In The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, religion plays a key part in the book. Though it is not blatantly obvious at first, there are many subliminal references and symbols of god and religion, specifically Christianity. John's hometown, Hades, is actually an allusion to hell, named after the Greek god of the underworld. This is a direct contrast the the Washington estate, which is the "garden of eden", a garden of paradise from the bible. Another reference to hell is made in Braddock's dungeon, where one of the men yells, "Come down to hell". Braddock continues to mock them, showing how he thinks of himself as a powerful god who controls who is in eden and who is in hell. There are also references to the fact that Americans have turned away from god, and only chose to worship money. One example is the "twelve fishermen". Fitzgerald describes the village below the mountain, saying , "An immense distance under the sky crouched the village of Fish, minute, dismal, and forgotten" (Fitzgerald 78). The twelve fishermen represent the twelve disciples, and the town represents God's place in America. The village is "minute" and "forgotten", showing how religion has become neglected in this time or materialism and greed. The end of the book, when planes attack Braddock's estate, is supposed to be like judgment day, where God comes back and wreaks havoc for Braddock's greed and his sins. When Braddock tries to offer a diamond as a bribe to God, God shows that the divine is not in the same league as humans, because God is not greedy or corrupt. Braddock, on the other hand, thinks that money and wealth trump everything, so he is unpleasantly surprised when his bribe is turned down. He realizes that he is not the most powerful being as he had previously thought, and god destroys eden to show that Braddock is not, in fact, in control of who is in eden and who is in hell.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Religion in The Diamond as Big as the Ritz
In The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, religion plays a key part in the book. Though it is not blatantly obvious at first, there are many subliminal references and symbols of god and religion, specifically Christianity. John's hometown, Hades, is actually an allusion to hell, named after the Greek god of the underworld. This is a direct contrast the the Washington estate, which is the "garden of eden", a garden of paradise from the bible. Another reference to hell is made in Braddock's dungeon, where one of the men yells, "Come down to hell". Braddock continues to mock them, showing how he thinks of himself as a powerful god who controls who is in eden and who is in hell. There are also references to the fact that Americans have turned away from god, and only chose to worship money. One example is the "twelve fishermen". Fitzgerald describes the village below the mountain, saying , "An immense distance under the sky crouched the village of Fish, minute, dismal, and forgotten" (Fitzgerald 78). The twelve fishermen represent the twelve disciples, and the town represents God's place in America. The village is "minute" and "forgotten", showing how religion has become neglected in this time or materialism and greed. The end of the book, when planes attack Braddock's estate, is supposed to be like judgment day, where God comes back and wreaks havoc for Braddock's greed and his sins. When Braddock tries to offer a diamond as a bribe to God, God shows that the divine is not in the same league as humans, because God is not greedy or corrupt. Braddock, on the other hand, thinks that money and wealth trump everything, so he is unpleasantly surprised when his bribe is turned down. He realizes that he is not the most powerful being as he had previously thought, and god destroys eden to show that Braddock is not, in fact, in control of who is in eden and who is in hell.
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Wow, I didn't even realize that some of these examples related to religion until I read this post. Your analysis was really good and brought to light some key aspects of the story that I had completely misunderstood.
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