gatillus Unattainable Illusions in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

Unattainable Illusions in The Great Gatsby The work of Fitzgerald is the product of the Jazz era, a conviction when all gods had been declared dead, all wars fought, and all faiths in men had been shaken. Fitzgeralds style is a combination of American idealism and nihilistic pessimism. In The Great Gatsby, whose in the beginning proposed title was Among the Ash-Heaps and Millionaires, we also find a narrator and style that make moral judgements through the narrator Nick, a constant overseeing moral vision that is symbolized by the ever-watchful eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. Despite the glittering appearances and material ostentation of West Egg, something is perceived as being not quite right with the conventional American dream and those who achieve it. Nonetheless Nick opens the novel by remembering his fathers advice Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a weeny afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snob bishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth (Fitzgerald 1). The main character Gatsby, despite the appearance that he has achieved the American dream, is actually a man alone who tries to turn back the clock and boost his true love Daisy. However, despite the glittering parties and material luxuries of Gatsbys world, Fitzgeralds style admits a serious stream of cynicism that is pervasive throughout the novel. When Daisy tells Nick her baby might be a girl she says And I hope shell be a fool-thats the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool (Fitzgerald 17). This cynicism and world of false appearances are significant to Fitzgeralds style, especially because the author discovered in his own existence that all that glitters is not inevitably gold. As much as Gatsby loves Daisy, she is far from a paragon of virtue. As much as Gatsby is admired for his material success only two wad attend his funeral. The cynicism an d nihilism in the novel are products of an era that was discovering that even the American dream is an illusion. In Fitzgeralds style this is true even for heroes like Gatsby, a man who is described at the beginning of the novel as being in control of life to the point where he even owns a act of nature Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr.