Theme Of Illusions In The Great Gatsby

Jake Mahoney

Mr. O’Keefe

English 11

31 January 2016

Great Gatsby Essay #4 Illusion

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.

Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s rich, uptight, rude husband. He is a racist bigot and thinks the world revolves around him. Tom makes himself out to be a powerful man through

his wealth. He thinks he can manipulate people or control them because he has a lot of money. Tom knows about the affair between Gatsby and daisy and is enraged. Even though he is a cheater himself, he tries to degrade Gatsby any chance he gets. He does this to make an illusion that he is better than Gatsby to make sure daisy doesn’t leave him. An example would be when Tom said “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. nobody from nowhere make love to your wife.” By calling Gatsby “Mr. Nobody,” Tom is putting himself on a pedestal or a higher status than Gatsby. Another example would be Tom’s relationship with Daisy, which is another huge illusion itself. They both have affairs with other people, yet they keep their relationship going to save face and keep their social status “above water.”
Another example of illusion is Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Gatsby thinks in his head that him and daisy will live happily ever after and love each other till death. Daisy at one point, did in fact love Gatsby. She has, however, moved on from him to Tom. Even though their relationship is over, Gatsby still hopes they will one day get back together. This illusion in his head tears apart at Gatsby and is the basis of the novel. Gatsby, in his head, believes daisy loves him instead of tom. Which is false, daisy will never leave tom. The reality of this, is that daisy only loves Gatsby for his money and power.

Illusion vs reality is extremely applicable to Jay Gatsby, also known as James Gatz.

Jay Gatsby’s real name is James Gatz. Jay Gatsby is an illusion, while James Gatz is the reality he must face. Gatsby tells people of his well upbringing and his wealth growing up. The reality of this is that James Gatz was a poor western boy who did not grow up wealthy at all. Gatsby also did not become wealthy by working hard and making his money honestly, rather than, he bootlegged and did illegal things to get his wealth. Gatsby’s parties are another example, he threw huge parties every weekend, lasting a very long time. His idea was that if he threw these parties, daisy would come to one of them. He barely knew the people at his party and that was an illusion in

itself.

Daisy has illusions all throughout her life.

Daisy is obsessed with materialistic items, causing her to chase wealth and be, in a way, a “gold digger.” Wealth is one of the main reasons she married tom, because she couldn’t wait any longer, had zero patience and as stated in the novel “she wanted her life molded now.” Daisy uses these materialistic items as an escape from reality or her real life problems. She is corrupted and brainwashed by this lavish way of life.

Another prime example of illusion is Gatsby’s parties. The guests themselves create a huge illusion, making it look like everyone loves Gatsby and that he is very popular. Many, however, don’t even know who’s house they are in. They just are there to get drunk and have a good time without a care in the world. The reality of this is that no one cared about him. Nick and his father were the only ones to show up to his funeral, while hundreds of people showed up to his parties.

Illusion vs. reality was the most major and important theme in the novel. Illusion is the basis of this novel and every character and story revolves around it. Gatsby, parties, daisy, tom, and relationships are all examples that were expressed throughout the novel. These themes were important because it showed all the fantasies these people lived in. wealth can make you blind to your surroundings and all in all, love can make you go

crazy.