Religion In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is written as a mockery of American ideals, and emphasizes materialism, sexual immorality, and selfishness. Though it appears at first glance to be a love story about Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby is actually a satirical take on American culture, especially in the 1920s. In the 1920s, known as the “Roaring Twenties”, America’s economy was booming, jazz was immensely popular, and alcohol had been banned. Organized crime ran rampant, and Americans seemed to lose their moral values.
This culture is chiefly manifested through the character Daisy Buchanan, whose simple personality and voice “full of money” are a representation of the jazz age as a whole. The first description of her voice, …show more content…

In The Great Gatsby, a billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg’s eyes serves as a representation of religion in American culture. After the killing of his wife, George Wilson equates the billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg’s eyes to the all-seeing eyes of God, saying “God sees everything” while staring at the billboard. The placement of the billboard in the Valley of Ashes, a place full of waste and refuse, shows that Americans, especially in this time period, have discarded religion for the pursuit of material and physical satisfaction. Also in this scene, Michaelis asks George Wilson if he has a church he goes to, and says that George “ought to have a church … for times like this.” This futher represents the immorality of the 1920s, as people in America see church as a commodity to be used for formal occasions, rather than a place of worship and spiritual …show more content…

Throughout The Great Gatsby, readers are exposed to a plethora of selfish activity, from Tom’s affair with Myrtle to the party guests at Gatsby’s parties. Gatsby seeks out Daisy, but ignores the fact that she has a daughter and husband, only concerned with his own happiness. Selfishness is also demonstrated through Jordan Baker, who cheated in a golf tournament and is, according to Nick, “incurably dishonest.” Jordan Baker is careless, only worrying about herself, as shown in the scene where she is driving with

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