Theme Of Disillusionment In The Great Gatsby

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The bildungsroman novel, Great Expectations follows Pip's journey from childhood into adulthood and how his love towards Estella changes his perspective on life. However, the difference in social status between them restricts Pip from pursuing his love interest, which leads to his determination to become wealthy as a means to claim her love. This is aided by the reception of a fortune, which then places him as socially equal to his beloved. Nevertheless, Pip’s journey faces many complications and his delusion in thinking he and Estella are equal leads to his misfortune. Similarly, in The Great Gatsby, Mr Gatsby’s dream of marrying Daisy remains unrequited due to a similar end. Both Pip and Gatsby ignore the calls of reality and hold unrealistic ambitions. Therefore, disillusionment is presented in these texts, through the characters’ misconceptions of love, status and ideal. The writers suggest that once the reality is conceived, the disillusionment ends; however, it does not end for all the characters as Gatsby retains his hope until the very end. The reoccurring themes such as love, idealism and time are overlapped in E.E Cummings first poetry collection: Tulips and Chimneys from which selective poems can be directly related to the texts. …show more content…

In The Great Gatsby the superlative is used in combination with the definite article: ‘The’ highlighting the focus and implications of idealism. However, after completion of the novel, the readers establish that Gatsby’s love interest chooses an adulterous husband over him. In turn, this can prove the title to be misleading and Gatsby’s greatness can be questioned. In contrast, the use of the noun ‘expectations’ in Great Expectations prepares the reader for disappointment as the saying goes ‘expectations lead to disappointment’, as Pip’s grand views are what destroy

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