Allusions In The Great Gatsby

The American Dream suggests that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. One of the major ways that Fitzgerald portrays this is by alluding to outside events or works of literature specifically from that time period. Another major relationship that develops in The Great Gatsby is between Tom and Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to things such as the World’s Fair and “The Love Nest” to display the eventual dismantling of Tom and Daisy’s relationship. Both of these separate plots consolidate under the idea of Gatsby trying to become the epitome of the American Dream, as seen through his strive for a “perfect life.” Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses allusions to portray Gatsby as a representative of the “American Dream” and to foreshadow the eventual collapse of the relationship between Daisy and Tom, which, in turn, presents Gatsby’s desire

One example of this is when Nick tells Gatsby that “[his] place looks like the World's Fair” (81). Historically, the World’s Fair is a large conference in which different countries have delegates display the accomplishments of their respective countries. On the surface, this may seem like Nick telling Gatsby that his house looks like the World's Fair because of how big the house is and the atmosphere of the party taking place. Looking deeper, however, something that took place at the World's Fair is the fire of 1893. This fire not only destroyed the entire fair, but also killed fifteen people. By comparing Gatsby’s house to the World’s Fair, Nick is comparing Gatsby as a character to the World’s Fair. Just as that fire destroyed the Fair, Gatsby almost destroys the relationship between Nick and Daisy by falling in love with Daisy and forcing her to choose between him and