Dystopias reveal suffering and injustice in a world that mirrors our own. The colourful surroundings that we’re familiar with start to grey as we see how close we live to a dystopia. I’ve found connections across four texts that I’ve analysed in three pairs. Minority Report directed by Steven Speilberg, Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell, Men Against Fire directed by Jakob Verbruggen and The Power written by Naomi Alderman, are all part of the dystopia genre. These texts all discuss the idea of suffering and injustice through the use of their technologies. Manipulation of time, Totalitarian states and the concept of complex truths are connections, that forces us to realise the corruption we face every day unknowingly. Seeing these connections, we begin to question if we can trust what we see, hear, smell and think, or if a higher power is controlling us. We are forced to admit the flaws that society has and question if we have any control at all.

Minority Report shows a future filled with high-level surveillance. The programme “Pre-Crime” has been implemented to stop all murder before the crime is even committed. Arresting people for a crime they only thought about, remove the choice people have to make about their future. Controlling what happens in peoples futures doesn’t allow people to have the power of choice.

Oceania is a futuristic world set in the now past where the government controls peoples thoughts by controlling the knowledge they have. Nineteen Eighty-Four shows how manipulation occurs when those in power alter the past. Oceania was supposed to be a dystopia to warn us of what 1984 could look like, but instead, it is almost parallel to what we see today. Recognising our world in this dystopia alerts us to the warning that comes not knowing our real history.

Dystopias commonly have a theme of government intervention over the people. Nineteen Eighty-Four and Minority Report both show this intervention of an individuals choice by eliminating it. Following the idea of fate, that just because “you prevented it, doesn’t change the fact that it was going to happen”. It enables them to arrest offenders for “Pre-crime”. Intervening in peoples futures by removing their choice, allows the government to maintain power and peace. This same intervention of time is in the past of Oceania through the use of government-employed, record editors. The past is “destroyed or falsified” to manipulate people’s thoughts about the future. Altering the facts of history means people can’t make their own decisions about the future, all the choices they could’ve made have been manipulated to fit with the Party’s ideologies. Manipulation of time secures the power of the government and Party. Details that suggest faults in these systems need to be brushed over and hidden from the people, causing untold suffering as people are left in the dark. They don’t realise that every choice has already been decided. The Party are well aware that “who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past”. Controlling the present means they can change parts of history that would undermine their power. They can guarantee the success of the Party by removing all of the evidence that is capable of destroying it. Just as the Party need to conceal parts of the past, the government in Minority Report are well aware that “for pre-crime to function there can’t be any suggestion for fallibility”. The truth about pre-crime and the Party need to hidden to maintain the perfect image, that “it works”. Both governments know that nobody “wants a justice system that installs doubt”. Believing it’s in the best interest of the people to maintain this perfect image, results in the manipulation of peoples thoughts. The possibility of an uprise is removed because there is no evidence to suggest that the governments are acting unlawfully, maintaining peace and power. Controlling their knowledge makes people numb. No longer able to make decisions on their own, they become dependant on the information the government feeds them. Susceptible to manipulation by the time that government controls, threaten us, that these dystopian ideas could become a reality. We give up our power to the social media outlets that we choose to join, giving up our control so that they can filter what we see. We have fake news which can change dates and events of what happened. There is no way of us knowing if what we are shown is real. It means that they too can control what we think just as in Minority Report and Nineteen Eighty-Four, with the controlling and manipulating of time to determine what a person thinks. We’re already manipulated making this untold suffering extremely dangerous.

Men Against Fire shows us the future of war. A world where soldiers wear ‘masks’ to conceal the reality of their killings. Humans with DNA mutations cause them to have “higher rates of cancer… Substandard IQ… [and] Sexual deviances” are referred to as “roaches” and need to be wiped out entirely for survival. This Black Mirror episode throws us into a dystopia where the government have embedded technology into their soldiers to guarantee high killing rates. This technology manipulates soldiers’ senses, creating a hidden totalitarian system that is present in a dystopia.

Men Against Fire mirrors the Totalitarian system that Nineteen Eighty-Four presents. Governments are controlling people’s senses to reach their desired outcome of maintaining power. Oceania uses the Party’s figurehead, Big Brother, as someone who is always “watching”. Signs are postered everywhere with the face of Big Brother, as a reminder of who’s in charge. It slowly manipulates people never to question the Party because that’s all they’ve ever seen. It allows the Party to stay in totalitarian power. Men Against Fire displays this same manipulation through the uses of the “ultimate military weapon”, masks. The masks are controlled by the government to remove and alter a soldiers sense of smell, hearing and sight. It changes the appearance of “roaches” to appear as a monstrous “animal”. Masks were implemented to increase killing rates, because “it’s a lot easier to pull the trigger when you’re aiming at the boogie man”. Soldiers know no different than seeing “roaches” as “animals”, so they believe it. They never question the government because that’s all they’ve ever been told. This totalitarian power is evident when the government eliminates any chance of doubt. In the rare case that someone does question what they’ve been told and shown their whole life, both governments have a punishment of torture. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, nobody ever reveals what the Party shows them in Room 101, but they all agree that it’s the “worst thing in the world”. A person’s worst fear, locked in a cell with them until they surrender and admit “love for Big Brother”. Men Against Fire shows the same kind of torture when someone questions the ‘truth’. All of a soldier’s killings are replayed without the mask if they refuse to continue their duties. “Roaches” are seen as people, roars of an animal are now painful screams, and they can now smell the blood. “Incarceration” for not going back to work is the memory of their killings played on “loop” for what it was. That’s all they’ll see in a tiny cell. This torture to force people back into the Totalitarian government is present in these dystopias. It’s a threat that we may face. If we don’t follow trends on social media, Room 101 becomes social media. Masks of perfection are turned off, and we see war, suffering and the reality behind the screen that social media shows. We then know the world for how it is – corrupt.

For centuries, men have been physically dominant in the world. Naomi Alderman shows a world, five thousand years from now, where we wee this idea flipped. Teenage girls begin developing a “skein” that enables them to release electricity from their hands. This electricity awakens the “skein” in older generations, and it’s not long before women have totalitarian power.

