The Deist belief in an unconcerned God is a chilling idea. How could God not care about what happens in everyday life, not intervene? While this idea may be scary, it is prevalent in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the voice of the book, draws parallels to the Deist God. Alike the Deist God, Nick observes events taking place, and does not stop them. Some of these events end up with lethal consequences. This paper will compare Nick to the Deist God, and examine other signs of Deism throughout the book. These signs of Deism include the following: The T.J. Eckleburg Billboard, and George Wilson. Deism is not only prevalent throughout the book, but throughout American History, as some of America’s founding fathers were believed …show more content…
From the beginning of the book, Nick can be seen observing people/events and not intervening. At the end of chapter 1 Nick watches Gatsby stretch out his arms to the green light on Daisy’s dock. Nick thinks to call out to Gatsby, yet stops himself, thinking Gatsby rather be alone (Fitzgerald 20-1). “‘I decided to call to him,’” Nick writes, “‘But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone’” (Fitzgerald 20). In his head, Nick thinks to contact, “call to” Gatsby. Yet, as a Deist God may believe people are content to be alone, Nick comes to that conclusion. Like the Deist God, Nick remains uninvolved in Gatsby’s moment alone, and instead just watches him. Regarding the light Gatsby reaches to, it coincides with the idea of Nick as godlike. God is often associated with light, or as light. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Nick being present to watch over Gatsby as Gatsby views the light suggests godliness. Nick is also arguably the morally best character in The Great Gatsby. While he may seem as if he is just a witness from time to time, he is not involved in the sins of his friends. Due to Nick’s good moral character and association with light, his godliness is further …show more content…
In New York, Nick yet again proves himself as just an observer. Nick is reading a book in the apartment Tom bought for Myrtle, as both Tom and Myrtle have sex (Fitzgerald 29). Nick does not interrupt, and continues to read his book. Nick still just observes when Myrtle’s nose is broken by Tom’s hand (Fitzgerald 37). Nick does not make a move to help Myrtle to a hospital or reprimand Tom, furthering the idea that Nick is alike the Deist God, unconcerned. For Nick to observe Myrtle and Tom having sex is similar to God observing Adam and Eve having sex. Adam and Eve had intercourse and conceived when kicked out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 4:1). Adam and Eve were kicked out due to temptation, in their case, the temptation of knowledge. Myrtle and Tom are not able to have sex in the paradisiacal Eggs, therefore they are like cast offs. Forced to have intimate moments in a less than paradisiacal apartment building, they are still under the watch of the god figure, Nick. Nick, being like a God, can view the most intimate moments unavailable to the average eye. This shows that Nick can not only create tea party’s but see things others cannot, not in an observant way, but in a godly
When Nick is describing Gatsby he uses this bold comparison between Gatsby and Jesus Christ to illuminate what Gatsby has created himself to be. Jesus is described to be “faithful to his self-created dream but scornful of the factual truth that finally crushes him and his dream”—an appropriate description of Gatsby. Though the comparison between Gatsby and Jesus is not an important event in The Great Gatsby, it is nonetheless a suggestive comparison, as Gatsby transforms himself into the image that he envisioned for himself as a youngster and remains committed to that idea, despite the obstacles that society presents to the
beginning to end.” What does this curiously ambivalent admiration for Gatsby tell us about Nick,
Nick sees Gatsby as the beacon of human perfection a man with a dream so pure it couldn’t be corrupted by anyone. Nick sees this once incorruptible dream in the “Gatsby believed in the Green light, the orgastic future…” (Fitzgerald 180). Nick’s tone shows that he saw Gatsby’s dream not what the end goal was but what the dream symbolized. The dream of Gatsby was treated so poorly as if it meant nothing to everybody, and Nick could sympathize with this dream for, in the beginning, Nick was much the very same way weak and vulnerable to the power of everyone else. Gatsby’s dream only grow the more he wanted to achieve it and Nick grows in character from watching Gatsby never give up on it. Gatsby teaches Nick to be dignified indirectly and teaches him to see the world as a place that is formal and filled with dignity. When Gatsby is murdered because of the corrupt people around him, Gatsby’s dream dies with him, and Nick is tormented by the absence of the once great Gatsby. Nick later walks the streets of the once great wonderland and sees its wonder no longer, “After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction” (Fitzgerald 176) Nick has been taught by Gatsby that the world should be seen as formal and be dignified, and with this knowledge he realizes that the
At the beginning of the book Nick sees Gatsby as a mysterious shady man. In the beginning of the chapter Nick somewhat resents Gatsby. In Nick’s opinion Gatsby was the representation of “…everything for
The scriptures from the Bible can be seen in many different pieces of literature, in multiple forms, providing added depth and meaning to a story. The use of religious imagery is highly prevalent and can be identified a number of times in the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott FItzgerald.
Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's parties and the way in which Nick views them to reveal that whilst Gatsby is surrounded by shallow and vulgar people, he is above this. Fitzgerald also uses these parties to expose Gatsby's isolation which leads us to feel sympathy toward Gatsby. Despite the amount of people at the party, Nick observes Gatsby's seclusion and loneliness, "my eyes fell to Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps". This evokes a great deal of sympathy from us as although Nick describes Gatsby in a warm and friendly way, "It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life", we now can see that Gatsby is a lonely figure. This sympathy is accentuated when Nick is the only person to turn up to Gatsby's funeral, as we know that Gatsby is a decent and honourable character and thus our sympathies are emphasised by Gatsby's isolation. When Nick first meets Gatsby, he reveals Gatsby to be a fascinating character that we would like to know more about. The warm and assuring smile that Nick describes is in antithesis to the
One thing that surprises me about Nick is that he was loyal to Gatsby who seemed likeable enough but empty inside. He seemed like the picture was more important than the real person. Nick was interested in person and would put himself in a bad light to help a friend. “I didn’t want to go to the city. I wasn’t worth a decent stroke
“‘I’m glad it’s a girl and I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’”. This is a very vivid quote written by F. Scott Fitzgerald that helps identify one of the many themes in his book The Great Gatsby. This specific quote speaks of the topic I will be addressing which is money and materialism. This theme takes shape and form in many different ways and through different people throughout the book, and is shown through Fitzgerald’s characters Myrtle, Daisy, and Tom.
“Nick, while not concerned with racial purity per se, is still concerned with a certain type of eugenic logic when he tries to find out Gatsby's background. He looks desperately for a referent for Gatsby's sign, something to undergird and back up the image of the man Gatsby proposes to be” (Schreier 160).
Nick’s behavioural changes are one the most evident changes that the reader is able to notice after he is invited to Gatsby’s house. These changes could be regarded as either negative or positive depending on how the reader interprets them. “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.”(pg. 59), this is one of Nick’s quote from the beginning of the story before he meets Gatsby, he states that he is very honest to himself and to others but the reader soon finds out that is not the case. Nick is not an honest individual because after Gatsby is accused for Myrtle Wilson’s murder he does not speak up and tell Tom Buchanan and George Wilson (Myrtle’s husband) as to whom committed the crime. This misunderstanding ultimately leads to the death of Jay Gatsby as he shot my George at his Mansion. These series of events are important to Nick’s behavioural changes as the reader to notice how being in Gatsby’s mansion had affected his honesty. Another behavioural change the reader is able to notice is Nick’s drinking habit as he starts to drink more when he first enters one of Gatsby’s parties. Chapter two of “The Great Gatsby” is where the
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby to criticize society’s modern custom, hypocrisy. In the story, Fitzgerald emphasizes appearances. The Webster dictionary defines the word as, “an impression given by someone or something”. The author discusses how people love to make things appear as something different, something they dream and yearn for. Fitzgerald uses three major characters to describe the main behaviors of hypocrites in society: first we have those, such as Nick Carraway, that claim to have animosity towards the delusions of society, yet they become accomplices of what they despise. Then we have the individuals who are like Tom, who demand that others follow their virtues, even if they don’t follow them themselves. Finally we
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the God is one who does not interfere with what people are doing on Earth. He does care about them, even if they have done wrong, doesn’t try to change them, or their morals. He is described as a “watcher” (Fitzgerald 167). He watches people cause their own destruction but does not do anything about it. The role of God and Religion in Gatsby is evident in the lack of religion among the upper/business class, it’s effect on mortality, and the symbolism of God.
When the reader is first introduced in the novel, we see him Òstanding with his hands in his pocketsÓ and supposedly Òout to determine what share is his of our local heavensÓ. Nick watches GatsbyÕs movements and comments: ÒHe stretches out his arms toward the dark in a curious way, and as far as I can swear he is trembling. Involuntarily I glance seaward-and distinguish nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might be the end of the dockÓ
The real contradiction to Nick is The Great Gatsby himself, Jay. Jay and Nick share a similar small town upbringing but Jay was able to parle his stolen trades into the corrupted version of the American Dream. Most of what Nick knows about Jay is based on his reputation and it’s not until they actually meet and Nick sees the “quality of distortion” in Jay’s New York lifestyle that Nick sees for himself the illusion that Jay created. Nick is attracted to the high life that Gatsby has created in the valley of ashes. Who can blame him with all the lavish parties, cars, mansions, women and other temptations. It’s like Fitzgerald has placed Nick in the Garden of Eden and the two characters; Nick and Jay, represent the good
Secondly, Gatsby is a very mysterious character. Nick has been Gatsby’s neighbor, or so he thinks, and has never met him. Nick says “It was Gatsby’s mansion, or, rather, as I didn’t know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name” (5). This shows you that even Gatsby’s own neighbor does not even know who he is; which shows that Gatsby is mysterious. Later on, once he actually meets Gatsby, Nick goes on to say “I don’t like mysteries, and I don’t understand why you won’t come out frankly and tell me what you want. Why does it all have to come through Miss Baker?” (71). As expected, this frustrates Nick and gives him more reason to believe that Gatsby is mysterious and not trustworthy. Nick doesn’t understand why someone who seems to be his friend is hiding so much