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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 …show more content…
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 …show more content…
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
Many great novels such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby tackle the subject of passing, or being fake, which involves a character pretending to be something or someone that he or she is not. Although it takes a while for the reader to discover that Gatsby has been living a fictitious life, in order to pass for someone from a higher social class, this becomes one of the more important aspects in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby has created this magnificent lie about his past in order to be impressive, yet he still comes off as quite mysterious to the people he associates with. This may be due to the fact that Gatsby is a quiet but exceedingly generous man. Gatsby is constantly throwing parties and buying the nicest of things. This causes rumors to be constantly flying about Gatsby and his wealth.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the pursuit of the American dream in a corrupt period is a central theme. This theme exemplifies itself in the downfall of Gatsby. In a time of disillusionment the ideals of the American dream are lost. The classic American dream is one of materialism and when Gatsby incorporates Daisy, a human being, into the dream he is doomed to fail.
However, he believes that there is a reason behind his dishonesty and that he is not a man of total fraud. Gatsby, indeed, has been dishonest, both with himself and with the rest of the world. He has lied to Nick and the others about where he comes from. His made-up story is that he comes from a wealthy family of now deceased people. He says that he is an Oxford-educated man. He also claims to be from the Midwest and lies about his own name. In reality, he is midwestern, but his father is alive and well. He is not an Oxford graduate (he only attended for five months) and he comes from poverty. His birth name is James Gatz. He is a man of new money, and he established his wealth illegally by selling drugs with his business partner, which explains his alias. In addition to Gatsby’s dishonesty by others, he is dishonest with himself. Gatsby has fabricated a dream—a fictional reality—in his mind. He wants Nick’s cousin, Daisy, whom he met five years prior to the story’s beginning, to marry him. However, this marriage could never happen, because Daisy is already married to an East Egg man named Tom, with whom she has a child. Despite the odds, Gatsby continues to push Daisy toward breaking it off with Tom. His dream overwhelms the harshness of his reality, thus causing Gatsby to continue to falsify reality and misshape it to agree with what he wants. His dishonesty is the root of his
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.
Deceit became a very important concept throughout the novel especially in Jay Gatsby’s life. His whole life became filled with lies. He lied about how he got his wealth and about his personal life. Gatsby put up a façade for every single person who thought of him as a business man when actually he became wealthy by selling bootleg liquor. Jay had come up this lie that his parents were wealthy and after their death all the money became Gatsby’s their only son. “I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle- west all dead now “(Fitzgerald 69). Gatsby lying about his past became a piece to the puzzle for his future plans. Life for Gatsby became focused on deceit and facades to continue having the comforts of his present life and the plans for his future.
Another theme that is used is the American dream. Gatsby himself is a believer in the American dream of self-made success. During the book, we learn that he had created himself out of nothing, that his whole life is merely fiction. Gatsby remained fully committed to his dream of being socially accepted to the end. Therefore he never comprehends that his strive for success and social acceptance led him to his deathbed. That is why Gatsby is a prime example of the American dream.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the themes of dreams, illusion versus reality, poverty versus wealth, having your highlight in your youth, waste, east versus west, creating a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream. In this oral presentation the ideas and techniques that show illusion versus reality within the novel will be explored and discussed.
Daisy also exhibits her shallowness when she is too restless to wait for her 'love', Gatsby, to return from he war, and she marries Tom. Her most drastic immoral action is committed when she runs over Myrtle and does not even bother to stop and help a person that is 'below' her. Daisy's husband, Tom shows his ridiculous morality in different ways. One way is his search for power, which is shown most through his affair with Myrtle and his possessiveness. He evidently feels further domination and masculinity when he has her, a woman of lower class, as his mistress. Secondly, Tom Buchanan is shallow enough to think that everything and everyone he has in his life are part of his property. This increases his 'power' and makes him feel as if he is truly successful. This couple, Tom and Daisy certainly contain serious corruptness due to their shallowness and self-indulgence.
Jay Gatsby gives off the aura of magic throughout the novel from the first moment we meet him until his untimely demise at the hands of George Wilson. His life is just a web of clever lies and half-truths told to persuadable brains that keep the stories, rumors and lies alive with gossip. He hides himself behind lavish parties and changes in his identity in an attempt to fit into a world where he truly does not belong.
This adds an intriguing aspect to the life of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lies in order to uphold his image. For example, Gatsby states that he is an Oxford man, however the reader finds that this is not entirely true. The social class that Gatsby strives to be a part of is well educated and proper. Gatsby creates an omission lie, that he is an Oxford man.
...ces throughout the novel demonstrate how he is not as innocent or quiet as readers think. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as not being a Romantic hero due to Gatsby`s attempts in faking his identity, his selfish acts and desperation for Daisy`s love and his fixation with wealth, proving that love is nothing like obsession. Gatsby does not understand love; instead he views Daisy as another goal in his life because he is obsessed with her and is willing to do anything to buy her love. Obsession and love are two different things: love is something that sticks with a person till his or her death, while obsession can cause a person to change his or her mind after reaching their goals. Thus Gatsby`s story teaches people that a true relationship can only be attained when there is pure love between both people, untainted by materialism and superficiality.
There are many cases throughout the book where someone is dishonest to others that they know. It is definitely a motif throughout the pages of “The Great Gatsby” The first example that I am going to explain is with Jordan Baker. Jordan is a professional golfer that was in a big match for her golf career. A semi-finals match against other great competitors must have been very important for her. “At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the papers a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round.” She d...
Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the rich couple, seem to have everything they could possibly want. Though their lives are full of anything you could imagine, they are unhappy and seek to change, Tom drifts on "forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game"(pg. 10) and reads "deep books with long words in them"(pg. 17) just so he has something to talk about. Even though Tom is married to Daisy he has an affair with Myrtle Wilson and has apartment with her in New York.. Daisy is an empty character, someone with hardly any convictions or desires. Even before her relationships with Tom or, Gatsby are seen, Daisy does nothing but sit around all day and wonder what to do with herself and her friend Jordan. She knows that Tom is having an affair, yet she doesn't leave him even when she hears about Gatsby loving her. Daisy lets Gatsby know that she too is in love with him but cant bring herself to tell Tom goodbye except when Gatsby forces her too. Even then, once Tom begs her to stay, even then Daisy forever leaves Gatsby for her old life of comfort. Daisy and Tom are perfect examples of wealth and prosperity, and the American Dream. Yet their lives are empty, and without purpose.
Daisy marries Tom only because he has money. Daisy is in love with material objects. She uses her money to get away from reality, and when she feels threatened, she hides behind her money. Furthermore, she says, "And I hope she'll be a fool-That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. "(Pg.
Daisy’s sense of happiness is based on her materialism; resulting in her lack of wisdom or empathy regarding human relationship. She disregards the welfare of other human beings, because she only cares about the things that Tom gives her; the house, money, and jewelry. Furthermore, Daisy's focus on materialism causes her to act out like a selfish human being through her thoughtless lifestyle. Nick states,