ipl-logo

Deception In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

1091 Words5 Pages

Sophie Rohani
AP English Language
7 February 2023
Altman
Gatsby Essay
Deceptions in The Great Gatsby play a crucial part in the development of the story. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates a theme of cheating and lying in the book but also shows that the truth always comes out. There are 3 main deceptions in The Great Gatsby: deceiving oneself, deceiving peers, and lying about intentions and loyalty in relationships. Each deceit really helps to develop the individual characters and the structure of the story.
Self deception occurs quite often throughout of the novel. The most blatant example of self deception in the book is Jay Gatsby. He has this persona of being an “oxford man.” He is super wealthy, throwing parties and buying new dresses for …show more content…

He adopts this ideal of what he wants to be and then he adapts his personality, his social status, and his entire being to fit into this role of “Great Gatsby.” He is in love with Daisy Buchanan, a married woman who he is sure is in love with only him. He romanticizes her and creates this idea in his head which is not fully true. He buys a house that is across the bay of Daisys home. This was purposeful, he bought it so he could see the green light of her dock from his house. He is fooling himself and creating this romantic and out of touch with reality version of who Daisy is and what their love could be. His deceptions about himself aren’t meant to hurt anyone, he is creating this life and persona for himself which he didn’t have when he was growing up. However Gatsby is not the only one deceiving themselves. Daisy is not truthful to herself when it comes to her feelings and who she loves. Gatsby and Daisy knew each other before he went to war and Daisy fell in love with him. Gatsby came back from the war and found that Daisy had married Tom Buchanan. Once Daisy and Gatsby rekindled their friendship they discovered that their relationship hadn’t …show more content…

Daisy fell in love with the deception of Jay Gatsby. Everything she knows him to be is a deception and untrue. Some of Gatbsy’s lies stem from Daisy, he wanted to appear as old money and try to impress her. Though Gatsby successfully deceiving Daisy, Tom Buchanan caught on to his lies rather quickly. He is skeptical not only because he thinks Gatsby might be romantically involved with his wife, but also because of the lack of information and background that Gatsby provides. The information that Gatsby does tell is mostly lies and Tom isn’t believing them. "'I'd like to know who he is and what he does,' insisted Tom. 'And I think I'll make a point of finding out'" (108) Tom does investigate Gatsby and find out that he is lying about where his wealth and fortune comes

Show More
Related

Examples Of Daisy's Relationship In The Great Gatsby

1051 Words | 5 Pages

He falls in love with her because they are young and she's beautiful; but his love increases as he builds this idea of her in his mind that her beauty is inherently connected to her wealthy status. Thus, his initiative to become rich was part of his effort of living up to this conception he had of Daisy. In Gatsby’s mind, he legitimately loves her but truthfully a part of him is only infatuated with the idea of her. In this respect Daisy is not the person he believes her to be, only because in his mind, she is an impossibly perfect girl frozen in the

Read More

Examples Of Disillusionment In The Great Gatsby

936 Words | 4 Pages

Gatsby had spent so much time and effort pursuing this unrealistic view of Daisy that it became impossible for her to live up to these expectations. He never made a real effort to find out who she actually is, or even simply respect that she had created a life apart from him. It’s unsurprising that he is disappointed by reality; he has been living in an elaborate dream, deluding himself to believe that his plan to win her over will work just because he wants it to, and ignoring the real factors that would break this illusion until it is broken for him. Gatsby is aware of the factors playing against him when it comes to his dream of being with Daisy, such as her marriage and commitment to her family, but he creates a mental version of events that serve him when he cannot accept this reality. Subsequently, he suffers from realizing that his imagined perfect version of Daisy and their perfect life together is not real or reasonable.

Read More

Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

596 Words | 3 Pages

At the beginning of the novel, we are lead to believe that Gatsby is simply an admirable, highly-accomplished, extremely kind individual. Later, when we learn his true aim, we believe him to be love-struck individual, one to sympathize, even empathize, with. However, once Gatsby’s deception is revealed, his illegally earned wealth, we are repulsed by his lack of morality. Indeed, his desire to be the object of Daisy’s love was so strong that it effaced much of the honesty within him. Gatsby finds no qualms about lying, even in such an intimate action as love, causing the readers to reconsider his

Read More

Daisy's Lies In The Great Gatsby

699 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the story Daisy has been lying about who she loved when she knew that she was still in love with “ Great Gatsby” and that showed when daisy read that letter, she was hysterically crying, it showed that she still cared but she didn't want to put herself out there. She could've fooled everyone with her love lies but she sure couldn't fool “ Great Gatsby”. Tom fell for all these lies, makes Daisy and Gatsby deceitful. This novel is full of love, lies and deceit.

