Theme Of Illusion In The Great Gatsby
The Great Illusion
What is the American dream? If you were to look up the definition, you would see it defined as “a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the U.S.1” The question of whether or not the American dream is an illusory goal is explored throughout the novel, and with Fitzgerald’s markedly bleak conclusion on the achievement of the American dream, many readers are left skeptical. Can this life of personal happiness and comfort ever be truly achieved? Is there a certain element of illusion that goes into any supposed fulfillment of this dream? More importantly, what is the price that must be paid in our attempts at achieving this dream?
The ethos of the American dream is perhaps …show more content…
Surrounded by wealth from a young age, Daisy leads a privileged lifestyle that has instilled in her an air of carelessness when it comes to dealing with real-life issues. After the birth of her daughter, she comments, “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This personal philosophy that it is best for a girl to be a “beautiful little fool” is one prevalent in many of her decisions throughout The Great Gatsby. Instead of facing her love for Gatsby, she marries Tom, an aristocrat with a penchant for infidelity. When she is confronted by Gatsby five years later, she plays the “beautiful little fool” yet again by blindly remaining with her unfaithful husband. Ultimately, she turns a blind eye to the reality of her poor decisions when it comes to love, and remains forever preoccupied with the hope of finding happiness in the lap of …show more content…
He sees through the lies and fanfare that Gatsby surrounds himself with, but cannot help desperately wanting to believe that Gatsby is really who he says he is. “[I]nclined to reserve all judgements” (1), Nick ends up making the biggest judgment of all towards the end of the book when he turns to Gatsby and declares, “They’re a rotten crowd. . . . You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154). Nick recognizes the avarice characteristic to the upper-class, yet exempts Gatsby from his judgment. He believes that Gatsby’s motives are more morally upright than most, as Gatsby is driven by love rather than greed. “[S]imultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” (35), Nick may be one of the clearer thinkers in the novel, but he is unable to recognize Gatsby’s love for Daisy as a form of greed in
What is the American dream? If you were to look up the definition, you would see it defined as “a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the U.S.1” The question of whether or not the American dream is an illusory goal is explored throughout the novel, and with Fitzgerald’s markedly bleak conclusion on the achievement of the American dream, many readers are left skeptical. Can this life of personal happiness and comfort ever be truly achieved? Is there a certain element of illusion that goes into any supposed fulfillment of this dream? More importantly, what is the price that must be paid in our attempts at achieving this dream?
The ethos of the American dream is perhaps …show more content…
Surrounded by wealth from a young age, Daisy leads a privileged lifestyle that has instilled in her an air of carelessness when it comes to dealing with real-life issues. After the birth of her daughter, she comments, “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This personal philosophy that it is best for a girl to be a “beautiful little fool” is one prevalent in many of her decisions throughout The Great Gatsby. Instead of facing her love for Gatsby, she marries Tom, an aristocrat with a penchant for infidelity. When she is confronted by Gatsby five years later, she plays the “beautiful little fool” yet again by blindly remaining with her unfaithful husband. Ultimately, she turns a blind eye to the reality of her poor decisions when it comes to love, and remains forever preoccupied with the hope of finding happiness in the lap of …show more content…
He sees through the lies and fanfare that Gatsby surrounds himself with, but cannot help desperately wanting to believe that Gatsby is really who he says he is. “[I]nclined to reserve all judgements” (1), Nick ends up making the biggest judgment of all towards the end of the book when he turns to Gatsby and declares, “They’re a rotten crowd. . . . You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154). Nick recognizes the avarice characteristic to the upper-class, yet exempts Gatsby from his judgment. He believes that Gatsby’s motives are more morally upright than most, as Gatsby is driven by love rather than greed. “[S]imultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” (35), Nick may be one of the clearer thinkers in the novel, but he is unable to recognize Gatsby’s love for Daisy as a form of greed in