Illusion In The Great Gatsby

Arguably one of the most complex works of American Literature, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays a satirical United States taking place in the early twenties in New York. The roaring twenties often portrayed a happy time immediately following World War 1 however, it gave off a false feeling of joy and many people were truly unhappy. Even though Nick Carraway shows a realistic image of himself, The Great Gatsby encompasses an illusion created in this time period and portrays this image through the atmosphere surrounding the actions of its characters; it ultimately shows a conflict against reality, identical to that to the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby shows the upper class and their habits, which involved: carelessness,

Another illusion is that of the romances between the characters in The Great Gatsby. Although Gatsby came from humble origins, in order to win Daisy over he works hard to accumulate a fortune. Despite this, Gatsby does not actually love Daisy, but the idea behind her. He loves the illusion of marrying into her wealth to be seen as a greater man. Gatsby mentions in the novel:“Her voice is full of money,” he said suddenly. “That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it. . . . High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl.”(Fitzgerald 120) which shows his true desire for Daisy is her wealth, like a trophy. Another symbol seen often in the novel is the color green and gold. These colors symbolize wealth and greed. Gatsby is seen standing on his dock staring into a green light, which is coming from Daisy 's house. This green light symbolizes his desire for wealth and an attraction like that of moths to light. Gatsby also creates a false image of himself towards the public. Gatsby claims to be well educated and paints the idea that he is an Oxford University man. He shows Nick pictures of his “past” and his library symbolizes his education. However his illusion is exposed as on a closer inspection of the books which are uncut, meaning Gatsby has not actually read them. Gatsby’s creation of this face can be accounted to the psychology

In spite of many characters creating an illusion of themselves, Nick actually is living in a reality, and is able to recount and narrative to the reader from his opinion a more realistic viewpoint. Nick’s last name “Carraway” literally can be broken into care and away. His name is symbolic of the reality in the story. His narration tells the perspective which identifies the illusions that the other characters have created of themselves. Nick actually does care for his actions and tries not trying to get intertwined with the drama in the story. Nick is not swayed by materialistic items, but rather lives a smaller house and is more modest in his earnings. Nick is able to distinguish the corruption between the Eggs and how money dominates their lives. Another example of how why Nick represents living in the real is his break up with Jordan at the end of the novel, and him moving away from New York. Nick recalls his experiences in the eggs and describes those of East Egg, "They 're a rotten crowd," I shouted across the lawn. "You 're worth the whole damn bunch put together.”(Fitzgerald 162). This quote to Gatsby represents that Nick actually does have a friendship with him, and he does not shy away from his opinion on the East egg citizens who have taken advantage of Gatsby and got