, and it can sometimes even offer a small glimpse into the future. These glimpses into the future aren’t specifically about any event though; instead, they’re usually
Mr. Bakker
Advanced English 11
20 February 2013
Unforgiving Weather In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, life moves fast and there’s no time for people to care about each other’s problems. Now, this is not simply because people have become selfish. Instead, it’s the fact that pretentiousness has consumed the moral compass of East and West Eggers alike. Fitzgerald shows this ugly truth by using various symbols like cars and colors to represent different things. One motif or symbol that is evident throughout this novel is weather--which helps to set the mood of the current situation, foreshadow character’s emotions in the coming pages, and emphasize the presence of the theme: The moral corruption of the upper-class, materialistic American. The repetition of different weather patterns is definitely noticeable, and it ends up affecting how the reader views certain situations. And not only does the weather affect the dialogue (they mention how it’s raining, hot, etc.), but it also affects the overall mood of where the characters are and what they’re doing. The first instance that one notices this was when Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby were all getting together for tea at Nick’s house: “The day agreed upon was pouring rain . . . An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold colored tie hurried in.” (88-89) The fact that it was raining when these characters first interacted gives key insight into the mood of this small get-together and how each of them is feeling. Typically people relate rain to sadness but in this case it’s used to describe how Gatsby is feeling nervous and ambivalent about seeing Daisy again; thus creating an awkward mood for the beginning of the evening. Weather captures the mood of the current situation, and it can sometimes even offer a small glimpse into the future. These glimpses into the future aren’t specifically about any event though; instead, they’re usually