Deceiving Appearances in The Great Gatsby by FitzgeraldIn 1808, Sir Walter Scott penned, “O, what a tangled web we weave/Whenfirst we practise to deceive!” (Marmion 6.17) In life, people oftenlie and use people in order to preserve an ideal self-image or to getwhat they want. However, there are often serious repercussions forthose who lie and for those around them. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’snovel, The Great Gatsby, this theme that deception andself-centeredness has consequences is clearly illustrated. Through theeyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway, the reader saw that the wealthycharacters in this novel lived in a superficial society surrounded bytheir own lies and deception. Many of the residents of East and WestEgg used one another in order to get what they wanted, with littlecare as to how it would affect the people around them, and perhaps,even themselves. To others, their lives seemed perfect; they hadeverything that money could buy. This image, however, was proven to beno more than a facade. Deceit almost always leads to unhappiness asDaisy, Tom and Gatsby himself illustrated in the course of the novel;they deceived one another and used those around them in order to getwhat they wanted. But this had grave consequences for each of them.
Daisy Buchanan was portrayed as being sophisticated and refined, butin the course of the novel, she was revealed to be anything butsomeone possessing these admirable qualities. Nick revealed that Daisydid not need her husband, Tom, in the same way that he needed her. Sheneeded Tom not for love, but for his family history of old money. Thisdependency helped Daisy remain …
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…he narrator of The Great Gatsby, who exposed the extent to which thecharacters would go to achieve this sense of security and illusivehappiness. Tom and Daisy never attained happiness in the course of thenovel. Their strong reputation was ruined and they were forced toleave New York. But the consequences of Gatsby’s lies were much moreserious – irreparable, in fact. His deception resulted in his death;his fate was sealed. And so, as the final page of The Great Gatsby isread, we, the readers, are left with a valuable message fromFitzgerald – that our approach to life can greatly interfere with thepursuit of happiness.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan PublishingCompany,
1925.
The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott. London: Oxford UniversityPress, 1931.