Genetic mutation is not new, but using mutations the build on power is something that The Power and Men Against Fire both display in their dystopias. Centred around genetic mutations, is the result and aftermath of war. The Power shows young girls awakening an electric power within them that results from a mutation only found in females. This power in young girls awakens the same power in their mothers and grandmothers, creating a war against men. Men create the belief that all woman are uncontrollable and need to be detained, for them to regain power. They create a truth to sell, but the “truth has always been a more complex commodity than the market can easily package and sell”. Most women aren’t uncontrollable and can restrain their power even under the highest pressure. Regardless, men still try to sell a truth that is bigger and more complex than the package given. Men Against Fire shows a similar selling of truth to fight genetic mutations. Soldiers are handed a packaged truth that has been manipulated to fit, they’re forced to believe it given no alternative option. Their mind is shaped to accept this packaged truth. The government “can’t just embed [the idea that roaches are animals] and feed [soldiers] a dream, [their] mind would reject it, [they] must accept it willingly”. Giving no other options, they accept what’s right in front of them. Both dystopias show the complexity of a truth manipulated to fight a war against genetics. Being told a particular truth guarantees the act of violence for the men and government. Being fed the ‘truth’ that women are uncontrollable, and death is the only way to stop them, men created a strong desire to “shoot those girls. Just shoot them. In the head. Bam.” They can’t explain what’s wrong with the girls and why they have a genetic mutation, so a truth needs to be twisted to make sense of what’s going on. It shows the drastic outcomes that a complex truth can give. The same complex truth in Men Against Fire resulted in the creation of masks to guarantee killing rates. “Roaches… look just like us… which is why they’re so dangerous,” begins to feed the ‘truth’ that this genetic mutation is catastrophic to the human race. “Humans… don’t actually want to kill each other, which is a good thing until your future depends on you wiping out the enemy”, but when your enemy looks just like you, a complex truth needs to be sold. A reason needs to be given to kill someone who looks just the same as everyone else, their increased probability of sickness needs to be on the outside. Masks show “roaches” for what they are perceived to be rather than what they are. The truth becomes complex. Inaccurate statistics can relate to complex truths. Bias statistics to show the desired outcome are often used to spread false conclusions, becoming complex truths. Genetic mutations and alterations are a reoccurring thing. the idea that it can cause war with a fake statistic is a threat. These dystopias show how biased information about genetics can result in war. We see the injustice that people face as it becomes a possibility that we may experience a war-like time with fake statistics on other medical topics.

Elements of our society are brought to the forefront in a much darker light through a dystopia. They confront us with the darkness of today by waning us what it could be like tomorrow. Minority Report, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Men Against Fire and The Power use different technologies to relate to a dystopia. The three connections analysed over pairs of texts, reflect elements of societies corruption. Manipulation of time, Totalitarian states and the idea of complex truths can all be seen through social media, fake news and inaccurate statistics. These issues surround us, but we don’t pay attention to them until we see them exaggerated in a dystopia. It’s not until we see how bad things could be that we think, is this possible? But it’s too late. We’re already staring in our dystopia, reality. Recognising these connections in the texts have made me think twice about what social media shows me, I question if what I’m told is real and if I do get to make my own choices. I’ve realised that these dystopias are closer to reality than we think.

Our entire life we make choices. What we choose to eat, what we choose to wear, where we choose to go, what we choose to do and if we choose to live. But for 125,000 babies a day, the choice of living isn’t given, the choice to end their life has been made before they are given the opportunity to take their first breath. They were never able to cry, to smile, to laugh because they were murdered. The murderer, their mother. The crime, hidden by a legal procedure – abortion.

Murder is a deliberate, premeditated killing. Abortion is the deliberate, premeditated termination of a pregnancy. They’re the same thing and yet the justice system is failing 86 babies a minute.

We are allowing the murder of children every single day. Baby’s are alive in the womb. Her heart beats 22 days after she’s conceived. 18 weeks she can hear your heart, your voice and any other noise. 22 weeks she can feel pain. She can feel the lining of your womb slowly dissolving over 6 hours as she dies a slow, painful death. She can feel being pulled and suctioned out of the womb. But her death doesn’t count.

Your murder can not be passed as convenience. You can’t have an abortion just because you can’t be bothered raising a child. Murder is murder.

But if we’re going to murder babies for convenience why stop there? Why not murder people who are sick when costs for treatments are greater than the cost to end their life? Why not murder people with mental illness when they can no longer differentiate our faces from their hallucinations? Why not murder the elderly when they can no longer walk on their own? Why not murder criminals when we have to pay for the cost of their imprisonment? Death is cheaper and easier but we don’t do it. It’s inhumane. Except when it’s a baby.

A man forces a situation so traumatic that it pivots a woman’s life into a dark spiral, she will never remove the pain from her mind and body, never feel happiness again, she will never be the same because of what that man did and that baby will be a constant reminder of the father – a rapist. But love breeds love. A baby is light in anyone’s life. Rather than a reminder of the pain, that baby you want to abort is a representation of healing. A reminder of how strong her mother is for overcoming pain and trauma, bringing happiness and love. How are you to disregard the strength of woman, the love that a mother brings and the ability for anyone to overcome trauma?

We are being controlled. For centuries, men have told us what to do with our lives, choices, and body. Abortion is more control.

Abortion doesn’t liberate women, it isn’t part of a feminist movement, it is not freedom. It’s a manipulative trap to convince women that we are achieving equality. We don’t need to have an abortion. What we need as women is affordable childcare, education on motherhood and support from those around us to fulfil our human duty of being a mother.

We’re letting men control us again. Giving us the guilty sentence. Becoming pregnant isn’t something that we should be ashamed of, it makes us who we are. We shouldn’t blame women for getting pregnant from rape, abusive relationships, or being in poor financial situations. The real problem is the man that brought them here. The same man that has been manipulating all of us since the beginning. Telling us what to do, when to do it and now telling us to be murderers.

By having abortions were allowing men to oppress us once again. Make us feel guilty. Make us become murderers. Conveniencing murder for sex. Abortion is not backup contraception for men to have sex whenever they want. As a woman, I am not going to stand for this exploitation.

We are meant to be mothers not murderers.

Even from the traumatic violent act of rape, the child conceived should not be murdered. Pro-Life is not Pro-Rape, it is the support of what the baby girl conceived in violence could’ve become before her life was ended by her mother. It is the support of what she could’ve been for her mother. We’re fighting violence with violence.

Human nature is to love. A mothers love is instinct and unconditional. Since the beginning of time, a mother’s love has been strong – it’s biological. We’re ignoring biology because men tell us to murder.

We’re assuming she isn’t able to be loved. We’re assuming that she will grow to be violent like her father. We’re allowing ourselves to lose faith in women because men tell us to.

