People constantly have the need to portray themselves as someone they’re not and therefore present a false image to the world. They do this so they can reach someone’s or something’s expectations, to make themselves feel better or they are just not comfortable showing people who they really are. In the classic novel The Great Gatsby, the author F.Scott Fitzgerald cleverly critiques society’s need to create an illusion through  the use of characters. It is obvious that Fitzgerald has presented Daisy, Gatsby and Nick as illusionist’s to show how people care more about social status and to also show how people constantly lie to themselves and others.

Daisy grew up in the upper class and was always surrounded by wealth and men who were interested in her. She planned how she wanted her life to be and then did what was only in her best interests without caring who got hurt. When Gatsby and Daisy reunite and start an affair during the summer, Daisy leads Gatsby on, thinking that she would leave her husband for him. This is her illusion. The more and more time she spends with Gatsby, the more Gatsby thinks that Daisy loves him. In reality Daisy doesn’t love him or anyone really, she is only in love with the wealth, status and attention. She makes an empty promise to Gatsby only because she enjoys the feeling of being important. When Nick, Jordan, Gatsby, Daisy and Tom take a trip to New York the truth comes out. Gatsby forces Daisy to tell Tom that she is leaving him and that she never loved him. Nick then describes that it seemed like she hesitated and that “Her eyes fell on Jordan and me with a sort of appeal, as though she realized at last what she was doing and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all.” When Nick describes this moment it shows that this is when Daisy realises the illusion she has created and what she is about to do. However, even though she starts to understand this, she still then continues by saying “I never loved him” and Nick describes her saying this ‘with perceptible reluctance.’ This means that there was a noticeable change in her thoughts and that she said it almost unwillingly. Very shortly after this she fully contradicts herself by saying “Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom…It wouldn’t be true.” This exposes that she doesn’t know what she wants and that she has created one big facade that only made her feel more wanted and loved. Daisy created this whole big illusion that fooled Gatsby because she was getting spoiled with attention and affection which made her feel significant and that is all she ever wanted. But after she becomes fully aware that she is in the process of making her illusion a reality, she retreats back into her money with Tom because she knows that’s where she actually belongs.

Out of all the characters in the book Gatsby is the biggest illusionist. James Gatz or better known as ‘Jay Gatsby’ has built an illusion that dominated his life. He was born into a poor family and when he was 17 he created a new life as Gatsby. He did this to become wealthy and successful and so that he could then be worthy of being with Daisy. He loved her so much that he was willing to not be with her for 5 years just so he could create a life for them that Daisy would be happy with. When Gatsby and Daisy meet for the first time again after 5 years Nick tells us that “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. This means that it doesn’t seem like Daisy actually ends up living up to Gatsby’s hopes but only because of how strong Gatsby believed in the illusion and how much he wants it to become true. “Colossal vitality” meaning that the illusion is his source of life. It is so strong and immense that he needs it to live. Nick then also expresses that the illusion “had gone beyond her, beyond everything” and this explains that the illusion isn’t purely only about Daisy anymore but it has become everything that he is. The idea of being with Daisy and creating this fake life has swallowed him and he has lost control.

In the novel, Nick is a non judgemental person and a very reliable narrator… or at least that’s what he wants us to think. In chapter 1 Nick tells us about the advice his father gave him and then explains to us that he is “inclined to reserve all judgments”. This means that he believes himself to not be a judgemental person and that as the narrator of the story he encourages us to trust that what he is saying is always the whole truth. However, because we are reading the story through his eyes and it is his point of view , what he says influences our own opinions on characters and other important things that happen in the story. In addition to this, we are only reading from his perspective and if we were to hear from a different perspective our thoughts on the characters and events might be totally different. Therefore he is presenting an illusion to us in trying to be reliable and trustworthy. An example of him being judgemental is when he tells us his first impression of Myrtle (Tom’s mistress). When he first sees her he describes her face as having “no facet or gleam of beauty”. This judgement of his gives us the first impression of Myrtle and it’s not a very kind one. By saying she had “no facet or gleam of beauty” he is telling us that he thinks that she is ugly. This then makes us also think she is ugly which in fact might not be the case but because he has shared his judgement to us, we are influenced to think the same.

In summary, F.Scott Fitzgerald has critiqued society’s need to create illusions. He did this by using the literary device of characters and showing us how damaging and confusing creating illusions can be for others and for people themselves. Daisy, Gatsby and Nick are the main characters that create illusions and we learn through them that illusions can be harmful and that we buy more into illusions in society then we think.