Read More

Examples Of Honesty In The Great Gatsby

989 Words | 4 Pages

If one is honest, they are to be free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere. The quality of being honest is called honesty. Although characters in The Great Gatsby are quite sincere, they fall short on the possession of honesty. The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which depicts how American life was during the Roaring Twenties.

Read More

Examples Of Lies In The Great Gatsby

1132 Words | 5 Pages

Love and Wealth Through Lies Truth, Lies, and Storytelling In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby The only thing worse than a liar is someone who believes that lies will give the perfect fulfillment for life. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby uses lies and deception to ultimately end the life of Gatsby. The Great Gatsby thoroughly connects truth, lies, and storytelling through the tales of James Gatz and his path throughout life and relationships.

Read More

Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

826 Words | 4 Pages

Fitzgerald in the novel, uses careless individuals who would destroy everything and everyone and yet still manage to retreat back to their money. Daisy Buchanan, the ‘golden girl’ is rather dishonest and deceitful throughout the novel. As she starts having her affair with Gatsby, she creates unrealistic expectations in Gatsby head about their future together. As Gatsby is having drinks at the Buchanan’s, Tom leaves the room and Daisy kisses Gatsby and declares, ‘I don’t care!’ At this point, the audience realizes that Daisy is and always was in love with Gatsby and that she was prepared to leave Tom.

Read More

Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

850 Words | 4 Pages

Gatsby tries to win Daisy over and keep their affair a secret from Tom. As we know, Tom throws these huge parties hoping Daisy will show up, so he reignites the flame they had. Gatsby leads Tom to believe he is just another party-goer when he is plotting to steal Daisy away. Gatsby never lets on that he has a history with Daisy or that he is currently seeing in secret. He is playing it cool, bet he is set on getting Daisy back.

Read More

Daisy's Lies In The Great Gatsby

616 Words | 3 Pages

However, he took short cuts such as illegitimate means of making money, and getting lost in his own material possessions. While Gatsby did deceive nearly everyone that ever got the chance to meet him, including the narrator, Nick Carraway, in the beginning, he did it to get the one thing money could not buy, Daisy. Once Daisy did come over to Gatsby’s house, he showered her in everything he owned, silk this, golden that, and other extravagant things. After the hit-and-run incident, Daisy pulls away from Gatsby and resides in the safety of her husband Tom, leaving Gatsby distraught and disbelief, thinking she will come back. Gatsby’s motives seemed clear in his own mind but in reality were muddied with errors only seen from

Read More

Examples Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

674 Words | 3 Pages

Deception often has its roots in self-preservation. In many cases. The individual does not intend to help or harm others through his dishonesty but rather aims to protect his own personal safety by lying. This is the case for young James Gatz in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, who deceives everyone he meets and assumes a new persona to match his lavish, new life: Jay Gatsby.

Read More

The Role Of Deception In The Great Gatsby

986 Words | 4 Pages

In life, what is perceived tends to show misconception in how thoughts play out. One prime character in the novel is, Jay Gatsby, he was not capable to decide between the love he felt for Daisy and the illusion that he could recapture her love by inventing a false past. Jay believed he could repeat the past. In the novel, Jay Gatsby refuses to establish the differences in the reality of his life and his illusions for his love for Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic: “The Great Gatsby,” displays how deception effects when one falls in love and when one realizes reality.

Read More

The Great Gatsby Foolishness Analysis

1014 Words | 5 Pages

In the book, Gatsby is very foolish, his actions are unreasonable and unrealistic. “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: "I never loved you."” (125) Gatsby had expected Daisy to be the same girl she was five years ago, but the truth is that she isn't. Many things had happened to the both of them and he had set up a foolish expectation that Daisy was willing to leave Tom for him. Gatsby’s foolishness originated with Daisy.

Read More

Dishonesty In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

1112 Words | 5 Pages

The rumors of him, are somewhat becoming a reality as Gatsby slips up more in his interactions. Although he may be a bad liar, he is honest about it – expressing himself through his lies. This emphasizes the distrust we feel towards Gatsby at this

Read More

The Role Of Greed In The Great Gatsby

780 Words | 4 Pages

(99) In this moment, Gatsby makes it clear to Daisy that he could easily provide her with the same lifestyle she shares with Tom. Once Gatsby captures Daisy’s affection, he becomes full of greed and doesn’t want to believe she ever gave any of her love to Tom. “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’” (118) When Daisy states “‘Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,’ (142), Gatsby begins to feel a “touch of panic” (142). All of his parties, stories, and entire persona were all fabricated to win Daisy back.

Read More

Universal Issues In The Great Gatsby Essay

1102 Words | 5 Pages

Firstly, the concept of deceit is a universal issue presented in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is a prime exhibitor of this issue, as he lies about many things. For example, he lies to Daisy when she asks him "I thought you inherited your money" (Fitzgerald, CH 5, Para 97). He replies with “I did, old sport, [...]

Read More

More about Deception In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Related Topics

Open Document