We’re turning off the light to the happiness that the baby could’ve been to her mother. Pro-Life is Pro-Her, Pro-Him, Pro-You, Pro-everyone conceived in love, lust or violence. But we will never see the baby girls light, you’ve already ended her life.

You are undermining women and the love we have. Because of a man.

You’re saying that the baby girl shouldn’t be born because of the act that she was conceived. You are saying that everyone, conceived from rape should not be loved. Everyone conceived from rape should be murdered because they aren’t meant to be here, they come from violence, they bring pain, they aren’t allowed to be loved.

Excusing abortion for rape, you’re agreeing with the murder of these babies. You’re overruling the crime of rape with the even greater crime of murder, sentencing the innocent baby to death.

Abortion is controlled by men. We’ve been manipulated to think that we as women are unable to be mothers regardless of circumstances. We’ve been manipulated to resent pregnancy. We’ve been manipulated to only see abortion. We’ve been told that this is feminism. This is equality. This is freedom. What men have failed to tell us is that this is control. This is power. This is murder. Abortion makes us murderers.

No society warrants the intentional harm or killing of another without punishment. Abortion should be no different.

Premature babies are born as early as five months old, these babies count. They have the same rights and choices as full-term babies.

Abortions happen as late as five months. This five-month-old baby in the womb is counting down to her murder. She doesn’t count, she’s not a real baby. Her life must end at five months, while another must be born now.

Resonance in our society now – to what extent was George Orwell’s vision of the future prophetic?

• Draw distinct parallels between features in Orwell’s vision of the future and that which we find to be true of our world today – match the present day truths with specific quotes from the text. Consider: Politics, Political Corruption, Technology, Privacy, Class, Sex, State Control over the Individual, Inequality, Media manipulation, Totalitarianism.

Telescreens – Phones

“Telescreens… could be dimmed” to make you feel you still held some privacy but there “was no way of shutting it off completely”. No matter what you did, where you went, your privacy will always be invaded. It’s how the Party was able to subconsciously manipulate. Every unusual tick would be picked up and you’d be accused of thoughtcrime. It means that the people of Oceania had to consciously be aware of every movement they made. To follow every law and never question anything was the power that surveillance has to allow manipulation. George Orwell was right, we’re able to be constantly monitored by “telescreens” today. Although our telescreens are different, they’re little devices that we choose to carry around – phones. Most phones contain a camera and a microphone that can easily be hacked to resemble a “telescreen”. We can’t turn our phone completely off because that then defeats the purpose of having them, allowing us to be watched at all times just like the “telescreens”. Unlike Nineteen Eighty-Four, we’re choosing to give up our privacy. We are unable to comprehend that we are capable of being manipulated through the phone. If we realised who was watching us, even when nobody was around, we may act differently. We may change our mannerisms, giving the viewer the capability to manipulate us to line up with their beliefs and ideas. Orwell envisioned that technology would develop to a point where the government could invade our privacy through cameras and microphones to manipulate. He didn’t predict that it would be individual corporations that would be surveilling us.

Records editors – Fake News

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified”, records editors continued this process of falsification “day by day and minute by minute”. Blurring the line of what is and isn’t the truth meant the people of Oceania never realised that “the past starting tomorrow had been abolished”. They didn’t know that the only thing that “survives” is a “few solid objects with no words attached”. What does survive of our yesterday? The process of fake news means we don’t know what happened in the past. We are unable to recognise fake news. Unlike Nineteen Eighty-Four where every falsification lines up to one truth, the many different variations of our stories mean we may never know what happens. Altering the past enabled the Party to manipulate the people. They were able to control peoples thoughts. People need to know about what has happened in history to form opinions and judgments about the present. Without a true history, their mind could easily be altered to fit the Party’s ideologies. The party controlled the “past” to control “the future” just as they controlled the “present” to control “the past” but who is controlling us? News sources aren’t just from the government. We don’t know who is controlling our past, present or future because of fake news. Our mind is constantly being swayed left and right to believe different stories. Fake news has enabled anybody to manipulate us and control our thoughts, beliefs, opinions and judgments. How do we know what we’re being told is true when we could find another source that tells us otherwise? George Orwell predicted that the past could be changed and “untruth”s could be told to manipulate. He did not expect that the manipulation would not be from the government. It comes from a minefield of multimillion dollar networks.

Big Brother/Newspeak – Social Media???

Big Brother was a way to personify “telescreens”. It made the “telescreens” more real, that it was not just a random camera on the wall but a person. “Big Brother is watching you”, a person is watching you. You must “worship Big Brother” because he is always watching. It was through the personification of the “telescreens” that Big Brother was there, meant that Oceania was easy to manipulate. Having the person that is your leader, that you must obey and love, watching your every move makes you act a certain way. You become conscious of every thought, step and breath. Social media is a modern day Big Brother. We don’t know who will see our post, but we know someone will, Big Brother will. People don’t post anything to social media, it’s a calculated process to ensure that you seem your best, that you don’t fall out of the line of social media norms. The subconscious manipulation that social media has to make us act a certain way is the same manipulation Big Brother has in Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The actual realities of world politics in 1950 and 1984

• Explore specific socio-political elements of the time: Technology, Political Systems, The Cold War, The USSR, Post-WWII Europe, Mutually Assured Destruction.

1- Identify a warning that George Orwell issues to us via his novel Nineteen Eighty Four – support with a quote

2- Identify a manifestation of his concern in contemporary society – provide evidence

3- Draw a connection between the two – war Orwell right? what did he miss? what are we missing?

Telescreens are the Party’s crucial way to inflict power and authority. “The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed” to allow you to feel you have some control of your privacy “but there was no way of shutting it off completely.” No matter how much the telescreen was dimmed, “Big Brother is [always] watching you”. The same invasion of privacy in Nineteen Eighty-Four is the same that we have now. We now have telescreens with us everywhere we go. Most phones contain a camera and a microphone, that is able to be hacked. Hacking the phone will not only give the hacker a live view, similar to telescreens but also give them access to photos, videos, texts, emails and calls. Just as the telescreens can only be dimmed, it’s impractical to turn off your phone completely, doing so will make having them unnecessary. Buying them is automatically giving up our privacy. Unlike telescreens, we choose to surrender our privacy. Telescreens are being monitored by the government. For us, it’s not only Big Brother “watching”, but Apple, Samsung, and many other companies watching us 24/7. The telescreens are a centrepiece for warning us that having privacy means having power. The people in Oceania don’t have privacy and consequently, don’t have power. We have consciously made the choice to give up our privacy and allow “Big Brother” and everyone else who wants the power to have it. …

Setting

• technology (an expansion on the negative effects of technology on society)
• future (post-apocalyptic)
• totalitarian state (corruption of power)

Character

• anti-hero (flawed character who nonetheless performs something heroic)

Language

• neologism (the language of the text, or the world of the text is altered to reflect the distortions that have happened in the world)
• first person

page 62

“Do you realise that the past starting from yesterday has been abolished?” This helps the Party remain powerful because “if you control the past you control the present”. People need to know about the past in order for them to make judgments about the present. With the Party continually abolishing what has already happened, they are able to create a history that fits in with what they want to be happening in the present. The past that they’ve created controls peoples judgments. Telescreens, microphones, child spies, thought police and the idea of Big Brother to detect people who aren’t “sane” is all part of a greater scheme of manipulation and power.

