...Illusion of the American Dream: The Great Gatsby It is the aspiration of every individual to obtain what he or she desires and to live a happy lifestyle. The American Dream is an idea that believes that all people can overcome financial and social challenges that are brought upon them and that they can become an important person to the country. In Fitzgerald’s mind, the characteristically American idea is an amalgam of feelings, romantic and adolescent emotions. After moving to Long Island, New York, Nick caraway finds himself fascinated in his mysterious and wealthy neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Getting to know him more, Nick found out that Gatsby was once left by the love of his life. Daisy also Nick’s cousin, after leaving for war and since then he went on a journey to success to hopefully one day impress and win back her love. Nick saw Gatsby as a man trying to live up to the American Dream and achieve all the goals that he works hard to reach, but only sees how it did not work. Fitzgerald’s novel can be interpreted as a mockery of the concept of the American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, through its thorough use of situational irony,...
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...What does Fitzgerald suggest about truth and illusion in The Great Gatsby? Truth and illusion are two of the key themes explored in the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Truth and illusion are explored with every character in the novel as we discover that no one is who they seem to be. There are multiple examples involving all characters in which their appearances are far different to how they are described. Jay Gatsby is one of the main characters that show he cannot see reality because his whole life is one big illusion. Another main character that portrays the theme of illusion is Daisy as we learn early in the novel that she creates an illusion to cover up who she really is. Nick is the only character that seems to be the only one who is really honest about who he is but he is only honest to the reader and not the characters. Perhaps his honesty is just an illusion about what he really is like. Jay Gatsby’s whole life is an illusion. Early in the novel we learn that Gatsby’s past was not the best and that he came from a poor background, which he tries to cover up. He gives this idea that he lives the perfect life with a huge house and always wears nice clothes and throws the biggest most amazing parties. The truth is that he does not really have any friends. This is evident when we learn that Nick discovers he was the only one who got an invitation to Gatsby’s party, this is also evident when we learn the rumours going around about Gatsby. The...
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...John Fowles, the author of The Collector and The Great Gatsby, directed by Baz Luhrmann relate to each other in many ways. Both the author and director of the two comparative texts uses symbolism, illusion and contrast to identify the intensity of the obsessive love present in both texts. The Collector and The Great Gatsby contain a complex text and a passionate and insightful tragedy of mistaken and obsessive love. The Great Gatsby's story has a strong correlation with the theme of the Collector focussing on the idea of obsessive love, in many ways. The two stories can be described as a tragic love story of male dominance, a complex portrait of two minds, which include noble actions that have devastating side effects. Frederick and Gatsby are both immensely rich and do everything they can to please their loves, they are common in the sense that...
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...Aaron Pomerleau Mr. Hiatt Psychology 3 April 2014 Is it true? Look at an optical illusion and you may think you're seeing things, such as a curved line that's actually straight, or a moving object that's standing still. You wonder if your eyes are playing tricks on you. But you can’t help but thinking, could it be real? It's not all in your eyes. An illusion is proof that you don't always see what you think you do because of the way your brain and your entire visual system perceive and interpret an image. Visual illusions occur due to properties of the visual areas of the brain as they receive and process information. Your perception of an illusion has more to do with how your brain works and less to do with the optics of your eye. Everything that enters the senses needs to be interpreted through the brain, and these interpretations occasionally go wrong. Illusions, may serve as a test to determine whether scientists understand vision correctly. When light hits our retina in the eye, about one-tenth of a second goes by before the brain translates that into a visual perception of the world. Our brains compensate for this neural delay and so it attempts to generate an image of what it will perceive one-tenth of a second in the future. Optical illusions occur when what our brains predict does not match the reality. A better way to think of it is in order to compensate for this massive loss of information and provide us with visual perceptions that are rich in contrast...
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...Sigmund Freud once said, “Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” Are we being honest with ourselves Freud? In the text, The Future Of An Illusion by Sigmund Freud, he talks about how religion and God, being nothing but illusions from our past ancestor. Believing that all religious beliefs are "illusions and insusceptible of proof, is total false in my opinion. From hearing the lectures from my professor’s and the outside world expriences, religion, therefore God exist in this world. I believe people believe what they want to believe. I have always been taught that faith and attitude is the importance, especially faith in religion. I have been taught as well that, if you believe so deeply in God and have faith he’ll be there...
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...looking into the lines of the poem, new directions can be provided to the vision towards death. This paper drags the poem out from the stream of satire and portrays death as a force responsible for ultimate freedom and realization. Stephen Crane, in "For War is Kind", tries to portray war as a medium that makes the span of illusion short. In the darkness, one easily gets frightened believing rope a snake because of illusion. Because of illusion death seems as an end to everything and life only truth. Life appears as the only 'ultimate truth'. We believe after life everything is put to an end. If so, where were we before the birth? We were nowhere. We are expressed for a moment of time as the air and water are manifested into a bubble for a couple of minute. This manifestation is temporary and illusive and they are "neither permanent, nor the possessions themselves everlasting" (Goyandaka 58). Life is like a tide, which arises from the same bottom of ocean where it settles. Just for a moment of time we distinguish tide and ocean, an illusion that tide is different. When tide falls, it becomes ocean. The real form is the vast ocean not the tide. Tide is an illusion to the perception. Denying his own perception, Crane asks us not to weep "for war is kind" (Crane 69). Moreover, said in Bhagavata Gita is, we were in void unexpressed before the manifestation and will be in the void unexpressed...
