12/17/13

Adlai Stevenson once wrote, The truth is often unpopular. This means
that people lie more often than they tell the truth because it is easier to tell
people what they want to hear. I agree because people prefer to be in denial
about the truth. Two works of literature that exhibit this idea are the novel
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the tragedy Hamlet by William
Shakespeare.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization
by building up the character Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a very wealthy man
who resides in West Egg and throws lavish parties for his guests. He is a selfmade rich also known as new money. This distinguishes him from the
people of East Egg who have inherited wealth from their families. However,
Jay Gatsby creates lies to fit in and get his true love back. His ultimate goal is
to reunite with Daisy Buchanan, but due to their differences in social classes
it becomes an obstacle. Gatsby is ashamed of his background and decides to
build up lies. He lies about the types of businesses hes in. Also about
inheriting wealth from family in the Midwest but losing it during the war.
When Gatsby throws his parties, his guests are always questioning about the
mysterious Gatsbys wealth and how he attained it. As a result, it shows that
the truth is unpopular.
In the tragedy Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses foreshadowing which
hints the main idea of the quote. Hamlet encounters an apparition and learns

the truth about his fathers death. Hamlet learns that his father was
murdered by his uncle Claudius. After his father dies, his mother Gertrude
and Claudius get married. These events build up Hamlets rage which
suggests he will definitely get revenge on Claudius. However, Hamlet
pretends to act crazy to hide his plans for revenge. He does not want the
people around suspecting that he has plans for killing Claudius. Hamlet also
convinces Polonius that he is mad because of his love for Ophelia and his
faade is planted because Polonius lets the king know right away. This helps
Hamlet hide his true intentions. This shows the truth is unpopular because
the people think that Hamlet has gone mad when in reality its all just an act.
Both the novel The Great Gatsby and the tragedy Hamlet support Adlai
Stevensons quote, The truth is often unpopular. Through the use of literary
elements such as characterization and foreshadowing, both of these works of
literature convey that the truth can limit peoples true desires. People often
react negatively when the truth is opposing their assumptions. Therefore, it
is much easier to achieve what you want by letting people know what they
want to hear.