Changing the past while feeding information about the present enables the Party to control minds. People of Oceania are carefully manipulated to believe whatever the Party says. They are unable to disagree with the Party, the telescreens with it’s “never sleeping ear” will pick up on them committing “thoughtcrime” which will ultimately lead them to the fate of being “vaporized”. This process allows them to manipulate people to remain loyal to Big Brother as nobody will have any evidence that could go against the Parties. It’s insurance. The manipulating and threat of “Room 101” is unofficial insurance between Oceania and the Party, that as long as the telescreens, microphones, child spies and thought police are there, they will have power and control.

The Party maintains it’s power, purely to be powerful. They believe in immortality, through control of “human beings” to “make the Laws of Nature” because “Oceania is the world”. Through maintaining the power the only thing left of the abolished history is “a few solid objects with no words attached to them, like [a] lump of glass.” Yesterday, the “lump of glass” may have been a part of a greater picture, something that underpinned everything that the party has planned for the future. Today, it’s nothing more than a “lump of glass” with no purpose or value at all.

Winston does feel that he has some power by knowing that “every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute.” Despite this power that Winston feels he has, he could never challenge the party due to abolishing the past himself to fit with Big Brother’s present. The only evidence he has is “inside [his] own mind” which then convicts him of “thoughtcrime”. Abolishing the past in order to manipulate the present is the key part of how the Party attains its power, they destroy all evidence of falsification before it could reach the present so they could never be doubted. add if we can rely on memory if history is changeable.

People believe in the illusion they create or the illusion created for them instead of believing in reality. Everyone carries some form of an illusion whether they realize it or not, sometimes it’s an illusion they created and other times its people assuming things forming, an illusion. Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton and The Lost Decade written by F. Scott Fitzgerald all display the illusion of characters. Gatsby, August, Alice and Mr Trimble all carry an illusion they made or an illusion made for them.

The first text used is Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen, Jacob Jankowski is in his nineties as he reminisces the memories of when he left  Ivy League training and ran away after his parent’s death. He jumps onto a passing train and finds himself, working for the Benzini Most Spectacular Show on Earth as a vet. His memories are filled with freaks, clowns, animals, pain, anger, and happiness. We soon meet August, the animal trainer, who takes Jacob under his wing, securing him a job, and a place to stay, giving us the impression that August is kind and caring, as he teaches Jacob the ropes of the circus life. It is soon revealed that the nice August is an illusion with “flashes of this August before, this brightness, this conviviality, this generosity of spirit” is all a mask to hide his true, awful self. Jacob is soon warned by those in the circus to be wary of August, and that if he isn’t careful “(he’s) going to find (himself) dead. Red lighted if (he’s) lucky” breaking down the kindness of his illusion. The ‘real’ August is the one that red lights people and forces untrained people to feed the lions, the one that August presents is the ‘fake’ one, the one that is kind and caring. August excuses his bad behaviour for being a paranoid schizophrenic building up his illusion of how he truly is a kind man, but that doesn’t excuse the depth that which he can sink. The complete break down of August’s illusion is when he beats Jacob and his wife, with onlookers it’s not just Jacob and August’s wife who see through the illusion but the others from the circus too. They see that his schizophrenia doesn’t explain his actions for beating his wifeJacob, the elephant and other animals. They see the real August, the abusive, rude, money hungry man. They were compelled by his charm to believe in his illusion. They believed in the illusion August had created for himself. Sara Gruen want’s us to learn that people aren’t always as kind as they say they are and sometimes money changes people or brings out their true colours. They may be so fixated on becoming wealthy, that they slowly change who they are to do so. People such as August exist in everyday life and you have to break down their illusion to understand if their kindness is genuine or if they have an ulterior motive.

The second text used is ‘The Great Gatsby’ written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and follows the life of the upper-class society during a 1920’s Long Island, New York summer. Affairs, materialism and lies are played out during the summer. Jay Gatsby lives in West Egg and is known for throwing the most lavish parties for the upper-class society. Almost everybody has heard of the name Gatsby but very few truly know who he is. Rumours circulate Gatsby as to how he made his wealth, often being referred to as a bootlegger or a murderer. Those who have the opportunity to meet Gatsby, find that he is very open about his past and how he got to where he is. The story that Gatsby tells is very much scripted and rehearsed. We soon realize that Gatsby isn’t all who he says he is, he’s created a persona that people believe. His mansion is his stage and ‘Gatsby’ is the character that James Gatz (his real name) has created. He’s living his life through the eye of an illusion that he’s created in an idealistic world. James Gatz created Gatsby at seventeen, he created a “Platonic conception of himself”. James Gatz created his ideal version of himself, he created someone who would fit into his ideal world. James Gatz could never be Gatsby as he’s an illusion. Gatsby became a “regular Belasco”, he put so much effort into decking his house “with every bright feather that drifted his way”. Belasco is known for creating realistic sets that are so carefully executed that they could be passed as real. Gatsby’s library is a part of his stage, it’s filled with books making it seem so realistic but when you look closer all the books are uncut (haven’t been opened), showing that even his library is an illusion. Gatsby believes in the illusion that he created and those around him believe it too, it isn’t until you look closer that you realize Gatsby isn’t real. In Water for Elephants, August, like Gatsby created an illusion that people believe. Gatsby created his illusion to fit into the upper-class lifestyle, while August used his illusion to come across as a caring man to present to the public. Both August and Gatsby use charm to fool those around them, their charismatic personalities make people believe they are genuine. Very few know the real Gatsby, the man who comes from a farming background, just like very few know the real August, the abusive man that red lights people he’s unhappy with. They both use the money to complete their illusion, Gatsby throws lavish parties to convince those that he is truly part of the upper-class and August showers those who are on the good side of him in gifts to make them believe he is a good man. Sara Gruen and F. Scott Fitzgerald wanted us to understand that people can become so consumed and invested in their illusions that they begin to believe it too. Gatsby believed that he was Gatsby which in the end, cost him his life. August believed he was a kind man and constantly used schizophrenia as an excuse for his actions. Gatsby and August were both invested in their own illusions that they started to drift away from what was reality.

