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Maximo Gutierrez

Mrs. Storer

English 3 Honors American Literature

March 2, 2020

The Not-So-Christ-like Gatsby

Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus Christ, is the most important figure in the largest religion in

the world, Christianity. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, Jay

Gatsby, formerly known as James Gatz, is one of the most prominent figures living in West Egg,

a land mass on Long Island Sound, New York, populated by the newly wealthy. Throughout the

novel, Fitzgerald gives Gatsby’s character striking similarities to the life and personality of Jesus

Christ. It is important to note, however, that a true Christ-like figure shows humbleness, is honest

about who they are, and always commits morally good actions. Gatsby could not be considered a

Christ-like figure because he lies to people about his true identity, commits illegal acts to get

what he wants, and does not have a humble view of himself.

Gatsby lies to people about the kind of person he truly is. To illustrate, at the first of

Gatsby’s parties that Nick attends, he observes many partygoers creating stories about Gatsby’s

origins and reasons for his wealth, to which he narrates, “I would have accepted without question

the information that Gatsby sprang from the swamps of Louisiana or from the Lower East Side

of New York. That was comprehensible. But young men didn’t […] drift coolly out of nowhere

and buy a palace on Long Island Sound” (Fitzgerald 49). Simply put, the only information Nick

contains about Gatsby is through the rumors of random strangers, and that information is not

enough for Nick to get a clear understanding of why Gatsby is where he is now. For the duration

of the first three chapters of the book, the person of Gatsby has remained a mystery to everyone,
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and he seems perfectly content with keeping it that way. During the life of Jesus, he was always

open to people about his true identity as the Son of God and the Savior of all humans. The fact

that Gatsby allows for theories of his origins to keep going around and withholds this basic

information from people who want to know about him is in of itself an un-Christ-like action.

Another example comes later in the book: when Nick inquires Gatsby about his true origins,

Gatsby details “‘God’s truth.’” that he is “‘[…] the son of some wealthy people in the Middle

West’”, and when Nick inquires where in the Midwest he is from, Gatsby replies, “‘San

Francisco.’” (Fitzgerald 65). In essence, even though Gatsby claims to detail God’s truth to Nick,

his lie falls apart when he mistakes San Francisco as a Midwestern city. To put it bluntly, Gatsby

tells an outright lie to Nick when he is asked about where he came from, directly breaking the

eighth commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Jesus not only

followed all ten commandments, but he strengthened their meaning during his Sermon on the

Mount. A true Christ-like figure would not deliberately break a holy commandment, so Gatsby

distances himself from any resemblance to Jesus as soon as he confuses the geographical

location of San Francisco. Lying to people may be one thing, but Gatsby takes his disregard for

moral goodness to a whole other level.

Gatsby gets what he wants by committing acts against the moral code of humanity. He

first hints at this when he makes the following offer to Nick: “‘[…] you see, I carry on a little

business on the side, a sort of side line, you understand. And I though that if you don’t make very

much […] Well, this would interest you. It wouldn’t take up much of your time and you might

pick up a nice bit of money. It happens to be a rather confidential sort of thing.’” (Fitzgerald 83).

When Gatsby implies that his “side line” business is “confidential”, he immediately makes it

clear to Nick that this business is not legitimate and that he may lead Nick into something
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criminal. By playing in to Nick’s passion for working with money and bonds, Gatsby is leading

Nick into sinful business through means of temptation. Jesus was famous for fighting against the

many temptations of Satan during his forty days in the desert. Therefore, it would not be very

Christ-like for someone to lead people into temptation, and Gatsby unfortunately falls into that

trap. Additionally, it is hinted at throughout the book that Gatsby has been getting into some

shady dealings with a certain Meyer Wolfsheim. Ultimately, it is Tom that reveals to the other

characters Gatsby’s true dealing in the seventh chapter: “‘He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot

of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one

of his little stunts. I picked him up for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far

wrong.’” (Fitzgerald 133). At this point, Gatsby is revealed to have made his fortune off of

illegally selling alcohol, going against the eighteenth amendment in place at the time. During the

1920s, a law had been put in place banning the distribution of any and all alcoholic drinks, and

Gatsby has been breaking that law in order to build up his riches. Although it is true that Jesus

was charged with the crime of blasphemy, he spent his entire life trying to uphold the Law of

God in the best way He could. For this reason, Gatsby’s criminal actions negate any sort of

Christ-like character Fitzgerald may have implied him to have.

In addition to his lies and criminal actions, Gatsby does not view himself in a humble

light like Jesus did. This is most evident in Nick’s long, detailed description of the extravagancy

of Gatsby’s weekend parties: “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths

among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched

his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while

his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound […] On weekends his Rolls-Royce became an

omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past
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midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on

Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day […] repairing the ravages of

the night before” (Fitzgerald 39). From these descriptions, one can get the sense that Gatsby

enjoys flaunting his wealth, as evident by the quality and number of vehicles and servants he can

afford. Through this showing off, Gatsby has accumulated a number of people who enjoy his

extravagant lifestyle and attend all of his events just to have a wild time. Jesus had lived his

whole life in a rather lackluster financial standing, and although he did garner a large amount of

followers, he was known for trying to avoid a life of fame whenever he could. The fact that

Gatsby is not only wealthy but makes it evident to everyone around him that he can afford the

best things in life suggests a lack of the humility that Jesus was famous for. Furthermore, when

Nick tries to tell Gatsby that he “can’t repeat the past” by devoting his life to Daisy, Gatsby

exclaims, “‘Can’t repeat the past? […] Why of course you can! […] I’m going to fix everything

just the way it was before […] She’ll see.’” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby believes he can easily make

up for lost time with Daisy without acknowledging how impossible of a task it truly is. Gatsby

displays an inflated ego with this comment, revealing to Nick that he believes he has the power

to make things right with Daisy. Jesus was born with the power to die for the world’s sins and

forever save humanity from eternity in Hell, but He never let this power go to His head and

always approached situations in a rational and well-meaning manner. At no point does Gatsby

rationally look at the impossibility of his goal to get back together with Daisy, so he never

achieves a sense of humbleness that is paramount to the personality of a true Christ-like figure.

The upshot of all this is that despite the allusions Fitzgerald makes in his text, Jesus of

Nazareth and Jay Gatsby share no true similarities. Because Gatsby keeps his true identity

unknown to others, obtains power by committing morally bad actions, and views himself in a
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light devoid of humbleness, he could not be considered a Christ-like figure. Anyone can appear

to be a Christ-like person on the outside, but only the morality of one’s actions should be taken

into consideration when judging a person’s true character.

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Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott). The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner, 1953.