An unread book might as well be made of cardboard, Diana.

Well Diana, although I missed your tangent during class, I am definitely going to have to go ahead and disagree with your blog, there. My main beef here is that I don't feel owl eyes viewed Gatsby as “Old Money”. Why would someone with a long heritage of wealth in their family masquerade as a well-read intellectual? “Old Money” would no doubt have a library full of real books. So, no, I think Owl Eyes saw Gatsby as yet another “New Money” impersonator. An impersonator would have had cardboard books because they are cheap and easy to own, especially if they are just for show. This is why Owl Eyes is delightfully surprised. He is caught off-guard by the fact that this “New Money” punk has a library full of real books. However, I agree with your statement that Gatsby outwardly portrays himself as something completely different than what he is inside. You see, he appears to others as a money-burning playboy, when in all actuality he is just putting on a show for one person, and one person only. That person is Daisy. Inside of that mysterious, nonchalant playboy is a heartbroken romantic. The books are included in this show of Gatsby's. Though they are real books (which catches Owl Eyes by surprise), they still are just a show piece. Gatsby's library, much like his life, is full and real, but it is meaningless all the same. It was all done for Daisy, and her interpretation of his extravagant lifestyle was the only one that mattered to him in the end. I feel Owl Eyes attended the funeral out of reverence for the man with real books, not for the man that was Gatsby.