How Does Fitzgerald Use Religion In The Great Gatsby

Practicing religion is an important aspect of culture that varies in intensity. From extreme devotion, to occasionally attending church, the worship of material things varies with these degrees of practice. In his novel The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys the consequences of these difference lifestyles. Fitzgerald uses the absence of God and religion in the lives of the characters in the novel presents an image of a materialistic lifestyle to critique America’s lack of faith.

“‘I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the window’--with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it--’and I said ‘God knows what you’be been doing and everything you’ve been doing.

Eckleburg. Fitzgerald uses Wilson’s absence of a modern view of God to critique society’s belief, or lack thereof, of God and religion. This idea is only accentuated in the lifestyle that most of the characters in the book lead--one of unhappiness and unfulfillment. Wilson’s devotion to this “God” that he believes to be the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg is contradictory to the passage directly before this one in which Wilson denies/doesn’t respond to Michaelis’ questions about Wilson’s connection with a church. Wilson’s lack of attendance to a formal church conveys the less than formal belief that Wilson has of God--that he has the eyes of a billboard and judges those who pass before him. The diction of “church” and “God” is repeated several times within these few

Eckleburg in “the valley of ashes” (23) to critique a lifestyle that worships material things. The “ashes”, that in certain Christian rituals represent repentance, can be seen as a religious symbol in the novel. This is contradictory to the abundance of events that take place in the novel that are in no way related to religion or good morals. In terms of the Christian rituals with ash, the “valley of ashes” could been seen as a valley for repentance. This along with the all-seeing eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg makes it seem as though each visit to this valley would be the equivalent of a visit to a church--to repent one’s sins and to replenish one’s relationship with God. However, throughout the novel, almost all of the characters’ wrong-doings were set in the “valley of ashes” under the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The religious symbolism that Fitzgerald seems to be placing directly into the faces of the characters in the novel is completely ignored. The characters continue to live their lives void of God, religion, or morals. Tom cheating on Daisy with Myrtle, several instances of drinking alcohol, multiple car accidents, all occur in the “valley of ashes”, supposedly a religious area. However the characters’ reckless lifestyle that lacks religion is only accentuated by the belief of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg as God. Their belief in the Doctor’s eyes as God illustrates the characters’ belief/reliance in material things, seeing that T.J