We have focused our entire study around illusion and how it is presented in the text this idea is our central theme.

Explain what you think Fitzgerald is trying to say about society by presenting the idea of illusion so thoroughly throughout the text.

One way that Fitzgerald showed illusion in the Great Gatsby is by showing how corrupt the American dream was, How unachievable and unrealistic the American dream was.The American dream is The dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with the opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. I think Fitzgerald is trying to show that People are either born into the dream through inheriting money or make their way into the dream illegal jobs.The American dream is portrayed through geography in the book,  George Wilson is from the valley of ashes and his character shows that those who are working hard to achieve the American dream are always going to remain where they are, in poverty and the lower class. whereas people like Tom and  Daisy live in East Egg where it shows the old values of the upper class are born into the dream, however, they aren’t living it due to the need for materialistic objects and being a high social status.Gatsby’s pursuit of being apart of the American dream was through creating an illusion that he had come from a wealthy background and was well educated  has made his way into the dream through illegally selling items, He shows the corruption of the dream because he skipped the working hard part and just had to find the loophole.The overall illusion is that everyone in society gets an equal chance to climb the social ladder and work for a successful life but in reality, this isn’t true we get put into groups and can’t escape them.

Discuss how “illusion” is a real idea for teenagers. What problems/challenges/issues do teenagers face each day and how can we relate them to illusion.

Illusion is a real idea for teenagers because there is always an upper class which we refer to as the popular kids or the cool kids in the school or the year group and there are always the losers who get looked down on and judged. These day teenagers face the judgment of others based on the brands they wear, who they hang out with, where they live and who they’re dating or are with.We are apart of this illusion because we give into worrying how people see us and what they think about us and tend to act fake in wanting to work or pursue being a part of the ‘cool’ crowd.