The third text is Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton, we meet nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh as she leaves her engagement party to follow a white rabbit. She soon falls down the rabbit hole and back into a land that she visited when she was younger – Underland. Alice has no memory of the place except for in her dreams. Alice enters Underland, uncertain of who she is, after being reshaped to fit into the upper-class Victorian lifestyle, Alice has lost touch of her imagination that was so present when her father was around. She soon becomes reunited with the characters in Underland that are adamant she’s the ‘wrong’ Alice because she “doesn’t look anything like herself”. The Mad Hatter points out that Alice has lost her “muchness”, which is her sense of self and identity. Alice has been confined by the stereotype of the typical Victorian women, she’s been consumed by an illusion that those around her have created. The illusion masks her true identity and true personality. This confinement has resulted in her losing her “muchness”. When Alice meets Absolem, her reassurance in herself disappears completely, certain that she’s not ‘the’ Alice that is meant to slay the Jabberwocky, she becomes confused with who she truly is. When the Mad Hatter is held captive by the Queen of Hearts, Alice puts it upon her self to save him. She soon begins to live up to the heroine that those in Underland had in mind from the very beginning and slowly turns into the ‘real’ Alice. Absolem starts turning into a cocoon as Alice prepares to slay the Jabberwocky. This represents the sense of Alice regaining her “muchness” and living up to the ‘real’ Alice. She returns to the real world, a changed women, broken free of the illusion that was created for her. She no longer feels the pressure to live up to the illusion of the perfect Victorian women, she decides to do what she, the ‘real’ Alice wants to do. Alice sets off to China, where Absolem as a butterfly appears, this represents Alice being free from the illusion that has imprisoned her for years. In The Great Gatsby, James Gatz wanted something different, something more so he created Gatsby, Alice doesn’t want to be confined to being the Lords wife and living the ‘perfect’ Victorian lifestyle so she visits Underland as an escape. They both have changed, Gatsby no longer acknowledges his past and Alice no longer has her “muchness” which was so present when her father was with her. They both dream of escaping, Gatsby dreams to escape the restriction of West Egg to be with Daisy and Alice dreams to escape the confinement of Victorian life to pursue her dream as an adventurer. We learn that people always want more, both Gatsby and Alice want more out of their life. In reality, people always want to do more with their life and don’t like to be confined to the stereotypes of social classes. Gatsby was a part of the low-middle class life and dreamed to be a part of the upper-class and Alice didn’t want to be restricted to the upper-class Victorian life.

The fourth text used is The Lost Decade, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Orrison Brown works for news-weekly and is asked by his boss to take Mr Trimble out to lunch. Mr Brown’s boss explains that Mr Trimble has been “away a long time” and that he’s “missed the last decade”, he explains that the last thing he’s seen was The Empire State building being built. Mr Brown becomes curious as to why Mr. Trimble has appeared to have missed the past decade. Mr Trimble has been out of civilization for the past ten years “in a sense”, he’s missed iconic moments of the past ten years but hasn’t seen anything interesting. Mr Brown becomes even more curious when Mr Trimble mentions he designed The Armistead Building, but he “never saw it before now”.  It becomes known that Mr Trimble was “taken drunk that year – every which way drunk” which explains his memory blank and him ‘missing’ the previous decade. Mr Trimble physically has been present but mentally he’s been elsewhere due to intoxication. People have created an illusion of Mr Trimble, believing he has been to amazing places and seen amazing things because he’s a businessman who’s missed the last decade but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. The reality of Mr Trimble’s illusion is his drunkenness that has caused him to miss the last decade. In Alice and Wonderland, Alice has lost her “muchness” resulting in her forgetting Underland and Mr Trimble has lost the last decade. They both were physically present during the times where Alice was in Underland and Mr Trimble was in New York, but consciously they have no memory or recognition. Alice has consciously forgotten Underland and only remembers it in her dreams and nightmares whereas Mr Trimble has no reconciliation of New York due to being heavily intoxicated during the time. Tim Burton and F. Scott Fitzgerald teach us that we assume what people want and what people have done. People assumed Alice wanted to live the traditional Victorian life and people assumed that Mr Trimble had seen incredible things. They both carry an illusion that people have created for them without realising it; people believe that Alice could and wanted to be a perfect Victorian women where in reality that couldn’t be any further than what she wants in life, people believe Mr Trimble has seen and been to amazing places where in reality he’s just been drunk for the past decade.

All four texts display illusion through their characters. They show sometimes we feel to succeed we need to be someone we’re not (Water for Elephants) or we create our own personas (The Great Gatsby) to feel we have a place in an ever-changing society but sometimes  we create personas for others (Alice in Wonderland, The Lost Decade) because it’s easier than accepting the reality of people. We are all part of an illusion with or without intention but sometimes people do not want to face reality, in fear that their illusion may be destroyed.

 

Describe at least ONE important setting in the written text(s). Explain how the setting helped to show the writer’s idea(s). Note: Setting is the time, place, and circumstances that form the background against which characters or individuals live and act.

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”. The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and follows the life of three main characters during their 1920’s upper-class summer in New York, narrated by Nick Carraway. Their lives are filled with lies, materialism and judgment. Fitzgerald uses the idea of the American Dream to illustrate settings and the people that live there, but the illusion of the American Dream is that it can only ever be a dream. I will discuss that no matter how hard you work, the illusion of the American Dream will aways be just a dream.

