F. Scott Fitzgerald said of his novel The Great Gatsby, “That’s the whole burden of this novel—the loss of those illusions that give such color to the world so that you don’t care whether things are true or false as long as they partake of the magical glory.” This applies to both Gatsby and Nick in the novel; they are both caught up in and infatuated with a life that doesn’t really exist.
Living in a Dream World
Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby both find themselves entranced by false “illusions” about their lives to the point that they don’t really care to know the truth about anything. This longing to live obliviously in the “magical glory” of one’s own little world, regardless of the reality of it, is characteristic of not only Gatsby and Nick, but of the time period of the “roaring twenties” in which Fitzgerald was writing.
Gatsby, the Great
The character most obviously operating upon these types of illusions is Gatsby. He is so obsessed with what-might-have-been with Daisy (had things gone differently in the past) that he fabricates this whole romanticized version of their relationship to the point that he can’t even tell what is actually true and what is false about their feelings for one another.
After spending so much time working on his new identity and image to get Daisy back, Gatsby has become too caught up in the “magical glory” of the future he envisions for the two of them to stop and consider whether he and Daisy have any true feelings left for one another.
Crushed Dreams
The climax of Gatsby’s delusional fantasy about Daisy comes during the confrontation with Tom about Daisy's feelings for both men, Gatsby and Tom. Gatsby insists that Daisy never loved Tom and has only loved him (Gatsby) all along. He tries to force Daisy into telling this to Tom, but Daisy replies: “I did love him once—but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 133).
This is a shock to Gatsby; he can’t comprehend that the story he has concocted in his mind about his relationship with Daisy may not be reality. Quite literally, he “didn’t care whether things were true or false,” and Daisy forces him to know the truth. It turns out that Gatsby doesn’t like what he learns.
Nick’s Fantasy Life
Gatsby isn’t the only character with this type of nature. Nick has similar tendencies to let illusions overtake reality. For instance, Nick is sucked in by Gatsby and his whole extravagant lifestyle. He goes along with Gatsby’s schemes to get to Daisy, and Nick finds himself Gatsby’s only friend at the time of Gatsby's death, even though he knows next to nothing about who Gatsby really is.
After Gatsby is murdered, Nick finally realizes that Gatsby has been living a lie all along. Nick seems to know this deep down, but he allows himself to get swept away by the parties and Gatsby’s charm. At this point, it is clear that Nick has been living in the same fantasy world Gatsby had occupied.
Nick’s desire to be caught up in the extravagance, the finer things in life, and the wonderful allure of Gatsby’s charisma is similar to the reader’s reaction to the novel itself. Gatsby is a magical world of illusion, with the several-page descriptions of the grand parties, the beautiful ladies, the music, and the wealth, but under all of that there is a dark and sad story about people missing out on reality.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1953.
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