In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “magnum opus,” The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby endures a long strenuous quest to find his “holy grail.” Gatsby’s quest draws a strikingly similar parallel from an allusion in T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Waste Land.” Fitzgerald openly admits his admiration and respect for Eliot’s work and he admits to drawing inspiration from “The Waste Land” and particularly the allusions to the mythos of the Fisher King. In the myth of the Fisher King, a pure knight must embark on a journey to obtain the holy grail and return in time to save the dying Fisher King with the grail’s healing powers. There are many different forms of this story with multiple knights that receive this task. For example, the two most common knights are Perceval…show more content… To quest for the grail, the knight must be pure. Yet, purity in this context does not describe a pure body, but a pure heart. In this context, purity describes a desire of true love that cannot and will not be deterred or separated by any obstacle. Nevertheless, Gatsby is the knight of Fitzgerald’s work; he is tasked with a quest to obtain his item of healing, his holy grail. He demonstrates his purity by working extremely hard to gain wealth and put himself in a position to claim his grail. Every action, thought, party all play into Gatsby’s eventual goal of gaining Daisy Buchanan; thus, Gatsby demonstrates his purity. The grail represents total and complete healing in “The Waste Land,” likewise, in Fitzgerald’s novel Gatsby requires healing from the devastation of the war and heartbreak. Daisy represents everything positive and good that has occurred in Gatsby’s life. He has no choice but to return to her for healing. One final component of inspiration that Fitzgerald used of Eliot’s is failure. Rarely, in the grail myths, the knight fails to seize the grail and dies. This parallel clearly stands out as almost an exact replica Gatsby’s tragic end. Eliot utilizes the overall failure of the knight in “The Waste Land” to distinguish a potential happy ending to a more…show more content… He decides to continue on with the mythos of the holy grail due to its complexity and overall importance in “The Waste Land.” Fitzgerald decides to make the grail an item that is universally yearned for by all men- a beautiful woman. However, Daisy was a special woman. Daisy fills the gap in Gatsby’s heart before, during , and after the war. When Gatsby left Daisy to go and fight in the great war, Daisy decided to move on from Gatsby. She regrets this decision constantly and even shows it on her wedding
