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Isabella Sanchez

Storer

English 3 Honors

March 02, 2020

Jay Gatsby as a Christ-figure

Within literature there are many archetypes, stereotypes, and just types of characters that

must fulfill certain roles within their own works of literature. A Christ-like figure is a character t t

that is an embodiment or representation of Jesus Christ. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great

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Gatsby, the intriguing and mysterious character Jay Gatsby is undoubtedly represented as a
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Christ figure. Jay Gatsby can be considered a Christ-figure because of the rumors the surround
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his identity, Gatsby’s ultimate death echoing that of Jesus’ crucifixion, and how he had
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strikingly similar characteristics to those of the Son of God.

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Both Jay Gatsby and Jesus were misunderstood as to who they really were. In one of
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Gatsby’s extravagant parties the guests began to converse over what they thought Gatsby’s past

held, as Nick overheard the conversation, he grew more and more curious over Gatsby’s

unknown past: “The two girls and Jordan leaned together confidentially. ‘Somebody told me

they thought he killed a man once.’ A thrill passed over all of us. The three Mr. Mumbles bent

forward and listened eagerly” (Fitzgerald 44). Gatsby’s guests had spread exaggerated rumors t t t t t t

and theories as to how Gatsby came to be and who he really is. During Christ’s time many
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people were spreading the word of how powerful Christ was and how he could become a rich
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and powerful King with his abilities to heal and make commands that will comet true,
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misunderstanding Him. Besides from all of the people who did not understand or truly knew

them, there were few who believed and trusted in them. Carraway grew close to Gatsby
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developing a friendship that allowed him to trust in Gatsby. After contemplating over all of the

false accusations he had heard about his friend, Nick overcomes his confusion and decides to

trust in Gatsby, “He told me all this very much later, but I’ve put it down here with the idea of

exploding those first wild rumors about his antecedents, which weren’t even faintly true.

Moreover, he told it to me at a time of confusion, when I had reached the point of believing

everything and nothing about him” (Fitzgerald 101). Gatsby began to reveal his past little by

little as Nick tried to leave the false rumors behind and truly believing that what Gatsby reveals

is the truth. Carraway resembles all of Jesus’ disciples, even though they all questioned if the

rumors were real, they surmounted the confusion and stayed faithful to there friend and leader.

Both Nick and many of the disciples followed Gatsby and Jesus throughout their lives up to the

day of their deaths, the reader can acknowledge the parallel between Gatsby’s death and Jesus’.

The road to both Gatsby’s and Jesus’ deaths included a form of sacrifice, betrayal, and
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ultimately dying for other’s sins. Before Gatsby’s tragic death he passed time in Nick’s garden,
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accompanied by the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. During one of Gatsby’s parties Nick finds

Daisy and Jay in his garden, “Then they sauntered over to my house and sat on the steps for half

an hour while at her request I remained watchfully in the garden: ‘In case there’s a fire or a

flood,’ she explained, ‘or any act of God” (Fitzgerald 105). The garden portrays the garden of

Gethsemane, while Jesus spent his last moments in the garden, He was with some of his apostles

just how Gatsby was with Daisy. At this moment for the both of them the journey towards their

death initiated because Jesus was turned in by Judas and after that party Tom Buchanan began to

question Gatsby and his past which led Tom to betray him later on. After the death of Myrtle

Nick found Gatsby hiding in the Buchanan’s bushes, he explained what had happened and that

he would do whatever it took to protect Daisy without knowing that he was putting his life on the
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line. When Nick asked him about the accident Gatsby said, “Yes,’ he said after a moment, ‘but

of course I’ll say I was. You see, when we left New York she was very nervous, and she thought

it would steady her to drive—and this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car

coming the other way” (Fitzgerald 143). Gatsby conclusively died for Tom and Daisy’s sins. The t

days after Gatsby was murdered by George Wilson, the media blamed Gatsby for Tom’s sin, the
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affair with Myrtle, and Daisy’s sin, the murder of Myrtle. Jesus died for all of humanities sins
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and salvation and because of His death humans were allowed to live a better life, just how Tom

and Daisy got away with their problems.

Throughout the novel Gatsby was portrayed with God-like qualities attributing to his

resemblance with Jesus Christ. Nick described Gatsby at the beginning of the novel by saying,

“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous

about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of

those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away” (Fitzgerald 2). The t

reader can observe how Christ promises life eternal, Gatsby has also seen the promises of life.
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Another thing that should be noted is his “extraordinary gift of hope”, Gatsby’s hope is
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illustrated through his desire to be with Daisy and his belief in “the green light” that represents
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the hope for the future with her. Gatsby’s strong belief in hope connects to both Jesus having an
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abundance of hope and how one of the “theological virtues” is hope. Another example to expand
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of how Gatsby is a Christ-like figure is another statement that Nick said about Gatsby: “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. So, he invented just the

sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception

he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald 98). Nick refers to Gatsby as the “Son of God”
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symbolizing the affinity to Jesus who is the real Son of God. He also adds that he was “the

service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty” which showcases how God sent Jesus so that

He could fulfill His plan which was to save humanity. Throughout His life Jesus followed God’s

orders and took His advice just how Gatsby learned from and followed in Dan Cody’s footsteps.

Gatsby is one of literatures greatest Christ-like figures. He resembles Christ because of

the rumors that surround him, the road that lead to his death which reflected Jesus’ crucifixion,

and how throughout the novel he was depicted with similar characteristics that Jesus has. Gatsby

is truly a character that is an embodiment and representation of Jesus Christ.

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Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. PENGUIN Books, 2019, www.planetebook.com/free-

ebooks/the-great-gatsby.pdf.