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...Magicians Magic is seen everywhere, most people have been lucky enough to witness a great magic trick, which leaves them amazed. A magic trick is something that is hard to explain to one who has never witnessed one. For a child it could be the coolest thing they’ve seen, but to an adult it may seem kike a joke. A magician has the ability to trick their viewers into believing that what they have performed or achieved is impossible, only with the help of magic is it possible to achieve such great feat. Magic has become it’s own subculture and today magic shows are preformed through out the world. A magician values secrecy, creativity, and individualism. Magicians suggest that creativity gives them the ability to express themselves through their magic. There are plenty of subcultures that sick out from the crowd like punks, surfers, and bros, but magicians are not easily spotted walking about the streets. Magicians don’t have a particular way of dressing except when they’re on stage. Magicians wore flamboyant outfits, but they soon “abandoned the flamboyant costumes of the past and opted for a simple and elegant gentleman’s suit” (Lachapelle) As they begin a trick they often times roll up their selves, to show their audience that there were no tricks up their selves. The idea of creativity allows a magician to perform whatever trick they want, weather they have split someone in half or pull a rabbit out of a hat. The word creativity means no boundaries; to a magician it allows...
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...Abstract: In this essay, Ibsen’s plays, The Wild Duck, and Ghosts are considered in relation to themes of illusions and realities. In both plays, families are held together by illusions, yet torn apart by truths that have been concealed to protect the children. Ibsen’s use of artistic realism is an ironic art form where illusions and realisms are contradicted to reveal the deeper conflicts of ordinary lives. Ibsen presents the complicated realities of ordinary lives and emphasizes the fact that there are always many realities -- just as there are many illusions. Title: Illusions and Realities in Ibsen’s Plays The Wild Duck and Ghosts Introduction In Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, illusions and reality are set into a conflict within the story of a son’s personal desire to confront idealism. Throughout much of the play, the son, Greger, argues the value of truth with the reluctant Dr. Relling. Relling insists on the importance of illusions, but fails to discourage Greger’s intentions and a play that begins as a comedy quickly turns into a tragedy because of these conflicts. At the heart of the illusions in this play are the ways that people assume many roles in a family, impersonating multiple ideals as ways for managing their relationships. This theme of impersonation is also developed in Ibsen’s Ghosts, where family relations are slowly undone as the illusions and deceptions are stripped away. In both plays, deceptions are strategic and designed to protect the children...
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...Abstract: In this essay, Ibsen’s plays, The Wild Duck, and Ghosts are considered in relation to themes of illusions and realities. In both plays, families are held together by illusions, yet torn apart by truths that have been concealed to protect the children. Ibsen’s use of artistic realism is an ironic art form where illusions and realisms are contradicted to reveal the deeper conflicts of ordinary lives. Ibsen presents the complicated realities of ordinary lives and emphasizes the fact that there are always many realities -- just as there are many illusions. Title: Illusions and Realities in Ibsen’s Plays The Wild Duck and Ghosts Introduction In Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, illusions and reality are set into a conflict within the story of a son’s personal desire to confront idealism. Throughout much of the play, the son, Greger, argues the value of truth with the reluctant Dr. Relling. Relling insists on the importance of illusions, but fails to discourage Greger’s intentions and a play that begins as a comedy quickly turns into a tragedy because of these conflicts. At the heart of the illusions in this play are the ways that people assume many roles in a family, impersonating multiple ideals as ways for managing their relationships. This theme of impersonation is also developed in Ibsen’s Ghosts, where family relations are slowly undone as the illusions and deceptions are stripped away. In both plays, deceptions are strategic and designed to protect the children...
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...The The Beauty of Perspective Illusion and perspective in art represents the victory of art over reality. Many artists continue to follow the basis of these illusionistic principals that have been used for many years before, but have added their own individuality to their art which has challenged new heights in illusion and perspective. These artists want to trick the eye of the viewers to ultimately create a work of art greater than reality itself. Trompe l’oeil has been a style that has lived on for many years. For this reason, illusion and perspective in art surprises the viewer because artists use perspective to shock the viewers and change what and how they view a piece of art. It wasn’t until the Renaissance that perspective was discovered. This discovery created depth in art. Through the use of color and contrast, artists were able to create art with depth never seen before in art. During the 19th Century, Impressionists began to look deeper into color relationships. What they discovered, would be the basis for perspective and illusion in art. They discovered that the use of cool tones made objects appear farther away than objects in warm tones. Artist’s main purpose for this type of art is to depict reality, but to evoke surprise and pleasure. Artists have been implementing illusionistic components into their work since the early 15th century after the discovery of the trick of the eye. Through linear perspective and vanishing points as well as color and...
