The Great Gatsby Death Analysis

Towards the end of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, the main character, Jay Gatsby, is murdered at the hands of a distraught, lower class man named Wilson, who believes Gatsby killed his wife Myrtle the day before. However, the complexities of Gatsby’s death do not end there. Fitzgerald capitalizes on the scene of Gatsby’s death by implementing diction, biblical allusions, and the motif of time to reinforce his narrative that industrialization has corrupted the American Dream, thus creating a loss of control for man. Fitzgerald utilizes diction to reveal the corruption of the American Dream. As Gatsby lays in his pool, unknowingly awaiting his death, Fitzgerald describes an eerie atmosphere. He talks about the “unfamiliar …show more content…
To look at the topic through the effects of industrialization, one must analyze how Fitzgerald utilizes biblical allusions. As Gatsby walks to the pool he eventually dies in, he “shoulder[s]” a mattress (169). The image Fitzgerald paints here is parallel to the image of Christ on the way to crucifixion. This analysis is strengthened by the exchange between Gatsby and his chauffeur where Gatsby “shook his head” at the chauffeur’s offer of help (169). During Jesus’s crucifixion, he too denied help with carrying his cross. This is not the first comparison between Gatsby and the Christ Fitzgerald creates. Nick bluntly refers to Gatsby as the “son of God” when explaining the mysterious roots of the man (104). If Gatsby is the new “son of God”, then the God in question must be materialism spun by industrialization (104). Industry is how Gatsby gained his wealth and status. He is materialism, living in a mansion that’s an “imitation” of a hotel, buying “five crates of oranges and lemons” weekly for no other reason than to juice them and send them back as “pulpless halves” (9,43). Fitzgerald then argues that this is all America worships--materialism, not religion. The dream of wholesome American values is over if the center of those values are materialistic vanity. This is the reasoning for why Myrtle has an affair with Tom. This is the reason why Gatsby himself …show more content…
It is difficult for American society to fully accept a life based solely on morality and values. It is only human nature to desire material goods as proof of achievement. However, if Fitzgerald 's message is taken seriously, society can avoid becoming too materialistic to the point immoral behavior completely defines one’s life to the point of