Are illusions dangerous to the human psyche? In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction The Great Gatsby, the main character lives a lavish life with great material wealth. Residing in a grand estate on the Long Island sound. At this lavish house, Jay Gatsby throws enormous parties which the whole of New York attend. Though these parties may be grand, they, and everything else about Gatsby, are merely a facade. Hiding behind the glitz and glamour is the shell of what he presents himself as. He is a young man, so desperate for the love, and more importantly the “old money”, of a Ms. Daisy Buchanan. He yearns for the security of her wealth and status so much, that he creates an image of her so grand that it does not compare to the real person. By the end …show more content…
of the novel, it is revealed that Gatsby is truly not what he presents himself as. The Great Gatsby is ironic because, as the ending shows, there is nothing particularly great about Gatsby. To first understand who Gatsby truly was on the inside, it is important to know what other people saw on the outside. It was one of the main missions of Gatsby to make sure he looked the part of the wealthy young man. He even created a past for his imaginary self to come from. On one of the first meeting between Nick and Gatsby, he explained to Nick where he came from. Gatsby said, “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West—all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition”(65). This entire statement is of course, a lie. Gatsby told people this to present himself as an Oxford educated gentleman who comes from old money in the Middle West. He does this to create a regal image of himself so that his future lies have a base to go off of. When Nick and Gatsby meet Meyer Wolfsheim for lunch, he tells nick about how much of a gentleman Gatsby is. He speaks of him as though he is the pinnacle of virtue and manners. Meyer says, “There’s the kind of man you’d like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister”(72). It is well known that Gatsby is a business associate of Meyer, but Meyer truly puts the cherry on top after saying this. He makes it sound as though Gatsby is the perfect man. When in fact, Gatsby is a desperate, lying man who will do anything for appearance. A large factor, if not the most part of Gatsby’s illusion is Daisy Buchanan.
Earlier on in his life, Gatsby met a young Daisy. At the time Gatsby had no money and no influence. He was simply an army officer with good manners. The idea of Daisy’s wealth and social standing sent Gatsby into a frenzy. He wanted Daisy, he wanted her for what she had to offer. For five years, Gatsby kept adding to the idea of Daisy Buchanan. Until this idea was so large that it could not possibly be real. When Gatsby finally meets with Daisy after those many years of dreaming, she disappoints his expectations. She is not what he imagined she would be, a vision of all that is pure and proper in this world. When nick realizes this, he says, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart”(96). This quote truly explains it all with great detail. His vision of her is so perfect, that it is nothing like the real thing. Even though his vision is unrealistic, he still holds on to this idea with steadfast determination. When Tom Buchanan confronts Gatsby about his wife, Gatsby becomes quite hysterical. He tells Tom of Daisy’s undying love for him and that she has never loved Tom. Gatsby even goes on, telling everyone that they have loved each other for five years without meeting. Gatsby says, “Not seeing...No, we couldn’t meet. But both of us loved each other all the time”(131). This is once again, not true. Daisy had moved on from Gatsby long ago. She married Tom and had a child, living a comfortable life. It was not until they met again that Daisy’s emotions began to stir. Why Gatsby tries so hard for
something most know is unattainable is beyond reason. This is just the problem, Gatsby does not believe it is unattainable. In his mind, Daisy would come running into Gatsby’s arms. Bringing with her all of her wealth and social standing. This is a complex illusion that has no hope of coming true. Finally, the Gatsby that is hidden behind the great facades and illusions is revealed. Jay Gatsby’s real name was James Gats. His parents were poor farmers in North Dakota, barely making enough money to survive. As a teenager, James believed that he was more than the son of a poor farmer, he believed he could be great. So his imagination began to create an image that suited his intentions. Nick tells us, “So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end”(98). Though this fantasy may have seemed noble and just at the time of conception, it flew out of control as he grew older. His illusions became so intense that eventually, his entire concept of reality was based in lies and illusions. Nick says, “For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely in a fairy’s wing”(99). This is a prime example of Gatsby’s definition of reality; that the rock of the world is founded in a fairy’s wing. Meaning all of which he believes in is a fantasy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction The Great Gatsby, the story is ironic because, as the ending shows, there is nothing particularly great about Gatsby. By the end of the novel, we learn that all Gatsby created and believed in is an illusion. From his heritage being that of wealthy people in the Middle West; to his belief that Daisy Buchanan has always loved him and will be his forevermore. This can also be related to society today, in the way people present themselves in public. Nowadays, people believe that they have to pretend to be more than what they truly are, as an attempt to fit into society. When people try to build facades of themselves in this way, they are destroying their true self. This novel could enlighten todays world on how damaging trying to fit into society can be.
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby functions under the illusion that Daisy is perfect and is living in such distress because she was forced to marry Tom due to Gatsby being away at war and being poor. This illusion leads Gatsby to spend his entire adult life pining after Daisy and cheating his way up the social and economic ladder in order to win her over. Gatsby believes that Daisy will someday come back to him because she loves him so much and they will live happily ever after together.
