The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, lives up to its namesake. The book explores numerous complex themes, ranging from the unattainable and destructive nature of the pursuit of an idealized past to the social inequality brought about by wealth, even among the wealthy themselves, and, relevant to this essay, the decadence and moral decline brought about by the corruption of the American dream. Two symbols represent this idea: the Valley of Ashes, which is a physical manifestation of the grotesque, ever-consuming nature of the American dream and drains the life of its poor inhabitants – and the billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg who looms over the road of the valley, eyes watching, becoming a symbol of anything in a place devoid of meaning. They are symbols of an empty and vapid dream that is never satiated – always …show more content…
Despite this extreme use of resources and harm to others, none of the elites we see are happier. Daisy is -- at best -- apathetic toward everyone else; Gatsby pursues the past -- a Sisyphean task -- till his death; Tom has everything to the covetousness of others, yet still acts like a donkey to others. The billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg leers over the decrepit landscape of the Valley. The “blue and gigantic” eyes with “retinas [that] are one yard high” emerge from the dust and black ash that is omnipresent in the valley (Fitzgerald 26). The leering eyes become a symbol of the moral decline of the American ideal and the vacuousness of both the “enchanted metropolitan” (New York City) and the immense wealth of both West and East Egg (Fitzgerald 62). The eyes become a mirror by which observers can implant their own individualized meaning. George Wilson is an example of this prescribed meaning. The eyes, covered with golden spectacles, are, in reality, old and worn down. The sun bleached the paint, and the rain washed away some of its