The theme of self delusion is followed closely when in relation to The American Jazz Age. An era of economic success and the composition of the American dream promoted a social hierarchy and affinity for wealth. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald follows the life of Jay Gatsby, an affluent bootlegger with the single goal of creating a life so attractive to the woman he loves, she will leave hers behind. Passing by Nella Larsen explores the life of Clare Kendry, a woman born to a black mother, living as a white aristocrat. Ignorance of reality is explored by both Fitzgerald and Larsen; living within a delusion is presented as dangerous, making the truth difficult to accept. The delusions of Jay Gatsby and Clare Kendry are illustrated through their shared dream of living an unobtainable life and the consequences …show more content…
To Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan represents a life of wealth and class, despite years of separation and a comfortable marriage to another man, Gatsby believes his success is reliant on recapturing her love. Gatsby’s delusion idealizes the girl he met in Louisville, believing their relationship can continue as if the five years the two were separated had never occurred. Gatsby believes wholeheartedly that one can “repeat the past” (Fitzgerald 111) without any great consequence or struggle. He held Daisy to incredible standards within the illusion she would not only meet but surpass expectations: “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken” (Fitzgerald 111). To obliterate time is nothing short of impossible. Gatsby acts as if four words can alter the course one's life has taken, and as if this is a practical expectation; once Daisy has ended her marriage and removed herself from her life, their relationship could