The perspective of reality is altered in order to display an “evil” appearance, an order of malefice. Daisy is a perfect example of a corrupted idol, because she is heavily venerated by Gatsby well throughout the novel, yet does not turn out to be as expected by him. Gatsby idolizes her and his love for her intensely. He builds her up to be a goddess in his mind, yet after their time apart, Daisy is no more than a perverted image of a woman that no longer exists. She has grown out of the woman she used to be. Gatsby’s fantasy of Daisy conceals her true self until the end of the book, when she makes her decision between him and Tom Buchanan. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (Fitzgerald 179), says Carraway. In reality, Daisy is reckless and ignorant, shattering Gatsby’s illusion of
Gatsby is a very goal oriented man so “he could hardly fail to grasp it”(180), unfortunately “he did not know that it was already behind him”(180). His goal is to have Daisy as his wife and his strategy is to devote everything he will ever do to Daisy. He thinks this is love but it is certainly obsession. He becomes so obsessed that he objectifies her by thinking she's just another thing he has to obtain and call his own. Gatsby shows his obsession for Daisy when he tries to degrade Tom by saying, “your wife doesn't love you… she's never loved you. She loves me”(130). Gatsby is so obsessed that he finds it necessary to emasculate Tom by putting himself on a pedestal and saying that Tom’s own wife has never loved him. His obsession eventually leads to objectification. Gatsby says “oh you want to much”(132), which is ironic because Gatsby has the problem of being materialistic and he then says that Daisy wants to
Illusion Vs. Reality in The Great Gatsby "A confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished," is how Goethe states not to mistake fantasy for reality. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the characters live in an illusory world, though few can see reality. Fitzgerald presents Jay Gatsby as a character who cannot see reality. Can't repeat the past?
The society that we live in today is built around lies. Banks lying to customers in order to feed the capitalist mindset, politicians lying to citizens in order to gain power, and charities taking donations with open arms however are stingy when giving back to the cause. The common reason why these organizations lie is to hide what they truly are. People also deceive others in order to hide who they truly are. From a young age lying becomes engraved into one’s mind, we are taught to walk, talk, and lie. As explained in “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson, we lie because it benefits us for personal gain. Everyone lies for different reasons, whether to protect yourself or others. The world of “The Great Gatsby” is driven by lies from people who wish to keep their true selves unknown.
Gatsby’s quest to acquire Daisy was enlarged by his colossal obsession with the idea of being reunited with her, until the time actually came in which something so simple as a tea date was all he asked for in order to meet her. The purpose of acquiring such wealth and an extravagant home seems so pointless when Gatsby decides to meet with Daisy in Nick’s underwhelming cabin. The extravagancy of his vision deeply contrasts the modesty of the acquisition of his goal in this case. This shows a different side of Gatsby and his visions on what he thought would happen when he reached his goal and what actually occurred. Gatsby starts to panic when his visions do not occur when Nick and Gatsby are sat in Nick’s home, waiting for Daisy, Gatsby argues “Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late...I can’t wait all day” Fitzgerald 85). Gatsby is clearly very antsy and nervous about seeing Daisy again. He was very deeply in love with her and after 5 long years of waiting to see her again and they are finally reunited. All of his plans will be put into action and all of this planning will make him terribly self conscious
When he first meets Daisy, Gatsby becomes infatuated with his idea of her, or rather, the false persona that she creates of herself. In fact, Gatsby reveals that “she was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (155). Gatsby was so impressed with Daisy mainly because of her wealth and her status; it is what he wants. However, Daisy chooses Tom Buchanan over Gatsby, solely because of his social status. As a result, Gatsby revolves his whole life around her: he becomes wealthy, creates a new image of himself, and buys a house across the bay from Daisy. For instance, he fabricates lies about how “ [he is] the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west” (69) and how “ [he] was brought up in America but educated at Oxford” (69) in order to impress her. These lies end up altering others’ perspectives of him - not necessarily in a positive way - and impacting his life as a whole. Daisy unwittingly transforms Gatsby into a picture-perfect image of the 1920s: lavish parties, showy cars, and a false illusion of the attainment of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s newfound wealth and success, he never fully accomplishes his dream: to get Daisy. Gatsby’s final act for the sake of Daisy has no impact on her feelings towards him. When Gatsby claims that he crashed into Myrtle and killed her, Daisy carelessly lets him do so, which ultimately results in his death. To make
Lying has deadly effects on both the individual who lies and those around them. This concept is demonstrated in The Great Gatsby. Although Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle have different motives for being deceitful, they all lie in order to fulfill their desires and personal needs. Myrtle’s desire to be wealthy is illustrated when she first meets Tom, dressed in his expensive clothing, as her attitude changes when she puts on the luxurious dress and when she encourages Tom to buy her a dog. Tom’s deception is clear when he hides his affair with Myrtle by placing Myrtle in a different train, withholding the truth from Mr. Wilson of the affair and convincing Myrtle and Catherine that he will one day marry Myrtle. Gatsby tries to convince himself and others that he is the son of wealthy people, he creates an appearance that he is a successful, educated man through the books in his library and assures himself that Daisy loves him. Tom’s dishonesty reveals that he is selfish, while Gatsby’s distortions expose his insecurities, and Myrtle’s misrepresentations show that her sole focus in life is to achieve materialistic success. Gatsby and Myrtle both lie in order to obtain the “American dream.” However, Tom, who appears to already have achieved the “American dream”, deceives others out of boredom and because he takes his wealthy lifestyle for granted. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the human flaw of dishonesty for personal gain and how lies have inevitably tragic consequences in his characterization of Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom.
