Hello again! Today I'll be reviewing the second chapter of
Thomas C. Foster's guide on "How to Read Literature like a
Professor". In this section of the novel cleverly titled "Nice to Eat
with You: Acts of Communion," Foster explains how characters in literature
work their ulterior motives through well planned events-namely luncheons and
dinner parties; rather than a simple get-together to lighten the mood.
Foster begins to tell the reader that things are just what
they are. Cigars are cigars (Sigmund Freud). Food is food, meals are meals, et
cetera. And he's right, that's all they are. So why does an author write a
scene about characters smoking at a joint, or eating food, or refusing to eat
food? Because there is something else happening within that moment than meets
the eye. It could be friends befriending enemies, or strangers. It could be
that someone is plotting to reveal a secret over dinner. Or maybe it's a simple
act performed by two friends as a way to tell the reader, "I'm friends
with this person, we're close, this is normal for us." Whether the scene
provides a positive, negative, or neutral outcome, these are all "acts of
communion," as Foster puts it. There is always an ulterior motive behind
such events, just as there are hints of foreshadowing in elaborate descriptions
within literature. Foster points out these types of allusion in "Tom
Jones" (Henry Fielding, 1749), and "Cathedral" (Raymond Carver,
1981).
It's actually quite easy to spot acts of communion in
literature, especially in a meal scene within a novel. After all, what better
way to break the ice than doing it over supper time? Anyway, I believe that
watching movie based off a book without actually reading the book is cheating,
okay? So before watching BFF's Toby Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio portray Nick Carraway
and Jay Gatsby, I borrowed my mom's copy of "The Great Gatsby" and
read it first.
(Spoiler alert for "The Great Gatsby": read on or
skip ahead to the next paragraph. You have been forewarned. Thank you, and have
a nice day.)
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| Actual Proof That I Own The Novel |
So, towards the end of the book, Gatsby is prepared to announce
his love to Daisy Buchanan and expects her to tell her current husband, Tom
Buchanan, that she never loved him for the five years they have been married,
and has always loved her first love, Gatsby. However, despite her love for
Gatsby, and her knowledge of her husband's affair with another woman, Daisy
still loves her husband, and is torn between the two of them. She secretly
wishes to keep her recent affair with Gatsby a secret. Meanwhile, Tom's ready
to call out Gatsby for selling bootlegged alcohol in drugstores (remember, this
is the US in the 20's, way to go, flappers) and accuses him of not being of
blue blood/pure blood/born into money, as the Buchanan's friends Jordan and
Nick look on and act as the supportive friend and the third wheel.
And so, here they are, all together at the Buchanan's estate
for a luncheon, to get better acquainted with one another, or something along
those lines. The room is described as hot and humid, too hot for a summer's day
in New York, and the adults are taking in nervous and/or greedy gulps of
whiskey. Are they just having a normal luncheon? No. Gatsby's ready to tell the
world of his undying love for Daisy, Daisy's a nervous wreck trying to avoid
conflict with Gatsby and Tom, Tom's about to hand Gatsby his "a-hem"
and level on with Daisy on their affairs with other people, while bemused
Jordan and a poor Nick are there to be innocent bystanders of "a-hem"
hitting the fan. (Source: see chapter 7 of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, "The
Great Gatsby). Things get pretty heated from there.
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| Actual Leonardo DiCaprio |
And that, my friends, is another example of an act of
communion. Until next time, take care.