• West Egg – corrupt American dream
• East Egg – fake American dream
• Valley of Ashes – the failed of the American dream

West Egg represents the corruption of the American Dream. West Egg is the home to the newly rich, those that live there have made their wealth illegally. They have earned their way up the social classes to becoming successful and wealthy but they are still not accepted into the upper-class society. They will never truly fulfil the American Dream as they’d never be treated as equal which is why it represents the corruption of the American Dream. They didn’t make their wealth legally, they surpassed the hard work that the American Dream reflects, they will never be accepted as they aren’t as classy and respected as East Egg (old money – those who were born into wealth and gained money through inheritance). When Tom Buchanan first attends Gatsby’s party, he labels Gatsby and those that attend his parties as bootleggers as “a lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers” so are therefore not worthy of respect from the upper class. Those that live in West Egg are automatically labelled as bootleggers because East Egg can’t comprehend how anybody could make all of their wealth from working so, therefore, must have made their money illegally. We later discover that Gatsby did, in fact, make his wealth from selling liquor which was illegal in the 1920’s, supporting the corruption of the American Dream. West Egg and East Egg are almost the same despite how those that live there made their wealth (illegally and through inheritance) they are the same as they are both home to the upper class. Even though West Egg is labelled “the less fashionable of the two” Nick believes that this is “the most superficial tag”.  West and East Egg have a huge divide of old and new money but both still have a lot of wealth. This shows truly how corrupt the American Dream is, that two groups of people are wealthy but the ones who ‘worked’ for their wealth still aren’t accepted into the upper-class society. West Egg has rightfully earned their position into the life that the upper class live but still aren’t treated as equal, which is part of what the American Dream is. Fitzgerald uses West Egg to show the corruption of the American Dream. Those that live in West Egg can never truly be accepted by the upper class, never truly fulfilling the American Dream. No matter how hard they work, they will always be just the working class. Not only does it represents people’s hopes and dreams being an illusion but also shows the downfall and corruption of the American Dream and how it’s never fully achievable. The idea of the American Dream is that people can live a better, richer and fuller life “with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”. The idea of the further you climb up the social classes, the less accepted you become and more desperate you become for respect. Even after those that live in West Egg have rightfully earned their place in the upper-class society they are still deemed “less fashionable” and are labelled as bootleggers. They’ve worked hard and still aren’t accepted. They are so desperate to be apart of the upper class that they turn to illegal businesses to earn their wealth, cheating and corrupting the American Dream.

East Egg represents the fake American Dream. East Egg is where the highest of the upper class live, they have earned their wealth through inheritance and live and breath money. They haven’t had to work hard for their wealth, it was handed to them. They hold a superior stand over all those who aren’t a part of their upper-class society. They are what those who believe in the American Dream strive to have. East Egg has an aura of perfection and achievement of the American Dream, “the white palaces… glittered along the water” showing what ‘achieving’ the American Dream could look like. White in The Great Gatsby represents plain and boring, which is exactly what East Egg is, they haven’t had to do anything they just live their life in money. They put all their effort into presenting the world immaculately, so much money that their house glitters along the water. They haven’t achieved the American Dream, they faked it, with presenting the world the best that money can buy, alluding to the fakeness of the American Dream. As the palaces are glittering it hides how plain and boring living the upper-class lifestyle it, hiding the masking the illusion of the American Dream. Living in East Egg is like living in a “distinguished secret society”, which only the upper class are a part of, they were born a part of the American Dream, born into the secret society, they know no different and can’t comprehend how somebody from West Egg could be a part of the same social position they are. Being part of a secret society shows how secluded the upper class is and how even after achieving the American Dream, those who have made their wealth won’t be a part of the society and never fulfilling the American Dream. They have created a bubble of what the American Dream looks like but will never accept those that are living the American Dream because in their eyes, those who have made their wealth on their own “are just big bootleggers” and aren’t to be associated with. The upper class hold a superior power over those outside of their ‘world’ making those outside inferior. East Egg faking the American Dream gives false help to those in West Egg who are so close to living the American Dream and false hope for everyone in the Valley of Ashes who once believed that they could live “a richer and fuller like”.

The Valley of Ashes represents the failed American Dream. The Valley of Ashes is where the working class lives, where they spend their lives day in, day out, just working and is located in between East and West Egg on the way to New York. No matter how hard they work they will never earn enough money to be even near the same social position as the upper class. They are trapped inside the walls that the Valley of Ashes forms, never being able to climb high enough to escape. The American Dream is an impossibility demonstrated by the Valley of Ashes. Inside the Valley of Ashes, “ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens” the ashes are the dead hopes and dreams of people who once believed in a possibility of a better life, and believed in the American Dream. So many people are trapped in the Valley of Ashes because they’ve stopped believing, they know now that the American Dream can only ever be a dream, their minds are clear of the illusion. The ashes completely shape the valley, forming hills and gardens, completely suffocating the land. Everywhere they look they see what they once thought was a possibility of a life but what in reality never was and never could be. The ashes don’t just take the form of the dead dreams of those that live there but also from the dead dreams of West Egg as well as New York, the people that live there have tainted the American Dream, putting all their lost hope into the Valley of Ashes. Moving all the lost hopes and dreams that form the ashes away from West Egg and New York, hides the illusion of the reality of the American Dream, keeping the illusion alive. Keeping the illusion alive lets the idea of the American Dream live on for generations to come, hiding what truly is the American Dream – just a dream. The Valley of Ashes is formed and landscaped by the dead dreams of those around them. Those who find themselves trapped in the grasp of the failure of the American dream “move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”, they have accepted their fate that living in the Valley of Ashes is all they will ever know, they have stopped dreaming. They’ve lost hope and are now just walking lost souls waiting for the day to end. They’re already fading into the ashes, already aware of the illusion that is the American Dream. The ‘ashes’ have created a barrier, an impenetrable cloud, that they can’t past, so they don’t even try, moving dimly day by day. Ashe fill the atmosphere of the Valley of Ashes, they live and breath the reality of the American Dream – an impossibility. The American Dream can only ever be a dream, the Valley of Ashes is the representation of this. No matter how hard they work they’ll always be in the Valley of Ashes, it’s their home. They work hard and have legal businesses but that’s not good enough to break down the barrier that the Valley of Ashes forms. It’s a “desolate area of land”, a prison for the hard working, which is the unfair reality of the American Dream.

