Daemian Hawke Dumas
Daniel Gould
Advanced Placement Junior English
30 March 2014
Jay Christ, An Analysis of Christianity in The Great Gatsby
I must have read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby from cover to cover about a half dozen times since it was first assigned in my Junior AP English class, and I still uncover new motifs and themes with each new bout. There are many, from Fitzgerald’s use of colors to provide foreshadowing to the geography and how it depicts various aspects of the 1920s society. But one thing continues to pop up with upmost consistency, and that is the constant appearance of Christianity. The Christian religion plays a role in small, though numerous, sections of The Great Gatsby, and is one of the primary themes in the novel.
Many scholars discuss the idea of Jay Gatsby portraying a Christ figure, which is the foundation to understanding the role religion plays. Many phrases, even individual words and numbers, contribute to the parallelism between Gatsby and Jesus. The most rudimentary example of this is in his very name. “Gatsby” is a German surname meaning “God’s Boy” (Nameberry).
A more complex example pertaining to the Gatsby and Christ parallel comes when Nick is describing Gatsby’s transition from James Gatz. He says, “He was a son of God – a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that – and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty” (104). The first part of the quote is rather self-explanatory, however the later needs to be explained. It, actually, is a biblical quote in itself. In Luke 2:49, Jesus asks, “Know you not that I must be about my Father’s business” (Luk. 2.19)? The business he is referring to is actually the quest to redeem m...
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... parties he threw have permanently ended. Nick remembers that “There was an inexplicable amount of dust everywhere” (183). These two quotes in conjunction with the Genesis quote have meaning in the story. “Descendants” in the biblical quote represent in the story Gatsby’s actions, which were everything he did to try and reunite with Daisy. “Dust” represents how those actions were fruitless; all of Gatsby’s hopes and aspirations are now nothing. Nothing but dust.
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is renowned for having many hidden messages and themes throughout the novel, and it’s clear the author had an exceptionally soft spot for Christianity. Many times biblical echoes could be found, way more than is listed in this report. It is this search, this wonder of mystery that is caused by these hidden messages that make Gatsby one of the greatest works of American Fiction.
The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides the reader with a character that possesses qualities both challenging to understand and difficult to endorse. These characteristics show themselves through the character’s desire and passion to pursue his dream. Jay Gatsby, an elusive, persuasive, and sometimes deceptive man displays such contrast in his moral foundation that leaves the reader questioning his true motives at nearly every action. There is an argument to be made that Gatsby is both great and not so great, making him the epitome of moral ambiguity. For example, Nick, another major character, who happens to be the narrator of the story, first describes Gatsby in the opening chapter of the novel as someone who he both
Like Christ Gatsby spends his life transforming himself and saving those with whom he comes into contact,
James Gatz was already "about his Father's business" when he carefully sketched out a schedule for self improvement on the back of his "Hopalong Cassidy" book. He had already realized what his dream was and had created his own personal religion, which was one of romantic ideals: wealth, youth, and beauty. Gatsby, "a son of God," strived to obtain the "vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty," and to incarnate these ideals with reality. Like Jesus Christ came here as an incarnation of man and the divine, "the perfect word entering the imperfect world-- and yet remaining perfect"
The Web. The Web. 4 Mar. 2016 Hauhart, Robert C. "Religious Language And Symbolism In The Great Gatsby’s Valley Of Ashes." Anq 26.3 (2013): 200-204.
The Great Gatsby shows us the decline of civilization with the loss of thought for God and religion. God is merely mentioned at all in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, except for the eyes of T.J. Eckleberg on the billboard. This notion suggests that capitalism is above God among the rich and powerful. The rich and powerful are blind to the notion of God and religion.
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is blatantly evident, as his view of Gatsby’s actions seems to arbitrarily shift between disapproval and approval. Nick is an unreliable and hypocritical narrator who disputes his own background information and subjectively depicts Gatsby as a benevolent and charismatic host while ignoring his flaws and immorality from illegal activities. He refuses to seriously contemplate Gatsby’s negative attributes because of their strong mutual friendship and he is blinded by an unrealized faith in Gatsby. Furthermore, his multitude of discrepancies damage his ethos appeal and contribute to his lack of dependability. Among the first indicators of Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is his extreme misunderstanding of his father’s advice.
One of the traits of Gatsby that makes him truly great is his remarkable capacity for hope. He has faith that what he desires will come to him if he works hard enough. He does not comprehend the cruelty and danger that is the rest of the world. Gatsby, while a man of questionable morals, is as wide-eyed and innocent as a small child in his views of the world. These ideals are evident in Nick’s narration and in the words spoken by the other characters, including Gatsby himself.
Additionally, he is important because through Nick readers realize how morally empty living a life such as Gatsby’s is. A meaningful quote in this chapter is, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone.just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (1). This quote is significant because after Nick’s father told him this, it changed his outlook on other people. Nick says, “In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgment” (1).... ...
Since the first storytellers, religion has played an important part in developing both character and plot. From Ancient Greece to Egypt to Judaism to Christianity, the basic stories of human origins have stood the test of time. Classic books such as The Great Gatsby, The Stranger, and Lord of the Flies are full of religious parallels and imagery. Conceptually, main characters of each work--Gatsby, The Stranger’s Meursault, and Lord of the Flies’ schoolboys attempt to be Christ-like figures, but whose demise is ironically brought about by their own sins.
Hooper, Osman C. "Fitzgerald's ‘The Great Gatsby'," The Critical Reputation of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Article A353. Ed. Jackson Bryer. Archon Books, Maryland: 1967.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Great Gatsby. Ed. Ernest Lockridge. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. 37-53.
Starting at a young age Gatsby strives to become someone of wealth and power, leading him to create a façade of success built by lies in order to reach his unrealistic dream. The way Gatsby’s perceives himself is made clear as Nick explains: “The truth was Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God… he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty” (Fitzgerald 98). From the beginning Gatsby puts himself beside God, believing he is capable of achieving the impossible and being what he sees as great. Gatsby blinds himself of reality by idolizing this valueless way of life, ultimately guiding him to a corrupt lifestyle. While driving, Nick observes Gatsby curiously: “He hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford,’ or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces…” (Fitzgerald 65). To fulfill his aspirations Gatsby desires to be seen an admirable and affluent man in society wh...
At the beginning of the book, Nick's dependability is demonstrated as he recounts various information about himself. He is “inclined to reserve all judgments”(1), a trait that implies objectivity and therefore reliability as a narrator. However, he continues to say that this reservation of judgment has certain limits, especially recently in his life. These limits, apparently, do not apply to Gatsby, as evidenced in the next line. Nick says that only Gatsby “was exempt from [his] reaction”, even though Gatsby “represented everything for which [he has] an unaffected scorn”. He then continues to praise Gatsby's “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life”, and his “extraordinary gift of hope”(2). This beginning excerpt from the book in the first two pages sets the tone for the rest of the book and foreshadows the events that are going to happen. It is one of the most important sections of the book, as it lays out ...
The author clearly wishes to continually demonstrate broken and corrupt relationships in order to display how the failing of the American dream can poison the family. In addition, at one point in the book, Gatsby works with Nick to bring her over so that he can see her again and show her his house. The moment when they appear truly happy together occurs when they are together in Gatsby’s gardens. Fitzgerald plays upon the classic garden image to show that the two are only happy in their natural state, but they are not; they live in the world tainted by the actions and more specifically the failings of mankind. Furthermore, Roger Lewis implies the importance of the valley of ashes in the portrayal of the theme of Gatsby.