Wanting to be with her true love again, she sneaks visits with him without Tom knowing. Just like Myrtle had, Daisy torn into her own marriage. She loved both men, but as soon as it was found out, the men began fighting for her. “I glanced at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband…” (Fitzgerald 143). This isn’t what Daisy wanted at all. At some point Daisy loved Tom, and it’s very likely that she still does, regardless of all of his cheating. Living a life of riches for so long has affected her with affluenza, blinding her morals as it did to Tom. When someone already has everything they could ever ask for, they’re still going to want more. Something to work for, or else life becomes boring as Daisy points out many times in the novel. When both men she loves are threatening each other and fighting for her fondness she’s realized what she’s done wrong. She’s fallen into the same trap as Myrtle, being stuck between two men, but she still has feelings for Tom.“I saw them in Santa Barbara when they came back and I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about her husband. If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily and say ‘Where’s Tom gone?’” (Fitzgerald 83). Gatsby tries to convince Daisy that she loves him and only him, yet Daisy actually loves them both. After Daisy was married she could think about anything except Tom, while Gatsby has spent the five
To explain the basis behind their relationship; Gatsby first met daisy at a party at her house that her parents were hosting for young army men in hopes that their daughter would find that could be a suitable husband. Soon after they became so close and fell madly in love. Daisy came from old money and gatsby had no money at all which made their relationship come to a halt when Gatsby asked to marry Daisy. With a breaking heart Daisy had to turn him down because she couldn’t marry someone that couldn’t provide what she needed...fabulous wealth. Many years past as Gatsby went to war, came back to war, and got a job helping Dan Cody on his voyages. After Gatsby7 was denied the money that Dan Cody wanted to inherit to him he got into the business of bootlegging which made him filthy rich. Everything he did over the course of the years was for Daisy so he could finally get to be with her. Sadly Gatsby later found out that Daisy had gotten married to a man named Tom Buchanan leaving Gatsby torn that Daisy did not wait for him to get rich. All gatsby had now was hope and a love so strong for Daisy that it made his heart ache. Tom narrates, “But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot. The most grotesque and fantastic
Magicians are often referred to with the title “The Great”. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of this phrase in his title provides a quick insight into the context of his story. Magicians deceive their audiences, playing tricks on them and alluring them, hiding the truth. The “magician” in Fitzgerald's novel is Jay Gatsby himself, who has to make his “audience” believe that he belongs to a higher social class than he was really born into. By his use of speech, money, and clothing, Gatsby is able to essentially deceive those who observe him.
Daisy’s original impression of Gatsby is evident in her early letters to him, “...he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself- that he was fully able to take care of her” (149). Daisy loved Gatsby under the false hope that they belonged to the same social class. She grew up surrounded by riches, never working a day in her life, and she could not comprehend the struggles of a man who must work for the food he eats each day. Daisy knew that she must marry when she is beautiful, for being a beautiful rich girl of good social standing was her highest commodity and most valuable chip in marrying well. In order to live a secure life, she had to find someone the had the means to provide for her extravagant lifestyle, and the deep care for her that would allow Daisy to do as she pleased. The only definition of love Daisy knew was one of disillusioned power and commitments under false pretenses in order to keep the wealthy continually rich. Daisy acknowledges the false pretenses of marriage for the wealthy in how she describes her daughter’s future. She tells Nick, “‘And I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this
Daisy Buchanan, in reality, is unable to live up the illusory Daisy that Gatsby has invented in his fantasy. After Daisy and Tom Buchanan leave another one of Gatsby’s splendid parties, Fitzgerald gives the reader a glimpse into what Gatsby’s expectations are. Fitzgerald claims that “he wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’” (109). Here it is revealed that Gatsby’s one main desire is for Daisy to go willingly...
In the beginning, Gatsby was a poor army boy who fell in love with a rich girl named Daisy. Knowing from their different circumstances, he could not marry her. So Gatsby left to accumulate a lot of money. Daisy, not being able to wait for Gatsby, marries a rich man named Tom. Tom believes that it is okay for a man to be unfaithful but it is not okay for the woman to be. This caused a lot of conflict in their marriage and caused Daisy to be very unhappy. Gatsby’s dream is to be with Daisy, and since he has accumulated a lot of money, he had his mind set on getting her back. Throughout the novel, Gatsby shows his need to attain The American Dream of love and shows his determination to achieve it. You can tell that Gatsby has a clear vision of what he wants when Nick says, “..he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I gla...
The Great Gatsby is a worldwide known novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the novel, there are many instances and examples of illusion. The official dictionary definition of the word illusion is “A thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses” or “A False idea or belief.” Each and every character including Gatsby, Tom Buchannan, Daisy and others, have their own illusions set up inside their head or have made their own illusions so people see them differently.