Divinity In The Great Gatsby

In contrast, the Beowulf from the movie lacks the humility shown in the epic. Instead, he attributes all his victories to himself. Nowadays, people attribute any accomplishments to themselves and they have also become more individualistic. Although people still believe in God, they are not as appreciative and they do not acknowledge that through his grace and power, they overcome obstacles in their lives. On the contrary, people take credit for their own victories but question God during times of great struggle and tribulation.

In the novel The Great Gatsby the main character is Nick Carraway. Nick narrates the story from the past. Nick is a very good man and is or at least tries to be truthful about everything. In the novel Nick introduces a main character into the story named Jay Gatsby. Nick meets Gatsby he has a very high expectation for him.

From when Equality begins to commit transgressions, ranging from stealing candles and manuscripts to being alone, he finally feels that, “in our heart there is the first peace we have known in twenty years” (37). Equality’s peace exhibits that fact that even though he has committed numerous transgressions, he is not at odds with himself because he is doing what he personally wants to do, under his own power and will--not stemming from the will of his brothers. The concept of Equality and his individuality continually appears throughout the story, but is clearly evident when he, “wish[es] it were possible to us to know the likeness of our own person” (62). Equality realizing that he strives to know what he looks like pushes him farther from his brothers and their ideals of collectivism and signifies the next step on his journey to discovering the true value of individuality. Finally, at the conclusion of the story, Equality decides that his, “home will become the capital of a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake.”

Then the Virgin tells Antonio that she will also only forgive both and not only Narciso (Anaya 173). Antonio never bothered to see Tenorio in a good light and was thus always critical of him. His good half wanted Narciso forgiven but overlooked that in being critical of Tenorio he forgot that wishing forgiveness of all means all the people. In an earlier part of the book, Antonio says “It is not easy to forgive men like Tenorio” (Anaya 138). Antonio was once again being critical just showing that he is also human and he is like the God and Virgin in that he is composed of a caring and critical personality.

“Egoism states that each man’s primary moral obligation is to achieve his own welfare, well-being, or self-interest… He should be ‘selfish’ in the sense of being the beneficiary of his own moral actions.” (Glossary of Definitions by Ayn Rand, pg. 12) In the book everything Prometheus does benefit him to reach his welfare in Happiness. On page 95 of Anthem Equality writes “For I know what happiness is possible to me on earth.

He is someone that throughout the story is constantly in high emotion and loves unconditionally. The very first line of the book Oscar is introduced as a hero, it states, “Our hero was not one of those Dominican cats everybody’s always going on about — he wasn’t no home-run hitter or a fly bachatero, not a playboy with a million hots on his jock” (11). Oscar was not someone that people think of as a traditional hero. He was obese, geeky, and extremely persistent, but that did not make him any less of a hero in the story. Oscar broke the typical idea of what a hero looks like and the majorities perception of one.

God, the Creator of the universe, created each individual with a purpose and value that even they can’t fully understand. With that being said, Dr. Wymore showed us that humans are not designed to do whatever they feel is right or pleasing in their own eyes. Though humans are broken and fallen, they are still redeemed by Christ’s all-consuming love. Dr. Wymore gave us the example of how each person is a character within the story that God is unfolding, yet they themselves aren’t the actual story. Sometimes people can look so inwardly on what is going on in their lives, and what they think that they need to do or say that they miss the work that God is doing within their lives, and essentially losing the “solid ground” of life.

At first glance, it may seem that Nick does not change from start to finish. However, this is due to The Great Gatsby being told by himself. It is often hard for humans to reflect and realize their changes over a short period of time, whether physical or mental; people live in a stream of consciousness that feels continuous and unchanging. This applies to Nick as well. Because the audience sees the story from his perspective, it is hard to find any change in Nick.

“It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world (44).” The mystery of his life is so fascinating to everyone that they continuously speculate about him and come up with wild theories explaining his veiled past, paying him “the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him (61).” Fitzgerald evokes religious sentiments by using the word“tribute” to demonstrate the Godlike awe Gatsby inspires in those around him. Like God, no one seems to know how he came to be, even Nick is intrigued by his peculiar lack of any sort of history. Gatsby would be comprehensible were he “from the swamps of Louisiana or from the lower East side of New York”, but he could not be understood devoid of a context.

Furthermore, God is concerned about all that He has created. In fact, God is so concerned about His creation that He feeds, clothes and shelters them all. "God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy" (p. 161). God does not owe mankind anything, but mankind owes everything to God, including her life. Particular sections in the reading shares an interesting topic of God giving Himself glory.

Andrew let silence all over the humble dinner, for without it Andrew would have raised his voice, and his blood pressure. Thomas, to break the silence, said, “I mean you have freedom of believing anything you want, unless it is the religions of the Judo-Christians, or the Muslims. This is true because they believe God gave some humans his holy word to tell others about.” (Paine, 1794, P.96) Andrew’s blood at this point came to a boil, which invoked him to ask “So none of the bible is real according to you?”

1. Critique Jonah’s actions using specific concepts from either the Intercultural Competence text or from The Art of Crossing Cultures. Jonah’s actions seem no different than anyone else’s who encounters a culture that is different than their own. This expectation of everyone being the same and the superiority held about one’s own culture is easily seen in Jonah when he compares his life to the Ninevites. He even questions God as to why the Ninevites should receive His boundless compassion.

Some of the major differences can be seen in the ideas of origin and the meaning of life. In today’s society, as a whole, most do not believe that the world was created because various gods were fighting or because a monster of chaos was destroyed. In a modern, Christian worldview, we believe God created us and the earth and that He genuinely cares for us. For us, the meaning of life is similar in the idea that happiness is a goal; however, we find meaning in what we do and how we impact others. The Mesopotamians on the other hand never gave much evidence to support the idea that they were invested in the people around them and making their lives better along with their own.

Each individual has their own perception of people and events, along with the unique impact it may have on them. This concept can be accurately portrayed in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is able to describe each character’s process of thinking in a way that puts a reader in the forefront of that character’s thinking and emotion.  Each character has a different way of thinking and decision making process. The usage of literature and celebrated classics, such as The Great Gatsby, are able to expand a reader’s understanding of the complexity of human life.