James Gatz: The Great Illusionist

He is Jimmy, the “Mr. Nobody from nowhere” (Fitzgerald 130). He is James, the boy with not a single cent to his name but a dream as big as the stars. He is the Great Gatsby, the rich and mysterious thrower of extravagant parties. Gatsby achieves his most well-known title as “The Great” when he is at the peak of his life and as rich as he can be, yet does he deserve it? Many “great people” have gone through history and literature without ever receiving such a title, yet a bootlegger from the West achieves such an honor. Gatsby’s wealth, friends, past, personality, gestures, and even name are all fake and made up by himself. However, what actually makes him great is how fake he really is. In history, the people who mostly receive the title of “great” are magicians, illusionists, and street side performers. In a way, Gatsby is greater than even the Great Houdini because he creates an illusion that fools not only everyone around him but himself as well. Gatsby develops an illusion that has a peculiar nature and origin that leads to his rise and fall. It is in the nature of such an elaborate illusion that an illusionist can gain the title of great.

Gatz embraces the idea of “The American Dream” from the beginning of his childhood. Living in the West, a young Gatz is influenced by romanticized western stories such as Hopalong Cassidy and the ideas of life on the old frontier. The old western frontier instills in people that the average man is a hero and that hard-work leads to success. Gatz takes this to heart and begins developing his illusion around this perception of people (Lehan “…Father’s Business…” 44). He begins to truly believe that he can move forward in society, so he makes a calendar with lists of things he wants to do: “No...

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