The story of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is based on illusions. These illusions eclipse the reality of what is actually happening beneath all the deception and distortion of truth. Every decision made by the characters of this book is made out of their personal illusions. In light of this, sincerity is disguised as meretricious actions and ephemeral relationships. This essay will show that illusions are mistaken as reality by the characters in this book by focusing on Gatsby 's illusion of greatness, the public 's illusion of Gatsby, Daisy 's illusion of happiness and Tom 's illusion of himself.
Firstly, Jay Gatsby himself is an illusion which he mistook for reality. A seventeen year-old James Gatz who was born and raised …show more content…
Fitzgerald portrays Tom as a character who wears a mask of confidence wherever he goes but in reality, he is insecure and afraid of being vulnerable. When Tom realizes Daisy and Gatsby were having an affair, he picked a fight with Gatsby and threw insults at him such as, “common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on [Daisy’s] finger” (p. 127) and “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him.” (p. 127) Throughout the argument, Tom was putting Gatsby down because he was afraid he would lose Daisy. The confident stream of insults were just an illusion to hide the fact that Tom was feeling frustrated and insecure about losing his wife which would be a big blow to his pride. He was trying to paint Gatsby as lower class and point out his involvement in organized crime to convince Daisy that Gatsby cannot measure up to himself. Apart from that, Tom has this misconception of being a worthy husband to Daisy. He says “once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time.” (p. 125) He expects that to be enough for Daisy which shows that Tom has a lack of respect for his wife. He doesn’t truly care about Daisy because he only cares about himself and what belongs to him which includes his wife. In addition, Tom felt no guilt about having a mistress and ”the fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known.” (p. 27) This text shows that Tom lived in this deluded world of his own where he was superior to everyone else and disregarded people’s feelings. As a result of his illusion, he was “careless” as Nick said (p. 170) and played a major role in the death of
Firstly, Jay Gatsby himself is an illusion which he mistook for reality. A seventeen year-old James Gatz who was born and raised …show more content…
Fitzgerald portrays Tom as a character who wears a mask of confidence wherever he goes but in reality, he is insecure and afraid of being vulnerable. When Tom realizes Daisy and Gatsby were having an affair, he picked a fight with Gatsby and threw insults at him such as, “common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on [Daisy’s] finger” (p. 127) and “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him.” (p. 127) Throughout the argument, Tom was putting Gatsby down because he was afraid he would lose Daisy. The confident stream of insults were just an illusion to hide the fact that Tom was feeling frustrated and insecure about losing his wife which would be a big blow to his pride. He was trying to paint Gatsby as lower class and point out his involvement in organized crime to convince Daisy that Gatsby cannot measure up to himself. Apart from that, Tom has this misconception of being a worthy husband to Daisy. He says “once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time.” (p. 125) He expects that to be enough for Daisy which shows that Tom has a lack of respect for his wife. He doesn’t truly care about Daisy because he only cares about himself and what belongs to him which includes his wife. In addition, Tom felt no guilt about having a mistress and ”the fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known.” (p. 27) This text shows that Tom lived in this deluded world of his own where he was superior to everyone else and disregarded people’s feelings. As a result of his illusion, he was “careless” as Nick said (p. 170) and played a major role in the death of