Similarities Between The Bible And The Great Gatsby

In literature, the authors’ past experiences and culture play a major role in the plot and characters’ traits. The era and area where the an author grew up are Key to the development of these experiences and culture. For instance the early 1900s was a time of great sadness, World War One, followed by a time of happiness and celebration, the roaring twenties, as well as a time at which there was a predominantly Christian culture in America. A common way for authors who grew up in this era of Christian culture, like F. Scott Fitzgerald, to portray their experiences was by drawing parallels in their novels to The Holy Bible. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses religious symbolism and biblical allusions to liken Gatsby as a Christ-like
When Gatsby’s body was discovered, Nick observed “a thin red circle in the water” in the pool (Fitzgerald 173). This is a clear allusion to Christ as the “mixture of blood and water may evoke” a memory to the similar situation where “‘blood and water’ [where] flowing from the side of Jesus after he was pierced in the side by a spear” of a Roman soldier (Dilworth 1). Just as the Roman soldier confirmed that Christ was dead by stabbing him with his spear, Gatsby's death is confirmed by seeing a mixture blood and water, presumably from the gunshot that killed Gatsby, in the pool. Fitzgerald uses this allusion to show that in life and even after death Gatsby is a Christ
Whether that be the allusion to crucifixion with Gatsby’s outstretched arms, the first time the that both the reader and Nick are introduced to Gatsby, the agony and self sacrifice that Gatsby experienced for Daisy, that Christ was surrounded by temptation from the Devil but always refused and that Gatsby was constantly tempted by beautiful women but remained faithful to Daisy, that Gatsby died surrounded by thieves as his house staff and Christ died in the company of thieves, that gatsby was forgiving of Daisy’s transgressions against him, that Christ had apostles to document his life and teach and Nick served the same role for Gatsby, that Gatsby’s eventual role in life was to redeem and save Daisy from her sins and Christ’s role was to redeem mankind of their sin, the fact that they share the same first initial or where both 30 the last time they were seen or that they both liked to spend long amounts of time alone, the parallels between Gatsby and Christ are unmistakable, and undeniable (Foster 126). The era in which Fitzgerald came of age, which had a strong Christian culture had a definite impact on his writing and adds a complex undertone to a novel which at first appears to merely be about the rebirth of one