Rain, Rain, Rain

"For now, though, one does well to remember, as one starts reading a poem or story, to check the weather." (Chapter 10 p. 81)

"It's never just rain." (Chapter 10 p.75)

How to Read Literature Like a Professor--Foster

These associations are so simple and apparent, yet I never in prior reading considered their literary weight. The weather probably registered in on a subconscious level, but not deliberately.  In chapter 20 Foster subsequently talking about the seasons goes on to say, "You wonder why we don't feel our intelligence has been insulted."  It is fascinating the limitless, it would seem, yet ever subtle elements a writer can draw from to elicit reactions from his reader.

So, obviously I carried this into The Great Gatsby.  In chapter 5 where Nick arranges for the "reunion" it rains on and off throughout the scene.  I especially noticed after Nick returns from his stroll outside he makes this observation: "But there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding.  He literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room." After which both Nick and Gatsby confirm, "It's stopped raining."  Was this a restorative rain or a cleansing rain? And the rain returns for Gatsby's funeral. Does this signify the new beginning? The one Jordan reminds Daisy of in Chapter 7 (The heated scene): "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."  Oh, yeah...he happens to die in September.