Examples Of Pathological Lying In The Great Gatsby

Real; actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed or also, true or actual. In The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald what is reality and what is imagination or imitation play a large role in the novel and how it is interpreted. In the novel Jay Gatsby, and James Gatz are technically the same person but, which one is really the person , the actual man or the character put on by the man; or both. To start things off, Jay Gatsby is a classic example of narcissistic behavior and extreme pathological lying. Almost all of Gatsby’s facets are fabricated, exaggerated, and aggrandized by himself. Gatsby says, “ My parents passed and I inherited a large amount of money”, this is an example of Gatsby entirely making

Gatsby many times acknowledges that he always felt like he was destined to be greater and richer. While explaining this he says,”I never considered my parents my actual parents.” This could mean that he truly believes his real parents were not his real parents and disregards his childhood as if it never happened. Another point where Gatsby clearly suffers from self-deception is his obsession with Daisy and his desire to be with her even though she is married and he has not seen her in numerous years. Any sane person would not pursue a woman they had only met on one or two occasions, also one that had a child and a husband. This is a clear lack of sanity, starting from when he meets her before leaving for WW1 and continuing up until the very end of the novel. The only reason he became rich by any means necessary was to get to Daisy so he could be with her. This is apparent because he says that the reason the they could not be together earlier was because of his class and his lack of affluence. The last instance of self-deception is everything about Daisy. He convinces himself that she is the epitome of a perfect woman without flaws or shortcomings. This is important because he focuses every iota of energy on her while overlooking all her flaws and imperfections. If he had not deceived himself into thinking she was