Exploring the tension between truth and illusion is a frequent preoccupation of twentieth century American literature. Compare and contrast the treatment of this theme in `Tender is the Night' and at least one other relevant text you have encountered.
`Tender is the Night' is a novel where the presentation of the main characters at the beginning of the novel is shown to be an illusion. An illusion which often masks the seedy truth and results in people having to present an extravagant front to disguise their inner problems.
In the opening chapter Fitzgerald narrates that Rosemary was `nearly complete, but the dew was still wet on her'. Further references to `baby teeth' and children indicate that the author wishes the narrator of Book 1 to be innocent and therefore receptive to the illusion of the Divers perfect lifestyle. The yearning for `high excitement' in the nineteen-twenties Jazz Age resulted in a willingness to accept extravagant lifestyles and not query its substance or value. The American presence on the French Riviera, out of season is nothing more than an expansion of `American property holding' according to Rosenberg; the illusion of having a peaceful summer in the South of France hides the reality which is wild parties and destruction. The beautiful `Villa Diana' is in fact a symbol of mankind's destructive power: `five small houses had been combined to make the house and four more destroyed to make the garden. Whilst Dick Diver appears to be congenial and dazzling to his onlookers, Rosemary is able to detect `the layer of hardness in him'; she is attracted to this manly quality, but Fitzgerald is perhaps suggesting a shrewd character who exploits people for his own ends. Indeed, it is a common theme of Americ...
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...character. Nicole comments on her Englishness and the fact that she lost a fiancée in the War: `I [Nicole] never knew him'. This warms the reader to her slightly creating a sense of sympathy, especially when other writers of the time such as Hemingway were writing of women who had lost fiancées. When Baby saves Dick from an Italian prison after having run to the American Embassy, the reader is left with the impression that there is some kindness in her. The McKisco's start the novel appearing to be the dregs of upper society, sitting in the `pebbles and dead seaweed', yet in Book 2 Mr McKisco is shown to have made his way in society and is now having his work published on a regular basis. He is so popular and in truth so talented as a writer that he is asked to sit at the Captain's table, whilst Dick sits on the side and is no longer the centre of attention.
As humanity crumbles around you, do you accept the new reality or hold on to an unrealistic dream? When you awake from the illusion of safety, how do you subsist in a harsh and treacherous reality? How does your outlook on the world and your beliefs change when you are ripped from your comfortable existence into a savage murderous surrounding? These are some of the main questions explored throughout Night by Elie Wisel. The story reflects on the author’s life and mindset during and after the atrocious genocide known as the Holocaust.
... Is the Night." Modern Fiction Studies 4.2 (Summer 1958): 136-142. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed.
Ochshorn, Kathleen G. "A Cloak of Grace: Contradictions in A Good Man is Hard to Find." Studies in American Fiction. 18 (1): 113-117. Spring, 1990.
Compare and contrast the ways in which Miller and Steinbeck present the idea of Illusion vs. Reality in Death of a Salesman and Of Mice and Men
The 1920s of United States history is riddled with scandal, post-war morale, and daring excursions in efforts break away from a melancholy time of war. Pearls, cars, and dinner parties are intertwined in a society of flappers and bootleggers and F. Scott Fitzgerald uses this picturesque period to develop a plot convey his themes. In his The Great Gatsby, functioning as an immersive piece into the roaring twenties, Fitzgerald places his characters in a realistic New York setting. Events among them showcase themes concerning love, deceit, class, and the past. Fitzgerald uses the setting of the East and West Eggs, a green dock light, and a valley of ashes to convey his themes and influence the plot.
Illusion can be defined as a distortion of the senses, of reality, and the perception of a dream like world that consumes us. James Baldwin author of the short story “Sonny’s Blues” uses the unique creativity of illusion to therefore draw in his readers. He uses several literary elements including characterization, plot, and setting to express his elaborate use of illusion in this story. Likewise Nathaniel Hawthorne author of the most controversial short story “The Birthmark” also uses illusion to draw attention to an almost magical setting of mystery and morality. Both of these authors use this theme in their works brilliantly, but in contrasting styles, which on the contrary makes their works masterpieces in distorting the beauty and truth in the world.
The novel Night demonstrates that the human spirit can be affected by the power of false hope, by religion, and that one will do whatever it will take to survive for oneself and family.
The memoir Night, written by Elie Wiesel, is true story of his personal experience in the Holocaust. This book is a true miracle to have been written considering the absolute horror he had to go through. The title Night is symbolic to his experience, and the terror that all the Jews had faced. They had suffered through unthinkable torture and emotional devastation. Elie Wiesel shared his first hand experiences, allowing the reader to fully realize the terror these men, women, and children had gone through. The memoir Night, has a title symbolic to the story through what is a dream vs. reality and the mystery of the dark hiding the truth of what is happening.
The addictive consumption of being rich or trying to be rich is what makes this book reflect what the 1920s was really all about. From the Valley of Ashes all the way to the elite East egg, Fitzgerald gives a realistic insight of how he perceived the world to be at the time.“The materialism of the East creates the tragedy of destruction, dishonesty, and fear. No values exist in such an environment” (Telgen 71). Fitzgerald created all these locations to show just how different every social class was. The West Eggers are distasteful always buying flashy things to show off while the East Eggers are sophisticated and classy. The Valley of ashes is where the poorest people in the book live, Fitzgerald’s description makes it this gray town where ash is everywhere and the men there are dirty and repulsive. Lasty, the most corrupted place in the book where the prostitutes linger around and mobsters have control over everything, New york city. Understanding the huge social division in this book is important because of the significance of actual occurrences in history, since the 1920s America has come a long
Fromm, Erich. "The Individual in the Chains of Illusion." World of Ideas 8e I-claim. Boston: Bedford/st Martins, 2009. 325-35. Print.
In the third sentence, note the metaphor and explain Fitzgerald’s choice of this particular metaphor.
...face, the veil of pretension, appearances, lies, and self-deception. The unconscious desires and guilt are suppressed and cornered away in one's conscious. In short, Mr. Hooper mirrors the true nature of humans around him. Only when the true nature of life and the freedom of truth is observed can the veil be lifted.
It is certainly true that the characters of ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘Ethan Frome’, and ‘Howl and Other Poems’ turn to illusions in order to escape from the harsh realities of their lives. Becoming increasingly impuissant at coping in the process. The question is whether it is the act of turning to illusions for comfort, that is ultimately responsible for their inability to cope and ultimate downfalls; or if the characters themselves bear ultimate responsibility and are merely hiding behind their immersion in fantasy in attempt to remove any culpability for their actions, of lack thereof, from themselves.
There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motorboats slit the water of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On weekends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight. (Fitzgerald 39)
The Great Gatsby is one of the most renowned books known to mankind. A story about a man’s quest to fit into a society built for the rich whilst wooing a childhood crush may seem extremely simple and straightforward, however, the mystery is not behind the plot, but rather, it is in the writing itself. The words F. Scott Fitzgerald used were chosen with such delicacy, one cannot even hope to assume that anything was a mere coincidence. The book is laced with intricate strands of symbolism bound together by a single plot. One of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s more major themes is the use of locations. The importance of location as symbols are further expressed through the green light at the end of the dock as well as the fresh, green breast of the new world.