 

Event	Idea	Evidence
Daisy + Gatsby’s Reunion	How Daisy’s and Gatsby’s relationship is an illusion and could never be a reality, it impacted Gatsby as he saw that the possibility of their future isn’t as achievable as he once thought, he starts to lose sight of his dream with Daisy	“If it wasn’t for the mist, we could see your home across the bay…. You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy. It had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon.”
Myrtle’s Death	Shows how Tom and Daisy’s relationship is built off materialism and shows how the rest of East Egg relationships are based off,	“They weren’t happy… and yet they weren’t unhappy either” “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and the retreated back into their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”
Gatsby’s Death	Shows how much Nick admired Gatsby, this impacted Nick as he realises that the life of the upper class isn’t a life he wants to live, which is why he went back home	“Most of these reports were a nightmare, grotesque, circumstantial, eager and untrue” “Gatsby turned out alright in the end”

Language Feature	Idea	Evidence
Connotative	Illusion	“Jordan’s slender golden arm”
Simile	Illuson	“fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat”
Metaphor	Illusion	“what a grotesque thing a rose is”

Language Feature	Idea	Evidence
Green Light	The green light represents hope and the possibility of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship	“Involuntarily I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away” “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”
Flowers	Flowers represent somebodies true self and what they portray them self to be	“shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is” “you remind me of a rose – an absolute rose” Daisy’s name?
Yellow	Yellow represents fake and gold is pure/authentic	“The orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music”“In a moment disappeared among the yellowing trees”

Event	Relationship	Evidence
Daisy and Gatsby reunion	How Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship is an illusion that it could never be possible	“If it wasn’t for the mist, we could see your home across the bay…. You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy. It had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon.
Myrtle’s Death	How Tom and Daisy’s relationship is held togeather by materialism	“They weren’t happy… and yet they weren’t unhappy either” “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and the retreated back into their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”
Gatsby’s Death	How much Nick admired Gatsby	“Most of these reports were a nightmare, grotesque, circumstantial, eager and untrue” “Gatsby turned out alright in the end”

Place	Revealed	Evidence
East Egg	The false American Dream	“…the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water.” “Distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belong”
West Egg	The corruption of the American Dream	“Who is this Gatsby anyhow… Some big bootlegger?… I didn’t hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers” “the less fashionable of the two, through this is the most superficial tag”
Valley of Ashes	The impossibility of the American Dream	“ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke” “men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”

Character	Idea	Evidence
Jay Gatsby	You can never reinvent yourself	“This fella’s a regular Belasco” “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” “where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about”
Nick Carraway	You can’t hide from yourself	“I am one of the few honest people I have ever known” “I thought it was your secret pride” “careless people… incurably dishonest… quality of distortion”
Daisy Buchanan	Not everyone is who they appear to be	“what a grotesque thing a rose it” “they weren’t happy and yet they weren’t unhappy either”

Quote 1

“Gatsby turned out alright in the end, it was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.” – Nick

The quote is said at the start of the book and foreshadows that something bad is due to happen, it also shows that Nick and Gatsby may develop a close relationship based on how defensive Nick sounds and he withdraws judgment of Gatsby which he doesn’t with the other characters.

Gatsby turned out alright in the end as he dies, he doesn’t have to worry about anything, he doesn’t have to be surrounded by “careless people” like Tom and Daisy.

Daisy destroyed Gatsby’s dream, she’s the reason he couldn’t fulfil it.

Gatsby dreamed of a life with Daisy and wealth, from a young age he dreamed of bigger and better things then what he had. He believed in The American Dream, but people like Daisy corrupted that dream for Gatsby. The American Dream is the idea that everyone will have the chance to be happy and successful in their lives but Gatsby was missing the acceptance of the upper class which in turn would make him ‘worthy’ to be with Daisy. When Gatsby couldn’t ‘have’ Daisy for his own, he turned to his wealth, showing off his money by throwing extravagant parties. Gatsby was desperate to get Daisy’s attention and acceptance but it never happened. Referring to Daisy as dust shows the corruption of Gatsby’s hopes and dreams and ultimately the corruption of The American Dream as it’s based on people’s acceptance.

Abortive is something that ends abruptly and sorrow is deep distress from a lost. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy ended abruptly when Daisy couldn’t deny her love for Tom, Gatsby could no longer see a future with her. Gatsby’s death was also abrupt, he didn’t have time to dwell or grieve the lost of his love for Daisy.

Quote 2

“I hope she’ll be a fool — that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool . . . You see, I think everything’s terrible anyhow . . . And I know. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” – Daisy

This shows that Daisy is smarter than what she presents, she’s not a fool but is a product of a society full of fools. Daisy does care for her daughter and hopes her daughter is the same as other women during that time – a fool and lacks ambition. Daisy wants the best for her daughter and doesn’t want to be mistreated by men in that era, so being a fool is the best thing she can be as it’d get her far in life and she’d be supported financially.

During the 1920s (time period of The Great Gatsby), beauty and appearance in women are more important than brains and personality. It shows the drastic-ness of inequality during that time period in comparison to the slight progress we have now.

Daisy knows the life she lives isn’t perfect, she’s lonely and has no real friends. All she has is money. 

Daisy seeing and doing everything shows how boring her life is. Her wealth is the only thing in her life that interest her now, it’s the only thing new. She’s done so much that she thinks everything is terrible, showing how blase the upper class lifestyle is, they have so much money they don’t know what to do with it.

 

Quote 3

“This is a valley of ashes — a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” – Nick

The quote uses emotive language to set the scene and the feeling of the Valley of Ashes, to help the reader connect with the people who live there and try and feel how they feel living there. It also uses personification, ashes don’t grow but saying that they do helps create a more vivid picture of the scene.

Ashes represent the dead dreams of those who live in the Valley of Ashes, they’ve lost hope in The American Dream and have come to turns and accepted that this is their life and there is no way out. They show the flaws and corruption of The Amercian Dream. Using ashes sets a dark, depressing tone to the scene and gives a dark emotion.

The ashes (dead dreams) are so profound that it completely shapes the landscape. They can’t escape the corruption of The American Dream as it’s all around them, there is no way out. Saying that the ashes grow like wheat, probably means that there was so much ash that it seemed to be growing. Using the word grotesque shows that the scale of the ashes was enormous and filled the valley, the valley was filled with dead hopes and dreams. 

The valley wasn’t just carved out of the dying dreams of those who live there, but the people live and breath their dead dreams. There is no escaping the disaster that is The American Dream, as it is a part of who they are now. There houses being made out of ‘ashes’ shows they can’t leave, it’s their home and always will be. They have learnt to accept that this gloomy, dull lifestyle will always be theirs and they will always just be the lowest of the working class.

The use of dimly shows how grey and dull the Valley of Ashes is, it’s blurred and faded. As the men are “crumbling through the powdery air” shows that when the lost hope of The American Dream, a part of them died with it. They’ve lost hope, they know and have accepted this lifestyle and just spend their lives working. They have no substance to their lives, they just work. They breath lost hope, it is part of who they are.

