The Deception of the World in Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"

This shows how little Gatsby puts into his lies because he genuinely does not care. Even though he makes us Jay Gatsby, the novel says, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all” and that is why he became Jay Gatsby. Since he actually believes in his heart he is Gatsby now, he really is not lying. When Tom discovers that Gatsby is a bootlegger Gatsby simply says, “What about it” (Fitzgerald 133) since he really does not care if his lies are believed. Nick basically just says, “I'm inclined to reserve all judgments” even though he seems to judge every character in the book (the book is one giant judgment), so he is a liar that cannot recognize his own lies- the worst kind (Fitzgerald 1). The rest of this society is terrible with their lies since they all are so good and ready to do it whenever. When Catherine says, “She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce”, it is a total lie that symbolizes how the rest of this society lies about everything because they are so used to it (Fitzgerald 33). Women are not held to the same standard since “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply” (Fitzgerald 58).

In life, what we perceive tends to show misconception in how the thought plays out. A good example would be the character Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic: The Great Gatsby. Gatsby was unable to distinguish between his love for Daisy, a reality, versus the illusion that he could recapture her love by establishing and inventing a fraudulent past. He believed he could repeat the past, and acquire a flaunting wealth. In the novel, Jay Gatsby seems incompetent in establishing a difference between the realities of his life versus the illusion he made out.

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald descomteratits the idea that people are unable to accept their true reality so they tend to put them self into the a false reality that they believe is true. This idea can be examined through three different literary devices; character, symbol and motif.

     Throughout the novel, Gatsby’s lies clarifies his personalities in positive and negative aspects. One he tries better off his style of living. The negative aspect is that lying is unfair and can cause various types of problems. Overall F. Scotts Fitzgerald indicates that Gatsby’s is a man searching for the best.

The act of deception could be done for many reasons, whether it be for love or personal gain. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby deceives others for both his personal gain and love. While Jay Gatsby lives day by day deceiving others, he thinks not much of it. Fitzgerald portrays Jay Gatsby as a man who is wealthy and as some may say “living the life” however, Jay Gatsby is merely a mask put on by James Gatz, the same man, to live the life he has always wanted. Once known as Jay Gatsby to all, he is living a two sided life and as time goes by he finds it hard to manage. In this novel, Fitzgerald shows the struggles and consequences of deception through Jay Gatsby putting on a mask and living a false life.

Fitzgerald’s first connection between Gatsby’s past and the lies and deceit of the common people is when Nick accompanies Tom and his mistress to a party and the people around him begin gossiping rumors about Gatsby’s past saying, “ He killed a man once” (Fitzgerald 44). Although Gatsby isn’t directly telling people lies about his

In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald the concept of a reality is ever changing throughout the story. The ways that the characters treat and act towards each other is a cause of the inability to interpret the differences between reality and illusion. Through the lies, gossip, and empty speech of characters, F. Scott Fitzgerald highlights the way that people treat each other when they do not understand the difference between reality and illusion.

Gatsby literally makes up everything about him even his name was not originally Jay Gatsby but is James Gats. Even Gatsby told many lies about him, there still existed some truth about his life such as his military fighting experience or his past time with Daisy. Though he held fabulously party every week and owned an amazingly opulent house in the Long Island, his money was gained by organized crime breaking the law of banning alcohol instead of inherit from his parents as Gatsby claimed to Nick at the first time. Nick pointed out these secret facts of Gatsby in his soliloquy at the very start of Chapter 6. Gatsby is probably the record-breaker of the first literal character that literally making everything about himself up. Though picking Gatsby out of many other characters as an example of dishonesty, didn 't necessary mean other characters in this fiction had enough credibility. Both Jordan and Nick showed some level of dishonesty throughout the fiction.

Lies are a treacherous thing, yet everyone tells a few lies during their lifetime. Deceit surrounds us all the time; even when one reads classic literature. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes dishonesty a major theme in his novel The Great Gatsby. The falsehoods told by the characters in this novel leads to inevitable tragedy when the truth is revealed.

