Examples Of Believing In The Great Gatsby

The common expression that “seeing is believing” is a misinterpreted saying. What many people don’t know is that what we see is actually just an illusion. For example, when we see a sunset, it seems like magnificent colors are exploding into a motion picture. In reality, there is a vast hole in our vision, that corresponds to the optic nerve in the retina. As we look at things we should see this large black spot but our brains fill in that hole instead by coating over it and filling in the gaps with our memories of the location. This results in that, part of our vision is fake and our subconscious minds are only trying to trick us into believing that everything we see is what id really going on. F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the topic of disillusionment

Fitzgerald’s use of each character's desire for the American Dream shows that it is impossible to achieve. Before Nick leaves, he sees Gatsby reaching for “a single green light, minute and far away...” (21). Gatsby is reaching for Daisy--even after 5 years of waiting for her to come back to him. Nick begins to realize that the American Dream is unachievable because he sees that despite Gatsby’s wealth, Gatsby still cannot get what he wants the most, Daisy. As Gatsby kisses Daisy, he knows that he would “forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath” (110). This moment ties Daisy to all of Gatsby’s larger dreams and his version of the American Dream. This foreshadows Gatsby’s death because Daisy cannot hold under the weight of Gatsby’s dreams, and stays with Tom. The word “perishable” has a negative connotation of decay and destruction; the word hints at Gatsby’s destruction of his affair with Daisy. As a result of Gatsby’s failure to win over Daisy, he also fails to accomplish his American Dream. After Gatsby’s death, Nick analyzes how far Gatsby had come to the “blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it”(180). Nick notes that Gatsby’s dream was “already behind him”(180) meaning, the idea that anyone can get what they want with hard work and dedication is simply, just an illusion. The argument that Gatsby already achieved the hollow American Dream could be made with Nick’s statement about it being behind him. However, the question of even if Gatsby did win Daisy over, would his life then be fulfilled? The closing pages of the novel reflect on Gatsby’s desire to achieve everything he never had growing. Fitzgerald depicts the traditional American Dream as an American nightmare instead because becoming rich is not enough anymore during the decade the