Jay's Dangerous Illusions in The Great Gatsby America is a land of opportunity and hopes and dreams can come true. The “American Dream” is based on the idea that the struggling poor can achieve financial success through hard work. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby puts this premise to the test while warning of the dangers of believing too passionately in a dream. The central character, Jay Gatsby, “proves himself to be a tragic hero who succeeds financially but fails emotionally when he tries to cling to something from the past” (Mizener 126). Gatsby not only possesses imaginative dreams, but also idealistic illusions. These illusions ultimately lead to the unfortunate downfall of Jay Gatsby. In Fitzgerald's novel, Jay Gatsby's past, the period to which he is emotionally tied, is crucial to the understanding of his untimely death. In 1917, just before his entry into World War I, young Gatsby fell in love with the beautiful and wealthy Daisy Fay. They have the type of love described in fairy tales: "...He knew that when he kissed this girl and forever associated her ineffable visions with her perishable breath, his mind would never again frolic like the spirit of God..On contact with his lips, she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete” (Fitzgerald 117). Jordan Baker, a good friend of Daisy's, also describes their earlier love as unique when she says, "[Gatsby] looked at Daisy while she spoke, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at one day" (Fitzgerald 80). . Circumstances caused Jay and Daisy to separate, and upon his return from the war he was confronted with the news that she had married another man. Nevertheless, Gatsby's flaw is middle of paper...... Fielder, Leslie. “Some Notes on F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Mizener 70-76. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.F. Scott Fitzgerald Centennial Home Page. "The Great Gatsby Theme". Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina, 1997. "http://www.uni-ulm.de/schulen/gym/sgu/gatsb/klaus2.htm". Mizener, Arthur, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963. Possnock, Ross. "'A new world, material without being real': Fitzgerald's critique of capitalism in The Great Gatsby." Critical Essays on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: GK Hall & Co., 1984. 201-213. Rowe, Joyce A. “The Illusions of American Idealism.” In Readings on The Great Gatsby. edited by Katie de Koster. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press. 1998. 87-95.