Is it easier to live a lie than living the truth? People refer to live an illusion of someone else than their own. The texts ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald, ‘Easy A’ written by Bert V. Royal and directed by Will Gluck, ‘The Doll’s House’ by Katherine Mansfield and ‘The Grand Illusion’ by the artist Styx all have one character that prefers to live an illusion.

The text ‘The Grand Illusion’ by the artist Styx, focuses on the person listening or reading the lyrics. The song tells us not to be fooled by the things around us. It tells us to open our eyes and see what is really in the world.“They show you photographs of how your life should be, but they’re just someone else’s fantasy” this quote tells us that people try to show us that we have to live our lives, they make us think that we need to live a certain way or turn our life into an illusion so then we will be happy. “But don’t be fooled by the radio, the TV or the magazines,” this quote tells us that when they try and make us think that we need to live a certain way, people throw it in our faces the through the radio, TV’s and magazines. These three things are what most people listen, watch or read every day. When this ‘ideal life’ is placed in front of us, we start to get it into our head that we need to live this way and this way only because of we don’t then we won’t be happy. So we start to change who we are, we create someone who has this perfect life. This goes back to people prefer to live an illusion of someone else rather than their own because when we see this ideal life we start to become someone else.

In the text ‘The Great Gatsby’ the main character Jay Gatsby lives in West Egg, New York. During the summer he spends his days trying to get the girl he loves back after he comes back from war. He portrays the illusion of a man that he thinks Daisy would want him to be. He believed that if he had and was everything thing that he thought Daisy would want, then he would be able to be with her again even though she was married and had a child. “He invented the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent”, this quote is about Gatsby when he was a young boy and he and his family were poor but when he was 17 he ran away from home and decided to forget about his poor life and reinvent a new one. In the quote, it says ” the sort of Jay Gatsby a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent,” this part tells us that he would invent someone that was completely opposite to him. Someone that was rich. So he became Jay Gatsby, a man wealthy man who got his money from bootlegged liquor. “Sprang from the Platonic conception of himself,” this quote focus on the part that says “Platonic conception”, Fitzgerald uses “Plato” from the Greek philosopher who was concerned with the real world versus the ideal world. This shows that it is also similar to people prefer to live in an illusion of someone else than their own. This quote tells us that Gatsby is an illusion. He prefers to make up a whole new person that he would rather be than who he truly is. The Great Gatsby and the song The Grand Illusion both show traces of someone who lives the illusion of someone else. They think that by changing who they truly are it will be easier for themselves. Their ideal way to live is just an illusion because it isn’t real.

The text “Easy A” directed by Will Gluck, is about a teenage girl in High School who makes up a rumor about herself and then chooses to live up to that rumor. The main character Olive Penderghast was a good girl, she got good grades and didn’t misbehave but when she decides to tell her friend a small lie about losing her virginity, the annoying ‘popular’ girl overhears Olive saying it and starts to spread the lie. Once her small lie is out, she decides to pretend to have sex with a boy that is gay so he wouldn’t get bullied anymore, but when other boys find out what she is doing, she then gets taken advantage of and is then known as the school slut. “That’s the beauty of being a girl in high school: people heard you had sex once and BAM – you’re a bimbo” this quote is about Olive’s lie she told that she lost her virginity. It started when her friend asked her to go camping with her but instead of Olive saying she didn’t want to go she made up a lie that she was going on a date in the weekend, and when her friend asked her what happened, Olive said she lost her virginity. When Olive’s lie got out, it shows us that she was trying to pretend she was someone else. Therefore this relates back to people pretend to be the illusion of someone else rather than their own. “People thought I was a dirty skank? Fine! I would be the dirtiest skank they’ve ever seen” this quote is about when Olive decides to change who she really is. When Olive chooses to be a “dirty skank” she starts to wear new clothes, which were basically lingerie and putting a red letter ‘A’ on all of them, to show it was a representation of the Scarlett Letter. Olive becomes a different person, she becomes her lie. She shows everyone that if she is going to be treated like a “dirty skank” then she will become one, but instead dresses as if she were a ‘skank’ and gave the illusion that she was fooling around with every boy. Olive becomes someone she is not because she thought she had to. She thought that if people think that what she did do then she would have to go along with it because even if she did tell the truth no one would believe her so instead she became someone who she is not. Olive, as well as Gatsby, prefer to live the illusion of someone else rather than their own. Both texts show the illusion of someone who has become someone who they are not. They became someone they are not because they thought if they wanted to get anywhere in life or to fit in then they must become these made up characters who isn’t the slightest bit them.

The text “The Dolls House” written by Katherine Mansfield is about three rich little girls called the Burnell’s. The three girls Isabel, Lottie and Kezia received a beautiful doll’s house from a house guest. When the girls saw the doll’s house they were amazed. The next day at school they told all of the kids at school about the doll’s house and they insisted that they had to come two at a time and see it. Everyone was allowed to come see the doll’s house except the two Kelvey girls, Lil and Else. The Kelveys weren’t like everyone else. They were in the lower class and were hated by all. The day after the girls had come to see the doll’s house, Kezia saw the Kelvey’s coming down the street and insisted that they come see the doll’s house. ” ‘Mother’ said Kezia ‘can’t I ask the Kelvey’s just once?’

‘Certainly not, Kezia’

‘But why not’

‘ Runaway, Kezia you know quite well why not.’ ”  When Kezia’s mother says she can’t invite the Kelveys because she knows why is about the Kelveys being in a lower class than them. This all leads back to people prefer to live the illusion of someone else rather than their own. Kezia decides to live in a world where she follows others beliefs rather than her own. “ ‘You can come and see our doll’s house if you want to,’ said Kezia, as she dragged one toe on the ground. But at that Lil turned red and shook her head quickly. ‘Why not?’ asked Kezia.

Lil gasped then she said, ‘Your ma told our ma you wasn’t to speak to us.’

‘Oh well,’ said Kezia.’ ” This quote is about Kezia trying to change her beliefs. She tries to get the Kelveys to come see the dolls house even though she knows she is not allowed talk to talk to them nor is she allowed to invite them to see the doll’s house. Kezia shows that she wants to change her illusion and that she doesn’t want to follow what everyone else thinks of the Kelvey’s. So by inviting them to see the dolls house, it shows that she changes her thoughts of them.  Kezia and Olive are two characters that choose to be someone they are not but throughout each text, they learn that being the illusion of someone else isn’t the best, yet they can’t help but still be that person. They both show that preferred to be the illusion of someone else even though they didn’t want to be.

Living a lie is harder to do than being yourself. So why do we become someone who doesn’t make it easier for us to live? The texts ‘ The Grand Illusion’ by the artist Styx, ‘ The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald, ‘Easy A’ directed by Will Gluck and ‘ The Doll’s House’ by Katherine Mansfield all have a character that shows that people prefer to live the illusion of someone else rather their own. Most of these characters learn to be themselves because being them self isn’t as bad as they make it out to be.