First, there's the owl bit owls are a symbol of wisdom, but can also be an omen of death (we don't know how that came about, either, but we're thinking someone got their signals crossed). Owl eyed man: And, yes, we are getting to the point. But you could also argue that the unopened, unread books represent Gatsby himself: eternally mysterious, eternally unopened. He's built up an image of himself that isn't consistent with the facts of his life. So, the simple answer is that the books represent the fact that Gatsby is a fraud. He wants people to think that he's well-read, but he's never even cracked the covers. He wants people to believe that he's a well-educated man, an Oxford man, but in fact he only spent a short time there after the war. Gatsby's uncut books tell us that much of what Gatsby presents to the world is a façade. If you didn't, everyone would know that you hadn't actually read the book.
You'd have to cut them open before reading. Quick Brain Snack: books used to come with their pages uncut, meaning that the sheets that are folded to make the books aren't sliced open on the top. But what do you want? What do you expect?" (3.50) What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too - didn't cut the pages.
"It's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. An owl-eyed man at a Gatsby party sits in awe in the library, murmuring with amazement that all the books on Gatsby's shelves are "real books":
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