Great Gatsby Truth

Gatsby’s Truth vs. Illusion


Is Gatsby saying the truth? Or is all an illusion to hide his identity? Portrayed as a rich man who lives in a society of fake, ambitious peoplewho only care about the money they have. But has Gatsby been saying the truth about his past or has he created a lie to cover up his past of death, crime, murder and illegitimatebusinesses.


The city of New York portrayed as an illusion, as the valley of ashes represents the birthplace of ambition and materialism. “This is a valley of ashes. Ashes show likewheat”. During this time, people have many covers hiding their identity and doing illegitimate businesses during prohibition. People want booze, so they start smuggling alcohol. The valley ofashes represents the desire for more money, a place in which people see money as the most important. “On weekends his Rolls Royce became an omnibus”, showing how this people live, and howthey see money or material things like their cars.


Gatsby presents himself to society as a rich man who claims his fortunes. He creates a new identity, creating a lie. Gatsbysays that he inherits his money from his family, “My family all died and I came into a good deal of money.” True or not true? He decides to put his past Jay Gatz to an end by creating thenew Gatsby represented in the novel. Even though Nick says that the past cannot be forgotten, Gatsby has really decided to have a new beginning to impress Daisy, “You can’t repeat thepast’’, ‘he cried incredulously’, ‘why of course you can!”


All people have doubts about Gatsby. Many say that he made his money with prohibition and allying with gangsters, “He’sa bootlegger”. Other people say that he killed man in his other life. The only certainty about Gatsby is his early life as a soldier. For all people Gatsby remains as a great mystery.