Essay On Illusion And Reality In The Great Gatsby

In the Novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the main themes is how illusion is mistaken for reality. The author develops this theme by creating Jay Gatsby a character, who presents a façade of himself that is the complete opposite of who he is and the only time he is truly himself is when he’s with Daisy. Gatsby creates an image of himself that he thinks will make him wealthier and more accepted by society. He creates this image by changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby. He does this because he realizes that he can’t be successful with the name James Gatz.
The changing of his name is just the beginning of him reinventing himself. When he meets Daisy he realizes that jay Gatsby could be more than just a name and so he goes on a quest for wealth so as to be able to marry her. Everything Gatsby does to change is all for the pursuit of a perfect life and Daisy is part of that life. He realizes that he can’t have Daisy if he isn’t wealthy because their marriage would be looked down upon and she would never be happy. He makes a brand of himself and he sells it perfectly to people through his parties in hopes that Daisy will show up to one of them. This illusion that he creates of Jay Gatsby is not who he truly is because deep down he’s sad and depressed because he lost all that he ever wanted and that’s Daisy. Gatsby’s …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald has a theme of illusion where the reality of things is marred and nothing is really what it seems. Gatsby one of the main characters is truly an illusion in his entirety because the person he presents himself as is not who he really is and the only time he is true to himself is when he is with Daisy Buchanan. It 's evident in his change of name, the change of his persona and the accumulation of his wealth all this is fabricated to make him greater than he is but the one person who reverts him back to poor old James Gatz is Daisy because she exposes his