Everyday people create false realities to live in a world that they want. They lie to themselves and others only to find in the end that they are drowning in the reality of a situation. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, “The Great Gatsby,” the concept of illusion versus reality is a leading cause of the failures and issues that most of the characters face. Their emotions and mentalities ran high in the book leading them into a whirlwind of illusion rather than reality. Their inability to grasp what was not real and what was is ultimately the reason for their downfalls.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famed novel The Great Gatsby incorporates many dynamic characters and situations into the world of the Roaring Twenties. Given the title, many readers will argue over whether the main character, Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man who throws elaborate parties, was truly great or not. The true definition of great is one who is selfless, pure of any illegal actions, and who doesn’t lie. Gatsby rebelled against all of these characteristics. Gatsby was selfish, committed illegal actions and lied about his overall past. Using these three reasons, one can prove that Jay Gatsby was not as great as some believed him to be.

As the artist I chose to paint a very common scene for the 1920’s. I was strongly influenced by a prominent theme in The Great Gatsby: the role of women in society. The painting portrays two women at “Tony’s” which is a jazz bar situated in the heart of New York City. It s the typical scene of secretive alcohol consumption and sensuality. The dancing woman is seemingly carefree whereas the second woman is leaning flirtatiously at the bar as if to get the attention of the bartender. Outside the buildings and roadway are presented in black and white to contrast with the bright, jovial interior of the bar. The Great Gatsby often touches on the many facets of New York. The novel alludes to the fact that there is more to just the appearance of something. I feel as though my piece represents this in an interesting way.

Deception is an act intentionally inflicted upon others in order to, satisfy one's wants and needs. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby deceives others for both his personal gain and love. While Jay Gatsby lives day by day deceiving others, he thinks not much of it. Gatsby sees himself has merely just moving on from the past and onto a new life. However, through his acts of deception he is stirring up a fatal situation. Fitzgerald portrays Jay Gatsby as a man who is wealthy and as some may say “living the life”. Jay Gatsby however, is merely a mask put on by James Gatz, the same man, to live the life he has always desired. Once settled in as Jay Gatsby, he starts to find it difficult to maintain an image expected by others. In this novel, James Gatz lives a false life as Jay Gatsby to satisfy his wants and needs, but has his act of deceiving others comes to an crumble Fitzgerald is able to showcase the struggle and cost of deception.

In the beginning of the novel the narrator Nick Carraway says, “Gatsby turned out all right in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men”. Well we don’t know how justified Nick is saying this since it’s in the beginning of the novel. So we only see Gatsby through Nick’s eyes, so all of our opinions of him are based on what Nick sees and thinks. I can assume what he writes about Gatsby is the truth, since Nick says he reserves all judgments. I believe what he says because he makes us trust him through his comments on the first few pages. For example, on the very first page of the book Nick says, “Gatsby represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn”. Even though, Nick had doubts towards he could not help but admire him. From the beginning when Nick first met Gatsby he recognized his faults, but Nick still liked Gatsby. Nick is attracted to Gatsby’s bright and understanding smile. That’s why I feel like Nick said “Gatsby turned out all right in the end”.

Secondly, Gatsby is a very mysterious character. Nick has been Gatsby’s neighbor, or so he thinks, and has never met him. Nick says “It was Gatsby’s mansion, or, rather, as I didn’t know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name” (5). This shows you that even Gatsby’s own neighbor does not even know who he is; which shows that Gatsby is mysterious. Later on, once he actually meets Gatsby, Nick goes on to say “I don’t like mysteries, and I don’t understand why you won’t come out frankly and tell me what you want. Why does it all have to come through Miss Baker?” (71). As expected, this frustrates Nick and gives him more reason to believe that Gatsby is mysterious and not trustworthy. Nick doesn’t understand why someone who seems to be his friend is hiding so much