MacKenzie Bernard
Mr. Jennings
2nd Hour Honors English 3
February 18, 2013
The Great Gatsby Summary and Response Essay
In “The Passion of Gatsby: Evocation of Jesus in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby,” Thomas Dilworth presents evidence from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby that he believes proves the character of Jay Gatsby to be symbolic of Jesus Christ. Dilworth’s claim that Gatsby is symbolic of Christ is based off of evidence primarily found at the end of the book and briefly in chapter six. Dilworth begins his argument by comparing Christ’s and Gatsby’s deaths. The first paragraph focuses on the way Gatsby “shoulders” the air mattress he dies on the same way Christ “shouldered” the cross he died on. Dilworth also points out Gatsby’s chauffeur offering to help him carry his air mattress, similar to Simon of Cyrene helping Christ carry his cross. The first paragraph concludes with the comparison of the mixture of blood and water that results from both Gatsby’s and Christ’s death. The second paragraph shows the similarities between Gatsby’s and Christ’s final hours. Dilworth compares the vigil both Gatsby and Christ kept while alone in gardens. The third paragraph shows both Gatsby and Christ as redeemers. Gatsby ultimately died for Daisy’s sin the same way Christ ultimately died for the sins of the world. The final paragraph reverts back to chapter six in which Dilworth focuses on Nick Carraway’s description of Gatsby as a “son of God.” Dilworth concludes that the final events of Gatsby’s life as well as Nick’s comparison of him to “a son of God” are clear evocations of Jesus which, much like “the Passion of the Christ,” Dilworth refers to as “the Passion of Gatsby.”
While Dilworthconsistently uses evidence to support his claim that Gatsby embodies Jesus Christ, Dilworth’s argument mainly stems from the deaths and the events leading up to the deaths of Gatsby and Christ. Dilworth shows little that connects the lives of Gatsby and Christ that lead up to their deaths. While Christ lived a sinless life, Gatsby lived a life of utter fault. For example, Gatsby was adulterous with Daisy. “As he left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulled his face down, kissing him on the mouth. “You know I love you,” she murmured (116).”Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy directly contrasts with the preaching of Christ. “You have heard the commandment that says ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye – even your good eye – causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell (Matthew 5:27-29).” According to Nick, Gatsby “wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: “I never loved you.” After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house – just as if it were five years ago (109).” In this passage, Nick shows that all Gatsby really desired was to have Daisy as his own true love. Gatsby’s goal called for adultery and divorce, both concepts Jesus directly spoke against. “But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery (Matthew 5:32).” Gatsby also lived a much more selfish life than Jesus. “”Was she killed?” “Yes.” “I thought so; I told Daisy I thought so. It’s better that the shock should all come at once. She stood it pretty well.” He spoke as if Daisy’s reaction was the only thing that mattered (143).” When Daisy kills Myrtle, the only thing that matters to Gatsby is how Daisy will handle it. “For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic (James 3:15).” Gatsby’s preoccupation with Daisy’s reaction over anything else that might matter when someone is murdered violates “God’s kind of wisdom.” Gatsby and Christ clearly did not share the same kinds of morals.
Dilworth’s lack of recognition of the lives of Gatsby and Christ before their deaths makes me hesitant to completely agree with his claim that Gatsby is an embodiment of Jesus. However, Dilworth does point out eerie similarities between Gatsby’s and Christ’s deaths. In his first paragraph alone, Dilworth notes the way Jesus and Gatsby both shoulder the objects they die on, how they are both offered to help to carry these objects, and the mixture of blood and water that results from both of their deaths. As Dilworth’s argument continues, he compares the vigil Christ kept in the Garden of Gethsemane to the vigil kept by Gatsby in the garden of the Buchanan home. Dilworth compares the way Nick left Gatsby alone “watching over nothing (116)” in the same way Jesus’ disciples didn’t watch with him (Matthew 26:38-39). Despite the differences in Christ’s and Gatsby’s lives, Dilworth does point out several similarities between their final hours and deaths. In this part of Dilworth’s argument, he presents evidence that provides clean support for his claim and makes it harder for me to disagree with him.
I think it’s also possible to look at George Wilson’s suicide as a parallel to the suicide of Judas. Judas’ suicide stemmed from his betrayal of Jesus:
When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.” “What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.” Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself. (Matthew 27: 3-5)
Wilson’s suicide stemmed from Myrtle’s betrayal of himself. “”I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the window” – with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it – “and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God (159)!’” As well as both committing suicide over feelings that stemmed from acts of betrayal, Judas and Wilson also both took actions that led to the death of innocent men. In these ways, Wilson might serve as an allusion to Judas.
Dilworth’s third paragraph focuses on both Gatsby and Christ acting as redeemers. Gatsby and Christ both died for sins they didn’t commit. However, Gatsby and Christ act very differently in their redeeming. Dilworth points out that when Nick asks if Daisy was driving when Myrtle was killed, Gatsby responds “Yes, … but of course I’ll say I was (114).” Gatsby planned to intentionally take the punishment for Daisy’s crime in the same way Christ intentionally took the punishment for the crimes of all of civilization. However, Gatsby planned to redeem Daisy by lying which is another action Christ directly disapproved of. “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander (Matthew 15:19).” On the contrary, Jesus redeemed the world without lying about it. “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me (John 14:6).” Jesus redeemed not with a lie, but with what he specifically coined as “the truth.” While, Gatsby and Christ are both redeemers, their ways of redeeming are vastly different.
Dilworth’s final paragraph is based off of Nick’s description of Gatsby as a “son of God” in chapter six in which Nick writes “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. 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 (98).” Dilworth points out that Nick alludes directly to Luke 2:49 (“And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”). This allusion is perhaps Dilworth’s strongest piece of evidence. If Fitzgerald is alluding to Christ through Gatsby in chapter six, Dilworth’s other pieces of evidence might just be Fitzgerald’s use of allusion as well.
In “The Passion of Gatsby: Evocation of Jesus in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby,” Thomas Dilworth’s argument that Jay Gatsby is symbolic of Jesus Christ may be true. Dilworth has solid pieces of evidence. The fact that Jesus and Gatsby would both shoulder objects they’d eventually die on, keep vigils in gardens, die for someone else’s crime, etc., along with the allusion to the Gospel of Luke doesn’t seem like it could all be mere coincidence. However, Christ’s and Gatsby’s overall lives do not share nearly as many similarities. If Gatsby is symbolic of Christ, I’m led to wonder why their lives didn’t match up nearly as closely as their deaths. Gatsby didn’t come close to perfect and he certainly held different beliefs than Christ. Gatsby’s life completely revolved around a goal Christ’s teachingsdirectly condemned. I’m led to agree and disagree with Dilworth. With all of Dilworth’s comparisons, I think there’s a good chance Fitzgerald meant for Gatsby to symbolize Christ, but I still wonder why Jesus is most seen in Gatsby’s death rather than in his character.
Works Cited:
The Bible.New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2007. Web.
Dilworth, Thomas. "The Passion of Gatsby: Evocation of Jesus in Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY."
Explicator. 68.2 (2010): 119-121. Web. 8 Feb. 2013.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925. Print.