Dissilusionment

Disillusionment Illusion plays a major role in the two works The Great Gatsby and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". In each piece of literature, the narrator has some fantasy about a specific person or themselves and continues to believe throughout the literature. As the truth eludes the character, it aggravates the reader more and more until the narrator finally comes back to reality. This key point in the poem or novel is called disillusionment. Disillusionment and illusion played a major role in the novel The Great Gatsby and the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by allowing certain characters to formulate a realistic opinion of the people and world around them. One of the prevailing themes in these two works is the illusion of time. In "Prufrock", the illusion is the narrators sense of time he has left for his aspirations. This is similar to illusion in The Great Gatsby when Jay Gatsby believes he can repeat the past with him and Daisy. In both situations, the characters are basically in a denial of reality. Jay Gatsby loves a woman he once had many years ago and is determined to have her. When Nick tried to advise to him "You can't repeat the past", Jay's reply was "Why of course you can"(pg. 110). This illusion of time is similar to Prufrock's initial belief that he "had time yet for a hundred visions and revisions"; implying that he still had time to live out his dreams and aspirations(Eliot 33). Prufrock was just in denial of his age and like Jay Gatsby; he was living in an illusion of time. After this disillusion, both characters had a completely changed view on the concept of time. Disillusionment of time is an important part of these two pieces of literature. Both of the characters that had the false illusion of time eventually came to realize the truth. In both character's situations, other people brought them out of their false belief of time. The woman who finally brought Jay Gatsby back to reality was also the woman whose love caused him to slip into his illusion. After insisting that Daisy had never loved her husband in a vain attempt to repeat the past; he was rudely awakened to reality when she responded "I can't help what's past", "I did love him once---but I loved you too"(pg 132). Prufrock came out of his illusion of time as well but mainly had only himself to bring himself back to reality. The spark that started his disillusion was the simple comment "How his hair is growing thin" that he envisioned a woman saying about him(Eliot 41). The illusion of appearance is another important part of the novel The Great Gatsby and the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". In The Great Gatsby, Nick had a very high opinion of the area of East Egg. He even considered the area he lived in, West Egg, to be "the less fashionable of the two"(pg. 5) He thought that everything in East Egg was higher class than where he lived; especially the people. To the average person during that era, it would appear to be true but only as Nick would figure out later; it was an illusion. In the case of Prufrock; he had the illusion that people would be impressed by his "morning coat, [his] collar mounting firmly to the chin / [and his] necktie rich and modest"(Eliot 42-43). These illusions cause the narrators to think of themselves differently and treat other people differently until they become disillusioned. The disillusion of appearance played a large role in how the narrators of each text interacted with the world around them. In the Great Gatsby, Nick finally realized toward the end of the novel that East Egg may be considered higher class but in reality; they're morally lower than any other area of the town. The final straw that made him sure of this, was when he talked to Tom after Daisy had run over Myrtle. Even though Daisy killed Myrtle; she let her husband believe that Gatsby had run "over Myrtle like you'd run over a dog and never even stopped his car"(pg. 178). Seeing how Daisy was responsible for the death of Gatsby and wouldn't face the consequences, Nick had a completely changed opinion of the East Egg and on the upper class in general. In Prufrock, the situation in which Prufrock becomes disillusioned is similar to The Great Gatsby. The difference is that Prufrock becomes disillusioned to his own appearance. At first, he thought that he would look more youthful and attractive with his well prepared outfit. He eventually became disillusioned to this belief and realized that he still showed signs of old age through his bald spot and "how [thin] his arms and legs are"(Eliot 44). Illusion and disillusionment are important in the novel The Great Gatsby and the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". The two connecting illusions through the two pieces of literature were the concepts of time and appearance.