So, the other day a young reader said this to me:
You know how, in English classes, your teacher always says shit like -- Oh, THIS is what F. Scott Fitzgerald was symbolizing with the green light in Gatsby -- and you are never allowed to argue with it, and if you ever write an essay about The Great Gatsby, you have to say EXACTLY the same thing about what the teacher says F. Scott Fitzgerald was symbolizing or else you will get an "F"? Well, I just want to know: When you write books, do you authors really sit down and decide about definite things you are symbolizing, or do you just make shit up?
That is a true story.
I was actually asked that exact question.
I think the young person who asked me it was symbolizing confusion.
Here is what I answered:
Yes. Yes we do. It is how we tell the SMART people from the stupid ones. SMART people know EXACTLY what we authors mean when we use obtuse symbolism and shit like that, while the stupid ones go on, quite frequently, to become English teachers and political speechwriters. Now go away and leave me alone.
