A Christ-like Connection
Seeing a story or situation from someone else’s perspective broadens understanding of not only the situation but the person as well. If people can find common ground, then they can solve their problems or arguments. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, the authors aim to find common ground with readers through the use of biblical allusions to Christ. The protagonists, while varied in age and personality, present themselves as representations of Christ. Although the two novels depict two protagonists with differing struggles and demeanors, the two authors both utilize allusions to characterize the two men and aid readers in witnessing and sympathizing their struggles. …show more content…
Throughout the novel, tensions between Gatsby and Tom, regarding Daisy, run rampant, and one day everything begins to collapse. A fight ensues, resulting in Gatsby taking Daisy home and allowing her to drive. After Daisy hits and kills Myrtle with Gatsby’s car, Myrtle’s husband, Wilson, seeks revenge on the person at fault. After receiving a hint from Tom Buchanan, Wilson murders Gatsby, leaving behind “a thin red circle in the water of the pool” (Fitzgerald 162). Soon after Gatsby’s death, Tom and Daisy leave town, without attending Gatsby’s funeral (Fitzgerald 164). Gatsby’s death was due to Daisy’s mistake and Tom’s lies. The two “friends” then decide to betray Gatsby further and in no way work to protect his reputation or save his name. Gatsby suffered because of other’s mistake and in turn faces betrayal. He ultimately paid the price, so Daisy could go free. This sequence of events alludes to the crucifixion of Christ. Christ “suffered for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous…” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, 1 Peter 3.18) and His closest friend betrayed HIm, “Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Luke 6.16). This ultimate comparison allows the reader to empathize Gatsby’s demise. It paints him as pure and good. Not only did he take the fall for others, he never truly receives the …show more content…
Hemingway alludes the old man to Christ through his struggles; yet, these allusions function merely as an opportunity for readers to form connections with the character. Santiago, throughout the novel, works towards one goal: catching the fish. However, in the end, he returns home with a skeleton, “eighteen feet from nose to tail” (Hemingway 122). Christ lived his life for one goal, but he completed that goal by dying for humanity’s sins so “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, John 3.16). In this sense, Santiago never fully lives up to the savior name. Similarly, Gatsby falls short of the title as well. Gatsby, while having died for others’ sins, never earns a savior characteristic due to his own sin. Throughout the novel, he works to obtain a married woman, Daisy, and to do this he associates himself with an illegal business, a business that even sent a colleague to jail (Fitzgerald 134). His push for infidelity and cheating in life contradicts many principles Christ outlines by saying, “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Proverbs 10.9). Through his sin, Gatsby cannot truly embody a Christ-like savior and simply serves as a loose comparison. These
Seeing a story or situation from someone else’s perspective broadens understanding of not only the situation but the person as well. If people can find common ground, then they can solve their problems or arguments. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, the authors aim to find common ground with readers through the use of biblical allusions to Christ. The protagonists, while varied in age and personality, present themselves as representations of Christ. Although the two novels depict two protagonists with differing struggles and demeanors, the two authors both utilize allusions to characterize the two men and aid readers in witnessing and sympathizing their struggles. …show more content…
Throughout the novel, tensions between Gatsby and Tom, regarding Daisy, run rampant, and one day everything begins to collapse. A fight ensues, resulting in Gatsby taking Daisy home and allowing her to drive. After Daisy hits and kills Myrtle with Gatsby’s car, Myrtle’s husband, Wilson, seeks revenge on the person at fault. After receiving a hint from Tom Buchanan, Wilson murders Gatsby, leaving behind “a thin red circle in the water of the pool” (Fitzgerald 162). Soon after Gatsby’s death, Tom and Daisy leave town, without attending Gatsby’s funeral (Fitzgerald 164). Gatsby’s death was due to Daisy’s mistake and Tom’s lies. The two “friends” then decide to betray Gatsby further and in no way work to protect his reputation or save his name. Gatsby suffered because of other’s mistake and in turn faces betrayal. He ultimately paid the price, so Daisy could go free. This sequence of events alludes to the crucifixion of Christ. Christ “suffered for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous…” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, 1 Peter 3.18) and His closest friend betrayed HIm, “Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Luke 6.16). This ultimate comparison allows the reader to empathize Gatsby’s demise. It paints him as pure and good. Not only did he take the fall for others, he never truly receives the …show more content…
Hemingway alludes the old man to Christ through his struggles; yet, these allusions function merely as an opportunity for readers to form connections with the character. Santiago, throughout the novel, works towards one goal: catching the fish. However, in the end, he returns home with a skeleton, “eighteen feet from nose to tail” (Hemingway 122). Christ lived his life for one goal, but he completed that goal by dying for humanity’s sins so “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, John 3.16). In this sense, Santiago never fully lives up to the savior name. Similarly, Gatsby falls short of the title as well. Gatsby, while having died for others’ sins, never earns a savior characteristic due to his own sin. Throughout the novel, he works to obtain a married woman, Daisy, and to do this he associates himself with an illegal business, a business that even sent a colleague to jail (Fitzgerald 134). His push for infidelity and cheating in life contradicts many principles Christ outlines by saying, “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Proverbs 10.9). Through his sin, Gatsby cannot truly embody a Christ-like savior and simply serves as a loose comparison. These