Theme Of Fantasy In The Great Gatsby

📌Category: Books, Literature, The Great Gatsby
📌Words: 780
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 10 June 2021

Philosopher Lao Tau suggests that "Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be a reality". In a rapidly progressing society, people must accept what is real and what is false. Living in an artificial utopia restricts people into an idealist mentality which ultimately leads to anguish. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald argues that in a world of immorality and modernism, people prefer to live in their fantasies rather than face the corrupt, ugly truth of reality. Fitzgerald establishes this theme through the symbolism of Doctor T.J Eckleburg, his syntax, and the character of Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby.

F. Scott. Fitzgerald uses symbolism to illustrate the inevitable loss of faith in an environment where morality and honesty are scarce. To believe in any higher power, one must immerse themselves "into eternal blindness" (24) as they cannot see this God in which they put their faith. The characters in The Great Gatsby use the billboard of Doctor T.J Eckleburg as a symbol of God. The eyes illustrated on the billboard are "blue and gigantic- their retinas are one yard high...They look out of no face but, instead, from of enormous yellow spectacle which passes over a nonexistent nose" (24).  Nick describes the eyes in a confusing, ethereal manner. His emotions towards this advertisement are similar to the fixation on God. He sees the eyes as an omnipotent God, but he is just this symbol to project his judgement. Consequently, his judgments highlight another symbol of immorality and corruption represented by the eyes. George Wilson believes "God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing" (159). Wilson states this while "looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg" (159). George Wilson is unhinged, he uses a false symbol of God in an attempt to ground him and rationalize his dark impulses. Fitzgerald's symbolism implies that in a world of greed and corruption, God is illusionary. Modernism has caused a loss of faith, the belief in God is used to rationalize people’s delusional actions to suppress reality.

Fitzgerald employs various sentence patterns to create an illusion of content to exploit the truth. Early in the novel, intending to disarm and captivate the reader, the author introduces Jay Gatsby with compound-complex sentences to introduce Gatsby. Jay Gatsby has "one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance" (49), he believes "in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you had precisely the impression of that, at your best, hoped to convey"(149). The descriptive, enchanting sentences make Gatsby appear significant, and fulfilled with his life. Later, the reader learns that Gatsby is unsatisfied with all he has accomplished because he does not have Daisy. Fitzgerald emphasizes the condition of Daisy and Gatsby's relationship through broken-up sentences. Their past love for each other is "gone, without a word, snapped out, made accidental, isolated, like ghosts"(134). Although they reunite, it is not enough for Gatsby. The detached sentence, separated by commas, displays the disconnection and desperation to save the dying relationship. Through his syntax, Fitzgerald again reinforces the beauty of an illusion and the dissatisfaction that comes from it.

Fitzgerald utilizes his character's behaviour to contrast the personality they emanate with their reality. Nick Carraway radiates a non-judgmental, calm image. In reality, he is "full of interior rules that act as brakes"(60). Nick struggles to maintain his stress-free, lavish persona while continuing to be impartial and moral. Nick continues to judge people throughout the novel while claiming he is unprejudiced. He overlooks principled qualities he strives for when it comes to Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is the personification of superficiality. He exists in the world of gossip surrounding him. Gatsby is a character fabricated to relive a past love, but his love, and reality are contradictory. His imagination created unrealistic expectations for Daisy. When she does not live up to "the colossal vitality of his illusion."(96), he tries harder because "no amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store in his ghostly heart" (96). Gatsby is an ambitious, delusional character; his motivation is a fantasy of perfection and memory from the past. On the surface, Nick and Gatsby are genuine characters,  but their ulterior motives confine them to an idealist perception of the world around them.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald considers the conflicting realities of modernism and morality; he recognizes the corruption in the world of consumerism while acknowledging the danger of creating a fantasy to hide from it. Fitzgerald displays his theme through The Eyes of Doctor T.J Eckelberg, symbolizing a false God and loss of faith. His manipulation of syntax reinforces the appeal of living in an illusion and exposes the disappointment it brings. Through the characters of Nick and Gatsby, Fitzgerald highlights their unreasonable desires while showcasing their reality. The Great Gatsby demonstrates that people can reinvent themselves despite their past, but often people abandon who they are and live in a fantasy. Disregarding values leaves people suffocating in reality and losing what matters most.

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