Daemian Hawke DumasDaniel GouldAdvanced Placement Junior EnglishMarch 30, 2014Jay Christ, An Analysis of Christianity in The Great GatsbyI had to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald cover to cover other about half a dozen times since it was first assigned in my Junior AP English class, and I'm still discovering new motifs and themes with each new bout. There are many, from Fitzgerald's use of colors to foreshadow geography and how it represents various aspects of 1920s society. But one thing continues to arise with the greatest consistency, and that is the constant appearance of Christianity. The Christian religion plays a role in small but numerous sections of The Great Gatsby and is one of the main themes of the novel. Many scholars discuss the idea that Jay Gatsby represents a Christ figure, which forms the basis for understanding the role. religion plays a role. Many phrases, even individual words and numbers, contribute to the parallelism between Gatsby and Jesus. The most rudimentary example of this is its very name. "Gatsby" is a German surname meaning "God's boy" (Nameberry). A more complex example regarding the parallel between Gatsby and Christ appears when Nick describes Gatsby's transition from James Gatz. He said: "He was a son of God - a phrase which, if it means anything, means exactly that - and he was to be about his Father's business, in the service of a vast, vulgar, and mercurial beauty." (104). The first part of the quote is rather self-explanatory, but the rest needs to be explained. In fact, it's a biblical quote in itself. In Luke 2:49, Jesus asks, “Do you not know that I must be about my Father's business” (Luke 2:19)? The business he is referring to is actually the quest to redeem my...... middle of paper...... the parties he threw are definitely over. Nick remembers that “there was an inexplicable amount of dust everywhere” (183). These two quotes, coupled with the Genesis quote, make sense in the story. The "descendants" in the biblical quote represent Gatsby's actions in the story, which represent everything he did to try to find Daisy. “Dust” represents how unsuccessful these actions were; all of Gatsby's hopes and aspirations are nothing. Nothing but dust. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is renowned for containing many hidden messages and themes throughout the novel, and it is clear that the author had a soft spot for Christianity. Very often, biblical echoes could be found, much more than what is listed in this report. It is this search, this wonder of mystery provoked by these hidden messages that makes Gatsby one of the greatest works of American fiction...