Illusions in the Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald implicates the idea of ignorance is bliss. He helps to show this idea by quoting in the preface, “…the loss of those illusions that give such color to the world so that you don’t care weather things are true or false…” Gatsby has an ever-lasting love for Daisy. While Gatsby is having this obsession over Daisy, he is content with his life until he losses the illusion that he can have her. An illusion is also occurring in the marriage of Tom and Daisy. They both continue to live together even though they both are having affairs.

Gatsby has an ever-lasting love of Daisy. He goes as far as moving across from Daisy’s house so he can look at Daisy’s light. The light represents the burning desire he has for Daisy. Gatsby again shows his want for Daisy; he subconsciously knocks over a clock. This symbolizes that he wants to stop time, so it could be like the time when he was with Daisy before the war. This desire is present until a short time before he is murdered.

Tom and Daisy’s marriage is also an illusion. Bot of them are having affairs and they continue to live together as if they are happily married. They probably did this because they wanted to still be sociable with other rich members of high society; they did not want to become out casts.

In both cases, Gatsby, Tom and Daisy are happy until their illusion comes crashing down on them, revealing the horrors of reality. Even after all the parties Gatsby has thrown, nobody comes to his funeral. The members of high society have realized the illusion that he has created around himself. I feel this novel moral is, live in the present, don’t dwell on the past.

Bibliography

"The Grate Gatsby". F. Scott Fitzgerald

Word Count: 302