Several times, the story suggests the main characters' eventual downfall. For example, in Chapter 4, Gloria expresses her outrage at the dilapidation of General Lee's old home in Arlington. This moment foreshadows her disgust at her own (and Anthony's) destitution later in the story.
Beautiful things grow to a certain height and then they fail and fade off, breathing out memories as they decay. And just as any period decays in our minds, the things of that period should decay too, and in that way they’re preserved for a while in the few hearts like mine that react to them. That graveyard at Tarrytown, for instance. The asses who give money to preserve things have spoiled that too. Sleepy Hollow’s gone; Washington Irving’s dead and his books are rotting in our estimation year by year—then let the graveyard rot too, as it should, as all things should. Trying to preserve a century by keeping its relics up to date is like keeping a dying man alive by stimulants.
The first and most obvious aspect of foreshadowing comes when Gloria complains about the site's appearance. She claims that old things should be left to decay, displaying ignorance and a lack of appreciation for history. She loves only beautiful things, and once the beauty has faded from something, it has no value to her. This moment foreshadows the deterioration of her good looks and finances. When those superficial aspects of life become old, ugly, and sparse, Gloria becomes deeply unhappy.
This chapter also hints at the future decline of Anthony and Gloria's relationship. During their trip to Arlington, Anthony treats Gloria with casual indifference, which infuriates her. He does not seem to care that every moment of the trip makes her uncomfortable; even the bus they take to get there is crowded with "hot, unprosperous people." She has a veritable breakdown when the bus stops at the Zoo, but Anthony only laughs as she curses the smelly monkeys. He seems to observe her discomfort from a distance and treats her like a child. This behavior crescendoes in the latter half of the novel as their bond becomes increasingly volatile.
Riches-to-rags stories, as well as those of deteriorating marriages, appear frequently in Fitzgerald's work. Foreshadowing functions to suggest both sorts of degeneration. These common tropes might lead readers familiar with his other novels to anticipate the main characters' downfall. But even to a new reader, the fate of Anthony and Gloria becomes clear: they will face a steep decline. Given the fact of their inheritance at the end of the novel, they are not as financially bankrupt as one might expect. But they are morally bankrupt, physically weak, and bereft of deep feelings for each other and the world at large. Foreshadowing helps the reader anticipate the general decline of Anthony and Gloria's finances and relationship. It also demonstrates Fitzgerald's confidence in his own methods, as if he knows that his own style of storytelling makes the plot enjoyable even when the characters reveal their probable fates.
Throughout the story, the narrator hints that Gloria's beauty will fade. In Chapter 5, one of her emotional apologies emphasizes her concerns about aging:
“All I think of ever is that I love you,” she wailed. “I value my body because you think it’s beautiful. And this body of mine—of yours—to have it grow ugly and shapeless? It’s simply intolerable. Oh, Anthony, I’m not afraid of the pain.”
Here, Gloria reveals her knowledge of why Anthony loves her—because she is beautiful, and because her beauty has made her an object of universal value. It makes other men jealous that Anthony won a woman whose looks propel him to a higher social status. The subtext of this passage is that Gloria values her body because it is a means to comfort and ease. And once her body grows "ugly and shapeless," she will no longer be able to have her desired lifestyle. She fears this degeneration far more than any kind of pain.
Growing old is inevitable, so it might seem that foreshadowing functions here to state the obvious—that Gloria will become an old woman. However, the repetitive nature of this device evokes Gloria's anxiety about aging. She knows that with beauty comes a life of ease and opulence, and she continuously strives to preserve it. Near the novel's end, though, two events prevent her from its preservation: first, she auditions for a film and is informed that she is too old to play a leading lady. And second, she looks in the mirror to discover thinning cheeks and tired eyes. The sight disturbs her so much that she bursts into tears. This moment represents the culmination of many moments of foreshadowing throughout the novel and confirms the inevitability of Gloria's aging.