 

Quote 4

“His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God . . . and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception, he was faithful to the end.” – Nick

Fitzgerald uses a variety of sentence lengths, there are long sentences before and after “He was a son of God”. Having this sentence as a short, simple sentence draws focus and creates impact. 

This is quite the opposite of who Gatsby is and who he says his family is. This shows a major flaw in his story of his life showing the lies he’s told to get to the position he’s in. He doesn’t come from a line of success, his parents lack ambition and are unsuccessful.

From a young age, Gatsby knew he wanted more in his life, he didn’t want to follow the path that his parents have paved. He always wanted more in life. He imagined a bigger and better life but the use of imagination shows that Gatsby could only imagine, what he completely wants could never fully be part of reality.

Plato is a Greek philosopher who was concerned with the real versus ideal world. This shows that Gatsby created an ideal version of himself and tried to fulfil an ideal life, he re-invented himself as someone who is wealthy and educated. He creates his new self and new world from his own imagination but it could never be fully in the real world – it isn’t realistic. He created a better modelled version of James Gatz, who has a chance to live out The American Dream. 

Gatsby turned his back on his family – on his father. Re-inventing himself left him with no family. The only person he had to look over him was ‘God’, the eyes in the Valley of Ashes are also referred to as God meaning God is constantly looking for his ‘son’, Gatsby.

His father is God.

Gatsby was so young when he created his ideal self that he wasn’t aware of the flaws or impracticality that ‘Gatsby’s’ life would have. He was so obsessed with ‘Gatsby’s’ life and idealised it immensely and in time slowly he started to change every part of who he was to become the exact same as his ideal self, Gatsby. 

It wasn’t long until he was no longer recognisable. He was so focused and determined to achieve the life that ‘Gatsby’ had, that his imagination completely consumed him and changed who he was. Nothing anybody could say or do would change how he felt about Gatsby, he was faithful to his imagination and his ideal world. Even when he died he was still Gatsby.

 

Quote 5

“He stretched out his arms towards the dark water, in a curious way… involuntarily I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and faraway, that might have been the end of the dock” – Nick talking about Gatsby

Gatsby knew what the light represented – hope, he knew what it would mean if he reached the light. Him stretching out his arms is him reaching out to hope, reaching out to Daisy and reaching out to the last piece of the puzzle that is his ideal life. 

Nick couldn’t see anything but a light because the green light to everyone else was just a green light, it meant nothing only to warn boats where the dock is. Nick could only see the light, this means the light was the only thing Gatsby could see, it was the light at the end of the tunnel, and he could only see the possibility of their future togeather he couldn’t see the past or the implacabilities of his dream. 

The light being minute and faraway shows how small and distant Gatsby’s dream was. The possibility of Gatsby’s and Daisy future is so small and distant that you could hardly see it making their future an almost impossible reality. 

 

Quote 6

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” – Nick

Nick shows his judgement of others again but calling Tom and Daisy careless shows how they act, they don’t consider other peoples feelings because they know that no matter what their money acts as a superior shield.

This shows the effect of Tom and Daisy’s actions, the use of the word ‘smashed’ is emotive and shows the drastic effect of their actions and how Gatsby felt after being rejected by Daisy. 

This shows that being upper class gives you a superior power over others. They can do whatever they want and their money will protect them. It also shows that being so high up socially, money conquers all. Both Tom and Daisy have affairs but their money is what keeps them strong and togeather as they’d rather be unhappy and rich instead of happy and poor. It doesn’t matter what they do because rich ‘crimes’ don’t count.

Letting other people clean up their ‘mess’ shows how little the upper class care about those who are below them. They do whatever they please until they get bored or caught and leave anything behind being completely, oblivious to whatever issues they caused. 

The American Dream’s connection to The Great Gatsby

The Valley of Ashes is a representation of the corruption and failure of The American Dream. The American Dream is only achievable if you come from a wealthy background, or make your wealth illegally but for the rest of America, The American Dream can only ever be a dream. Gatsby shows the corruption of the dream, that it’s lonely and you will never truly be accepted for your achievements. Tom and Daisy show that being wealthy and being born, already living the dream doesn’t make you happy. The Valley of Ashes shows that no matter how hard you work or how worthy you are of success, some people just can’t turn The American Dream a reality. They’ve accepted that The American Dream can only ever be a dream, they’ve lost hope causing the ashes of dead dreams to lay around them forming the valley. The American Dream is an illusion that it could only ever be a dream, that no matter how hard you work, no matter how much money you have, that no matter what it will always be a dream because everybody’s life has flaws to some degree. You always want more, and always want what you don’t have or can’t get. The American Dream is the biggest illusion in The Great Gatsby as it can only ever be just a dream.

Theme of Illusion

The Great Gatsby has a running theme that people portray themselves differently to who they truly are creating a persona or character, to fit into social circles, ideal lives and someone who they wish to be. People will always be the same person they once were, no matter how hard they try to suppress who they are, no matter how far they run from the past, no matter what, they will always be the same person and the past will always catch up with them. The characters in The Great Gatsby have two different lives or act as someone they aren’t – Tom lives a double life, one with Daisy and one with Myrtle, Daisy acts classy, sophisticated and kind all to fit into the upper-class lifestyle but in reality she’s materialistic, shallow and fake, Nick claims he’s honest and open-minded but we then see a side of Nick that is constantly consumed in judgment and Gatsby portrays an extravagant lifestyle and that he’s completely happy and content in his life but behind closed doors, he’s unhappy and lonely. They portray different personalities to fit into the upper-class society, each character throws “dust in your eyes” hiding who they truly are, it isn’t until the illusion is dropped and the dust has cleared from your eyes that you can see each character for who they truly are. I think that Fitzgerald is trying to say that we are all just trying to fit in, it doesn’t matter how old you are, how rich you are, people just want to be liked and fit in, Gatsby, for example, changed every aspect of who he was even his name just to fit the upper-class lifestyle to be worthy of Daisy’s love. I think this idea of illusion that we are all just trying to fit in is relevant for teenagers particularly, especially with social media being so influential in our lives, there are so many ‘standards’ to who you should and shouldn’t be. Many people do act differently or try to act differently online and in social situations to fit into social circles or into society as a whole but no matter what you can’t escape your past, you can’t change the past but you can accept it and move on and who you truly are will always be authentic and will come to light eventually. I think the message that there is more to people and their lives than what they portray – good or bad, is an important message to not judge people from what you see as there is more to them than they show, as at the end of the day we’re all trying to do the same thing – fit in.