d appearances. Nick describes each house in a different way, When referring to the Buchanan mansion, he says, “Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay” (Fitzgerald 11). This house embodies the taste that establishes money knows how to buy. On the other hand, when he describes Gatsby’s house he cited, “…was a colossal affair by any standard - it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Normandy…” (Fitzgerald 9). This description reflects, ironically, upon Gatsby’s impractical dream (Long 90). Coincidentally, the two houses are positioned as if they were confronting one another. The distance between them also suggests that Gatsby, with his strange estate at West Egg, is as close as he will ever come to the established society of the Buchanans (Long 91). Both houses obviously contain substantial amounts of mystery, but on the night before Gatsby’s reunion with Daisy, his house lights up from top to bottom - with streaks of light, creating an impressionistic effect of grand illusion. Gatsby’s house remains rather unreal, even after his death, when his father brings a crumpled photo of Gatsby’s house – a mirage of success (Long 90). Nick tells the reader, “he had shown it so often that I think that it was more real to him now that the house itself (Fitzgerald 180). This further emphasizes the illusionary quality the mansion possessed and the importance of out ward appearances in Gatsby’s time.The characters in The Great Gatsby provide the much evidence of the importance of outward appearances and each shows deception throught the novel both to their innerselves and peers. Daisy Fay Buchanan is the hardest character to define in The Great Gatsby (Eble 94). Perhaps that “she bears the burden of compelling such romantic intensity explains why Daisy is prese...
