Theme Of Christ In The Great Gatsby

The Fall of Christ - Culminating

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.

Central characters in each novel display Christ-like characteristics. In The Great Gatsby, title character Jay Gatsby shares many similarities with Christ.

Like Christ, Meursault is silent in the face of his accusers during his trial. "The court scene evokes many aspects of the last judgment of Christ as Meursault can find nothing to say to defend himself" (Maher 279). Meursault exhibits "his identification with the sacrificial offering" (Ohayon 201) when he says (like Jesus's "It is finished"), "For everything to be consummated… I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate" (Camus 123). Like Gatsby, he lived hedonistically but met a very Christ-like end. In contrast, Lord of the Flies includes a more traditional Christ-like character in Simon, who “embodies a kind of innate, spiritual human goodness that is deeply connected with nature and, in its own way, as primal as Jack’s evil” (CCSE). His confrontation with the Lord of the Flies is often compared to Jesus' with the devil during his 40 day exile. First, it is worth noting that Beelzebub--the devil's name in the Bible--literally means "Lord of the Flies" (Catholic Encyclopedia). The pig-head harasses Simon, claiming he is, "just an ignorant, silly little boy," and that, "there isn't anyone to help [him]. Only [the Lord of the Flies himself]" (Golding 128). Just as Jesus had rejected Satan (Matthew 4:1-11), Simon also rejects

The “green light” (Fitzgerald 180) Gatsby sees from his house can be interpreted as representing envy. The term “green-eyed monster” refers to the sin of envy, as does "green with envy" (Bourn Creative), which makes sense given Gatsby’s major motivation is envy. While he is still James Gatz, his jealousy of the opulent lifestyles of the rich drives him to succeed. He is jealous of Tom for marrying Daisy, and spends his whole life throwing extravagant parties in hopes that Daisy will "walk through the door" (Fitzgerald 63). In pursuing a married woman, Gatsby is "coveting his neighbour's wife" and attempting to commit "adultery" (Exodus 20:1-17). In addition, other sinful activity definitely occurs during these parties. Chief among them is gluttony, "the excessive indulgence in food and drink" (Christianity Today). The parties are full of "hard-drinking people" (Fitzgerald 77) during the prohibition era. Sin is everywhere in the Great Gatsby, mirroring contemporary culture of the time. In the same way, the deadly sins abound in Lord of the Flies. While Jack has been out hunting, Ralph and Simon were the only two working to construct the shelters. Ralph argues the importance of finishing the shelters before anything else, including hunting. Jack rebuffs him, saying "'We need meat,'" as he "tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up” (Golding 47). Here the reader sees the sin of sloth (or