Religion In The Great Gatsby

1911 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reality in the Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald portrays a world where the characters are driven on money and status. The godless society is created by the characters consistently idolizing meaningless things above God, they incorrectly establish an old oculus shop billboard advertisement as "The eyes of God". Another incorrect religious perception is when Nick appoints Gatsby as a figure resembling Jesus. This society becomes so corrupted because of the characters ' delusions and inabilities to be satisfied create a dystopia. Although Gatsby is drowning in his wealth, he still longs to be part of the "Old Money" social class. The ultimate reason for Gatsby 's death was because he left the social class he was born into, which is impossible in this corrupt …show more content…

Eckleburg for faith which proves that in the binary utopia vs dystopia, dystopia wins. This shows the complete corruption of the lives they live. This old billboard is what the civilians in the valley of ashes are centering their faith in. Hermansson demonstrates that "that Eckleberg is not God, and in any case can 't "see" anything, the need to place faith in transcendence of one sort or another can find no purchase in the contenders offered for such roles in the novel." (Hermansson) The fact that it 's an abandon oculus store asserts an idea that the society cannot "see" the corruption that 's going on. This shows an improperly placed faith. Demonstrating the total corruption of their society. Wilson threatened his wife, who he assumed was cheating on him while “looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg which had just emerged pale... 'God sees everything, ' repeated Wilson.” (Fitzgerald 149) Fitzgerald illustrates that the citizens view the billboard as gods eyes. This gives the society a binary of Utopia vs. dystopia. The citizens believe they 're living in a Utopia because they are being holy and spiritual believing in this "God", when in reality it 's even more corrupt because they don 't see the corruption that 's taking place right in front of them. Concluding that the dystopia wins because it is the actuality of the situation. When Wilson asks for spiritual help he looks to the eyes, like he should be looking to God. Wilson from the valley of ashes isn 't the only corrupt character. Gatsby is one of the most delusional characters in the story, he truly denied the concept of time moving on and the inability to go back in time. This can be seen when he refuses to drain his pool for the fall. He tries to stay in the season of summer by procrastinating to drain the pool, attempting to push back time. This attempt decides his fate for him, when he dies in the swimming pool

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Chicago And The Great Gatsby

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it … It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.” (Fitzgerald 48). In chapter 4, Gatsby was riding into town with Nick, and then a police came, all Gatsby did was raised a little white paper and the cop apologized for stopping him. This isn’t only about corruption in 1920’s, but how he was above the law. He has the reputation of the president. He can get away with anything he wanted, he loves the power and the respect. When people say Gatsby it’s like he’s an imperial. The spreading rumors of Gatsby are horrific by the sense that, they were so out of this world you don’t know how people really believed them. Everybody had different point of views of Gatsby, he loves each one if the rumor didn’t contain the truth, or him being poor. His actions seem that all he wants people to do is think of him as an opulent man. Gatsby loves recognition. This makes him lose the idea of his past life which he hated. He strived to forget how he grew up, and where he came

    Read More

  • Sacrifices in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1770 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through Gatsby's disillusionment, Fitzgerald makes a profound statement about humanity. In order to understand the religious imagery in The Great Gatsby, one must first understand Fitzgerald's own ideas on religion. Fitzgerald was a troubled man much of his life, and was a victim of psychological and emotional turmoil. Fitzgerald's friend, John Peale Bishop once remarked he had "the rare faculty of being able to experience romantic and ingenuous emotions and a half hour later regard them with satiric detachment." Fitzgerald had an "almost religious awe that he felt toward the idealization of great wealth and the romanticization of sexual love, by both of which he felt simultaneously attracted and repulsed, enchanted and offended" (McQuade, 1308).... ...

    Read More

  • The Effects of Class Structure in the 1920's

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    The emerging inequitable class systems and antagonisms of the nineteen twenties saw the traditional order and moral values challenged, as well as the creation of great wealth for few and poverty for many. The Great Gatsby, written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, explores the causes and effects of the unbalanced class structures. Fitzgerald outlines the idea that the desire to accumulate wealth and status is a common ambition amongst the lower classes; when that desire is reached, the traditional upper class is challenged by the emerging newly wealthy, which finally leads to destructive consequences. By creating rigid class structures, traditional upper class, new wealth, and the poor in The Great Gatsby, it is shown that the desire to further or maintain socio-economic status leads to immoral behaviour such as criminal activity, adultery, and murder.

    Read More

  • Religious Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

    1548 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many people like flappers went against the standard and did not listen or go by the rules. Written during the Jazz Age period, Fitzgerald wrote the novel The Great Gatsby, and ironically, it is one that explores the concept of an omnipresent God which readers can guess comes from the author’s knowledge of Catholicism and Christianity. First and foremost, the Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are representative of an omniscient God. The Great Gatsby begins chapter one with a description of “The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic – their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose” (Fitzgerald 23).

