Reality Vs. Illusion In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Reality is the world or state of things as they actually exist, whereas illusion is a deceptive appearance or impression. As a result the aftermath for these people and the people who are around them are horrifyingly wicked. The theme of reality vs. illusion is extremely demonstrated in The Great Gatsby. In The Great Gatsby the characters who lived false lives eventually ended up leaving behind a great trail of mortification, sorrow and demise. In the Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby, who is also James Gatz incessantly misinterprets the reality as a world that accommodates his needs and desires. Tom also lives in false beliefs but in reality is a very deceiving man. Furthermore living in false beliefs is still conspicuous in our present day society.

In the first party scene, which is when Tom takes Nick to meet his mistress Myrtle and her sister Catherine.

In this party scene Tom wants to be seen as if he is above everyone, and can do anything he desires. "Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand" (Page 41). That shows he thought he was above the law. Myrtle wants to be thought of as royalty, she says "I married him because I thought he was a gentleman," she said finally. "I thought he knew something about breeding but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe" (Page 39). She believed her husband didn't meet her standards, because he was poor. Myrtle and Tom are both portrayed as selfish people in this scene due to the fact that they are willing to bash their spouses for misbeliefs. "It's really his wife that's keeping them apart. She's a Catholic and they don't believe in divorce." Daisy was not a Catholic and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie’’ (Page 38). That shows that Tom’s willing to throw anybody under the bus including his wife for his personal pleasures. Also that Myrtle wants his wealth and to also be thought of as his wife, not mistress. An illusion from this scene would be that Myrtle thought that Tom would actually leave his wife for her. However he’s not willing to leave Daisy for her, Because in his eyes they don't compare. He believes she’s lower than

Daisy.
As seen or read in chapter six Daisy did not have true feelings for Gatsby, but for his wealth. “There such beautiful shirts. It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before”(Page 98). Which is showing that she regrets marrying Tom, because she sees how much more money Gatsby has. Daisy is portrayed as a gold digger but it is not seen by Gatsby he truly believes she is in love with him. An illusion in this scene would be that Gatsby thinks that Daisy really has feelings for him, but in reality she is there for his money and success not him himself.
In the second party scene Tom and Daisy come. As time passes Daisy and Gatsby eventually escape from the party and go off on their own for privacy of course. In this scene Daisy tells Gatsby she wants to get away, which is appalling to Gatsby. Due to everything he has done for her attention. In this scene Gatsby wants Daisy to think of him as better than Tom, He wants her to leave him and rekindle what they had. “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: “I never loved you”(Page 109). Gatsby Dwells on Daisy and his past. “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy” (Page 110). He thought that she didn't understand, but not everyone including Daisy lived in the past. “I wouldn't ask too much of her. You can’t repeat the past” (Page 110). Gatsby doesn't understand that she isn't truly still inlove with her, he believes that he can bring back what they had before he left for war. “ Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” (Page 110).
There are many illusions throughout this novel.

Here are two examples, The first illusion would be that Gatsby tells Nick of his well upbringing and how he became of wealth. “I’ll tell you the God’s truth...I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West - all dead now, Then it was all true” (Page 65). In actuality Gatsby’s name is James Gatz, he is a poor young man from the Midwest who changed his identity to become a different person and to create an wholly new image of himself to be accepted by Daisy. “I suppose he’d had the name already for a long time, even then, So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to his conception he was faithful to the end” (Page 98). Another illusion would be that Gatsby thinks that Daisy truly loves him and not Tom. “I don't think she ever loved him just for a minute, when they married, and loved me more even then, do you see?” (Page 159). The reality of that is that Daisy only loved Gatsby because he was wealthy. “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately and the decision must be made by some force of love, or money, of unquestionable practicality that was close at hand” (Page

159).
As has been noted reality is the world or state of things as they actually exist, whereas illusion is a deceptive appearance or impression. As a result the aftermath for these people and the people who are around them are horrifyingly wicked, as demonstrated in The Great Gatsby. In the ending multiple of the characters died due to continuous lies and cover ups of their relationships, affairs and well being.