William B Smith
English Two
6 November 2015
Illusion Vs. Reality
Things are not always what they seem to be. We can be fooled by the mask `people wear everyday. As we get older we develop habits ad an opened mind to understand the difference between an illusion and reality. The use of illusion in the novel The Great Gatsby is used very effectively to show the nature of people. Through out the novel there are many examples where the appearance of the character is deferent than what’s inside.
First of all, Daisy Buchanan is an example of how character portrays them to other character than what they really feel and create an illusion. Daisy leads on Gatsby twice in the novel. When Gatsby leaves to fight in the war under the impression that Daisy will wait for his return but instead she breaks that illusion and marries Tom. Later on in the novel she again had Gatsby believing that Daisy will leave Tom for him. But that illusion comes to an end when she admits that she can’t tell Tom that she never loved Tom …show more content…
“ Even alone I cant say I never loved Tom, ‘ she admitted in a pitiful voice.’ It wouldn’t be true” (The Great Gatsby 142).
Another example of illusion in the novel seen as the reality involves the main character himself Gatsby.
Gatsby is under the illusion that Daisy loves him and will leave Tom for him. Which we found out is not true. Gatsby also creates this illusion about his education. With Gatsby position and image in society a high level of education is a must have. Gatsby told Nick that he was educated at Oxford, which is not true because he dropped out. Gatsby revels that to Tom “I only stayed five months that’s why I cant really call myself an Oxford man,”(137, 138) Another illusion that Gatsby had believing was how he became so wealthy. Gatsby tells Nick how he acquired his wealth. “I am the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west-all dead now.” But in reality Gatsby is just was a poor boy from mid-west. He made all his money by illegal crime such as bootlegging and did not really own any drug store. “I found out what your “drug store” were”
(143).
In the end, all the characters in the novel created their own illusions. Whether it was for how they wanted to see other characters or how other characters view them.
Work Cited
Fitzgerald, F S. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. Print.