    Read More

  • Examples Of Civilization In The Great Gatsby

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Immortality in "The Great Gatsby"

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    People say that "money makes the world go around." It may, but in the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald money is what causes greed and death. The novel is filled with multiple themes but one predominate theme that the author focuses on is immorality. The novel was written in the1920s which was a time that drew away from social and moral values and yearned for its greed and empty pursuit of pleasure. Gatsby, gains his wealth through bootlegging only because he wants to show Daisy his wealth. Sadly, his determination for his love is what gets him killed. The author uses different characters throughout the novel to present his theme. Symbols can also be found in The Great Gatsby. An example would be West Egg which represents the recent rich and East Egg which represents the established upper classes. The West Egg and East Egg symbolize the different social status of society.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby: Money, Power, and the Fulfillment of Dreams

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald money, power, and the fulfillment of dreams is what the story’s about. On the surface the story is about love but underneath it is about the decay of society’s morals and how the American dream is a fantasy, only money and power matter. Money, power, and dreams relate to each other by way of three of the characters in the book, Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. Gatsby is the dreamer, Daisy cares about money, and Tom desires and needs power. People who have no money dream of money. People who have money want to be powerful. People who have power have money to back them up. Fitzgerald writes this book with disgust towards the collapse of the American society. Also the purposeless existences that many people lived, when they should have been fulfilling their potential. American people lacked all important factors to make life worthwhile.

    Read More

  • Biblical Allusions in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the story of a world lost to superficiality and greed. Falsehood and deception are the currency which fuels the characters in the novel. Dwelling in this fallen world, Fitzgerald has placed a fallen god. Gatsby is bathed in descriptions that identify him as the Son of God. Fitzgerald makes a conscious effort to clothe this character with imagery and actions to make him the patron deity of this fallen world, but Gatsby is too much enveloped by his surroundings to save them and is consumed in the attempt. Despite the biblical allusions, strong images and explicit statements identifying Gatsby with Christ, the prevailing tone of the novel prevents him from being a Christ-figure.

    Read More

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    During Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it is apparent to be an absurd time for the wealthy. The shallowness of money, riches, and a place in a higher social class were probably the most important components in most lives at that period of time. This is expressed clearly by Fitzgerald, especially through his characters, which include Myrtle Wilson, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and of course, Jay Gatsby. This novel was obviously written to criticize and condemn the ethics of the rich.

    Read More

  • What Is The Reality Of Reality In The Great Gatsby

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The American Dream in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, An Outline

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby’s goal of obtaining value, love and happiness in life from materialistic items is seen as naïve and fallacious for his ‘dream’ has become corrupted and influenced by the wealth of society and the cynical outlooks of those within his circle

    Read More

  • Free Essays - The Great Gatsby

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Matthew J. Bruccoli noted: “An essential aspect of the American-ness and the historicity of The Great Gatsby is that it is about money. The Land of Opportunity promised the chance for financial success.” (p. xi) The Great Gatsby is indeed about money, but it also explores its aftermath of greed. Fitzgerald detailed the corruption, deceit and illegality of life that soon pursued “the dream”. However, Fitzgerald entitles the reader to the freedom to decide whether or not the dream was ever free of corruption.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Society And Class In The Great Gatsby

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, The Great Gatsby reveals the carelessness and shallowness of the characters in the upper class. Society is totally corrupted and the character’s lives revolve around the money and extravagant lifestyles. All of the characters are surrounded with expensive and unnecessary itms, which in turn, dulls their dream of actual success. Scott F. Fitzgerald provides a powerful and everlasting message of a corrupt, materialistic society and the effects that it has on the idea of the American dream.

    Read More

  • Decaying Morals in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    The moral decay of society during the 1920’s was represented through the characters in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. People became selfish as their wealth increased, and they didn’t care at all what they did to other people, as long as they ended up okay in the end. Dishonesty became accepted, and that led to a downfall of society. Because of the character’s lack of morals and responsibility, Gatsby, an innocent man, died.

    Read More

  • Moral Corruption In The Great Gatsby

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream as well as the portrayal of social classes. Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct social groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating two distinct social classes ‘old money’ and ‘new money’, Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the elitism underlying and moral corruption society. The idea of the American dream is the ideal that opportunity is available to any American, allowing their highest aspirations and goals to be achieved. In the case of The Great Gatsby it centres on the attainment of wealth and status to reach certain positions in life,

    Read More

More about Religion In The Great Gatsby

Open Document