The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic- a novel complete with characters, setting, and symbolism that all contribute to the theme of the novel. The concept that people deny reality to see only what they wish to see is one that is present in history, current events, and literature, and more specifically, in The Great Gatsby.
             Characters in The Great Gatsby have a difficult time seeing past their own hopes and dreams and into the truths of what is happening. Daisy Fay ignores reality; in fact, Daisy herself is pictured as unreal. She flutters and floats about the room, and seems "buoyed up [on the couch] as though upon an anchored balloon" (12). Daisy cannot admit that her daughter is real- she refers to her as " '[A] dream...[an] absolute little dream'" (123). Tom Buchanan is an extremely ignorant man who cannot come to terms with his own stupidity. He tries to prove his intelligence by reading "all scientific" (17) books that are "deep" (17) and have "long words in them" (17). Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson, a would-be upper class woman who is destined to stay on the wrong side of the tracks. She tries to assume a social position by having an affair with Tom, who has extraordinary wealth and a magnificent social standing. She pretends to be of a high class several times; she "raise[s] her eyebrows in despair at the stiflessness of the lower orders [and says,] 'These people! You have to keep after them all the time'"(36). Her husband George is equally delusional as he tries to ignore his wife's affair. Because he lives in the valley of ashes, he is covered in and taken over by the ashes. He fades into the valley, into nothingness, and out of reality.
             Mr. Henry Gatz, father of Jay Gatsby, emerges at Gatsby's funeral, unable to accept the fact that his young Jimmy has transformed into Jay Gatsby. He holds onto &qu...