Illusion and reality in the great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about a man's disenchantment with the American dream. In the story we get a glimpse into the life of Jay Gatsby, a man who aspired to achieve a position among wealthy Americans to win the heart of his true love, Daisy Fay. Gatsby's downfall lies in the fact that he was unable to determine the hidden boundary between reality and illusion in his life. The Great Gatsby is a tightly structured and symbolically compressed novel whose predominant images and symbols reinforce the idea that Gatsby's dream exists in a borrowed time. Fitzgerald perfectly understood the inadequacy of Gatsby's romantic view of wealth. At a young age he met and fell in love with Ginevra King, a girl from Chicago who loved the wealth and social position to which Fitzgerald had always been attracted. After being rejected by Guinevere due to his inferior social position, Fitzgerald left with a sense of social inadequacy, deep pain, and an unattainable desire for the girl. This disappointment turned into distrust and envy of wealthy Americans and their lifestyles. These personal feelings are expressed in Gatsby. The rich symbolize the failure of a civilization and way of life and this flaw becomes evident in the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway, the story's narrator, quickly became disillusioned with the upper class after dining at their home on posh East Egg Island. “Nick is forced against his will to observe the violent contrast between their opportunities—what is implicit in the gracious surface of their existence—and the seedy side that is his reality” (Way 93). In Buchanan and Nick... in the center of the card... the eyes of God are a divine symbol.IV. America, the continent of lost innocence and illusions. A. Gatsby's experience with respect to Dutch sailors. The tragedy of B. Gatsby was the banality of Daisy. Bottom line: The symbolism and art paint a vivid picture of a dream doomed to fail. Works Cited Bewley, Marius. “Scott Fitzgerald and the Collapse of the American Dream.” Modern Critical Opinions F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1985, p. 41. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner. 1925Lehan, Richard D. "The Great Gatsby." F. Scott Fitzgerald and the craft of fiction. Chicago: Southern Illinois University Press. 1966, p. 121. Well done, Brian. "The Great Gatsby." Modern critical interpretations The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1986, p. 93.