Gatsby’s Grail

4 Pages 894 Words

In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a parallel with the Arthurian Legend, particularly that of the Crusade for the Holy Grail, is shown through the conduct of Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway. Gatsby’s desire to attain Daisy Buchanan’s love is his crusade. Nick’s quest, on the other hand, is for a good life. Both men are on a voyage to uncover something to make themselves better, but each has different means of accomplishing their goal.

Nick Carraway’s crusade is practically a copy of King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail. Nick’s desire and quest is to live his life by a moral code. This moral code is his holy grail. Coincidentally, this desire to live by a moral code is also similar to the Arthurian round tables’ ideals of chivalry. From the beginning of the novel until its conclusion, this moral code is exemplified in the way Nick resists passing judgment upon people. Nick watches out for the other characters by refusing to gossip about them. For example, Nick refuses to make any judgment regarding Gatsby’s affairs. Nick is also very concerned with honesty. This is another example of his idealistic adherence to a moral code. At one point he comments, “I am one of the few honest people I know.” (p. 64). However, Nick, like Arthur and his knights, is led astray from his quest for his grail. He begins dating Jordan and she becomes a distraction from his true quest. He begins to substitute his ideal of her for his ideal morality. This distraction shows when Nick proceeds to describe Jordan as a grail-like figure; “Daisy and Jordan sat by the couch, like silver idols.” (p.122). In a similar way to Arthur’s being led astray by Guinivere from his quest for the Grail, Nick begins to waver on his quest. But Nick is only momentarily distracted from his journey, because he realizes dating Jordan is not part of succeeding at his overall goal. Nick is quick to return to his original quest, a...