Religion In The Great Gatsby Essay
WHY IS GATSBY SO MEMORABLE TO THE READER?
The Great Gatsby was first published in 1925 and was one of Fitzgerald’s most well-known novels. Many aspects of this book caused this mass popularity, however the main reasons are his use of romantic modernism and most importantly, his portrayal of the different character. The different portrayals of the characters across Long island manipulate the reader’s opinion. One of the most famous examples for this is Gatsby. Gatsby is a very memorable character for many different reasons, such as the portrayal of him by Nick, his mannerisms, his reactions and doings. Each of these reasons helps him become memorable, however another important aspect of this memorability is the effects the Fitzgerald uses, …show more content…
Fitzgerald was influenced in drawing this parallel by a nineteenth-century book entitled The Life of Jesus. This book presents Jesus as a figure who essentially decided to make himself the son of God, then brought himself to ruin by refusing to recognize the reality that denied his self-conception. Renan describes a Jesus who is “faithful to his self-created dream but scornful of the factual truth that finally crushes him and his dream”—a very appropriate description of Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s devising of this metaphor allows Gatsby to be compared more thoroughly and also provides an association to the other characters throughout the rest of the book. Though the parallel between Gatsby and Jesus is not an important motif in The Great Gatsby, it is nonetheless a suggestive comparison, as Gatsby transforms himself into the ideal that he envisioned for himself (a Platonic conception of himself) as a youngster and remains committed to that ideal, despite the obstacles that society presents to the fulfillment of his dream, such as the fact that Gatsby wants to repeat the past but the situation has changed
The Great Gatsby was first published in 1925 and was one of Fitzgerald’s most well-known novels. Many aspects of this book caused this mass popularity, however the main reasons are his use of romantic modernism and most importantly, his portrayal of the different character. The different portrayals of the characters across Long island manipulate the reader’s opinion. One of the most famous examples for this is Gatsby. Gatsby is a very memorable character for many different reasons, such as the portrayal of him by Nick, his mannerisms, his reactions and doings. Each of these reasons helps him become memorable, however another important aspect of this memorability is the effects the Fitzgerald uses, …show more content…
Fitzgerald was influenced in drawing this parallel by a nineteenth-century book entitled The Life of Jesus. This book presents Jesus as a figure who essentially decided to make himself the son of God, then brought himself to ruin by refusing to recognize the reality that denied his self-conception. Renan describes a Jesus who is “faithful to his self-created dream but scornful of the factual truth that finally crushes him and his dream”—a very appropriate description of Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s devising of this metaphor allows Gatsby to be compared more thoroughly and also provides an association to the other characters throughout the rest of the book. Though the parallel between Gatsby and Jesus is not an important motif in The Great Gatsby, it is nonetheless a suggestive comparison, as Gatsby transforms himself into the ideal that he envisioned for himself (a Platonic conception of himself) as a youngster and remains committed to that ideal, despite the obstacles that society presents to the fulfillment of his dream, such as the fact that Gatsby wants to repeat the past but the situation has changed