Religion - Themes, The Great | The Great Gatsby - Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

The fact that religion is absent among the upper echelons of society suggests that a moral standard might also be absent – as much is borne out by characters’ actions. When God does appear, it is only in George Wilson’s dialogue, when he lets his wife know that she can’t fool God, that he sees and judges all. Instead of being guided by the moral precepts of religion or of God, other characters find other codes to determine their behaviors: a father’s advice, or a self-serving mantra, a jaded viewpoint, or an undying love. In Fitzgerald’s jaded America, the only God that can exist takes the form of a billboard (the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg), perhaps suggesting that capitalism rules where religion once did.

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Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

Each character in The Great Gatsby is guided by his or her personal ethic, yet Nick Carraway has the final word, and his judgment reigns supreme; because we see the events through his eyes, there is no moral objectivity in the text.

Although only George Wilson invokes God in The Great Gatsby, his statement that, "God sees everything," and, "You can’t fool God," indicts each character in the book through the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Nick, because he so frequently describes the eyes, is the only other character besides Wilson to recognize this indictment.

Although people are governed by both choice and fate in The Great Gatsby, it is ultimately Tom’s choice that seals Gatsby’s fate.

In The Great Gatsby, capitalism and the desire for wealth have replaced religion.