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...context to still present and reflect similar values. A Room of One’s Own (hereafter AROO), a polemic, by Virginia Woolf and the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (hereafter WAVW) by Edward Albee both address gender inequality and truth and illusion even though their contexts and form starkly contrast. An analysis of similar themes will provide a greater understanding of meanings and perceptions of the texts. AROO, written in the post-war period of the late 1920s, was composed in a time of great social change due to the destruction and turmoil of the War. Modernist writing highlights the absence of, and search for, meaning and features experiments with new forms. Loss and absence lie at the heart of Woolf’s art, resulting from the experience of loss as an adolescent – her half sister, father, brother and mother. Her refusal to give one single view of anything, offering instead multiple, often conflicting views which the reader has to balance and bring together is another modernist trait. In contrast, WAVW was written in a far more conservative context, and although Albee does challenge societal roles, he does it in a more blatant way. Written during a time of Cold War tension, where fear and instability was disguised beneath the facade of the Great American Dream, Albee is still able to paint a dystopian image of the stereotyped family unit. Post-modernist writing abandons all meaning and the Theatre of the Absurd, emerged at the time, as a theatrical technique used by Albee to reflect...
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...the shore. Now visualize being the only person living in that mansion, the quietness that roams the corridors, and the strong gusts of wind that blows in every night, slamming on doors and windows. The mansion represents the American Dream, a goal or hope for a better future. The loneliness of the mansion represents the result of someone who tries to escape reality in a never ending search for something greater. It has been common today to dismiss the life people currently live in and focus on the future that many believe will be better. At first glance, many might say the American Dream is beautiful. But on a closer inspection, depicted by Kimberly Hearne, The American Dream hides the truth of reality. Based on a Marxist view of “The Great Gatsby,¨ F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the American Dream as a false hope that people seek to obtain in order to escape reality....
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...Sometimes a dream or illusion can become so real that it mixes with someone’s reality, giving people false hope. “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro is an excellent example that indicates that people’s reality can get tangled up with their dreams. Similarly, “A Handful of Dates” by Tayeb Salih is also a brilliant example of dreams versus reality. Although, there are obvious differences between “Boys and Girls” and “A Handful of Dates”, they still have many similarities. Both stories demonstrate that a person’s in this case the protagonist, can easily be engrossed in a dream or illusion, causing conflict which can lead to personal growth through dreams, conflicts and symbols. Firstly, dreams and illusions are used in both “Boys and Girls” and...
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... Similarities between the motion picture, The Matrix, “The Allegory of the Cave” from Plato, the Republic, Book VII, 514A1-518D8, and Meditation 1 of The Things of Which We May Doubt, from Rene’s Descartes, Meditations on the First Philosophy 1641, include the existence of the opposing force that seeks to deceive the human (mind) soul, and hold the body captive by existing in a state of illusion. Each character confronts the enemy of deception and must choose what to do with the truth revealed to them. In contrast for some, the reality of the truth will prove to be too much. The knowledge of the truth can still be rejected and living the illusion of a lie can still be accepted. Neo was born enslaved in a pod, physically stored in liquid, and controlled by the artificial intelligence of computers and machines. Neo serves as an energy source and is fed artificial images that hold him in an induced dream state of a virtual reality. Like Neo, the prisoner of Plato’s cave, has been held in bondage since birth. The prisoner is bound with chains in a fixed position, given only the illusion of reality from dancing shadows on the walls from those outside the cave. The cave consists of people holding others captive to a physical existence and mental prison limited by their physical senses. Unlike Neo being bound by computers and machines, the prisoner is a part of the body of others who make up his social system of deception. The people are deceived, in bondage, paralyzed,...
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...Maurice Young ART/101 July 21, 2013 Sara Shreve Renaissance: Linear Perspective One of the major roles of the artist is to enable the viewer to see the world in a new and innovative way. This task was a major challenge for the Renaissance artist before the 14th century on account of the artist not having the eyes to see or the skills to introduce the world to linear perspective. Smarthistory (2013) states that linear perspective “creates an illusion of space from a single, fixed viewpoint. This suggests a renewed focus on the individual viewer, and we know that individualism is an important part of the Humanism of the Renaissance” (para. 3). Although beautiful and true to the style of the time, before the Early Renaissance period artist did not paint in three dimensional however, some artist did try to create illusions of space and depth to show the world realistically during the late 1300s unsuccessfully (Op-Art.co.uk, 2012). A list of Renaissance artists took full command of creating three-dimensional illusions on canvases and in their victory we see the world in a new and innovative way. [pic] Fig. 1 1486 Birth of Venus Botticelli Galleria degli Uffizi Sandro Botticelli (1445- 1510) was an Italian painter who studied under the direction Filippo Lippi who was a master painter during the Florentine Renaissance. Lippi taught Botticelli linear perspective along with a linear sense of form for color which is displayed in Botticelli’s...
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