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Doctor Eckleburg Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

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A verse from The Book of Proverbs stated, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place seeing the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). This relates to how the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are portrayed by the characters in The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald as God staring upon the American society seeing everything that everyone does. The eyes are symbolic in the novel, they see everything and remind us that even when we think no one is watching; someone is. F. Scott Fitzgerald displays a negative view of America in the 1920’s through the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg by him seeing the loss of spirituality which causes the affairs, corruption, and murder. Many readers will believe that Doctor T.J. Eckleburg had no impact on the …show more content…

Eckleburg see that display a negative view on America in the 1920’s caused by the loss of spirituality. While discussing with Nick Tom said, “‘Terrible place, isn’t it,’ said Tom, exchanging a frown with Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. ‘Awful’” (Fitzgerald). The Valley of Ashes is a place that separates the American social classes, a place that is described as a “gray land” with “bleak dust”. The Valley shows how much worse the life of the poor class was, there wasn’t any middle, you were either happy and rich or miserable and poor. The eyes frown upon the Valley of Ashes as it is nothing but a place of hopeless dreams and people whom have been corrupted by the pursuit of the American Dream. Everything bad seems to happen in the Valley of Ashes; the murder, the idea of murder, the affairs, the illegal activity, etc. The Valley of Ashes is nothing but negative because it represents how ‘God’ is watching a decaying society that withholds Myrtles murder and Georges mistakes. America in the 1920’s was full of corruption caused by a loss in spirituality within the …show more content…

Fitzgerald captures the meaning behind many of the themes throughout the book with the help of the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. America in the 1920’s replace a society with religion, morals, and values with a negative society consumed of greed, wealth, and cheating. Figuring out why Fitzgerald wrote certain things and had things play out as they did make you think that maybe the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg weren’t just representing God, but maybe even F. Scott Fitzgerald himself. He wrote about the glamorous life in the 1920’s as well as the hidden truths which we readers get to see through the eyes of Doctor T.J.

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The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, who comes to 1920's New York to fulfill the American dream. Instead, he realizes the hollowness behind industrial wealth driven ideals. After Nick gets settled in West Egg, he finds himself in the company of millionaires Daisy, Tom, and Jay Gatsby; all of whom demonstrate either an inability or unwillingness to acting with consideration to those around them. Even Nick, who is meant to be reflective and unbiased, ended up being a morally ambiguous character at best. The one thing contrasting the stories ubiquitous impropriety, is the billboard of T.J. Eckelberg's bespectacled eyes.

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In Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, the perceptions and actions of people were altered because of events from one of the rowdiest periods in American history. The time period in which this novel was written was in the 1920s, which revealed the time of bad manners, new riches , and poverty for the lower classes. The reasons for this change in the younger generation is the fact that World War one recently ended and created a time of opportunity to go from rags to riches such as the case of Gatsby. Yet, this wasn't the story for everyone as seen in the characters Myrtle and Wilson.

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In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author uses many differnt retorical devices to add a personal flare to his work. He uses diction, symbolism, and irony to adress many different themes. These themes include Materialism, The American Dream, and includes a sharp and biting ridicule on American society in the 1920’s. The main point of Fitzgerald, arguement is one where he sharply criticizes the Society of the time.

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It symbolizes poverty, and the population of Manhattan that is not rich and self indulged in their personal lives. The Valley of Ashes is described as a dumping ground, Nick even explains how it’s “bounded on one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour” (27). This is completely opposite to places like West Egg, where most of the novel is taken place. Everything is luxurious and fast paced, comparing these two places opens up many symbols in the reader's mind, like poverty and the fact that not every American at that time could live as Gatsby can, for instance.

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Fitzgerald describes the valley as: A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight. (Fitzgerald

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The valley of ashes is a depressing place where no one would help them. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg provide a sense that someone is watching the wealthy do wrong. Fitzgerald contributes to the thought that someone is watching over the people of the dead land. As introduced by Fitzgerald, “But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground,”(24). As the eyes dim more everyday, they are still accounting everything that goes on beneath them.

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Everyone is being watched judged for their actions in the novel, The Great Gatsby. The motif of eyes is shown throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Eyes are used to show how everyone is always watched and should be careful and think about their actions because each action is very important and will not be forgotten or unnoticed. Fitzgerald’s use of the symbol of eyes in The Great Gatsby, develops the theme that there is always someone watching and nothing goes unnoticed. It is better to think about all actions so that later, one will not have to be warned.

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The whole Valley of Ashes is very dull and lacks color, unlike New York City or the two eggs where Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and the Buchanan’s live. Tom Buchanan takes Nick to meet his girlfriend in the valley and he seems to describe everything as having a bland gray tone, including the people and cars. “Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and

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Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and means to convince one of the persuader’s credibility. Fitzgerald sets the stage with “the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg above the grey land.” The eyes from the billboard looking over the valley of ashes, the area between New York and West Egg, allude to those of God. All of the lies, dishonesty, and thievery that happened along the way to achieve the status that Gatsby and the Buchanan’s have, are all seen by God. The hard-working, loyal car repair man George Wilson “look[s] at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg [in] the dissolving night” knowing that “God sees everything.”

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It also serves to portray the materialistic society that surrounds them (The Colors of Society - Camouflaged Discontent).” The characters portray such class and wealth along with fake happiness. The Valley of Ashes looks at how they feel on the inside which Daisy and Gatsby both ooze with discontent with how they’ve made decisions and how their lives did not turn out how they dreamed. Next, at one of Gatsby’s many house parties Nick makes a list of “grey names, and they will give you a better impression than [Nick’s] generalities (Fitzgerald 61).”

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The valley of ashes also symbolizes the difficulties of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result. THE EYES OF DOCTOR T. J. ECKLEBURG Another dominant symbol within this novel is the billboard eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg which is in the middle of the valley of ashes, right next to Wilson’s garage staring at the waste that careless capitalism has

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The Great Gatsby Within the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the reader can find a hint of symbolism without looking too far. Fitzgerald uses two main objects to show symbolism, the billboard of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg and an owl-eyed man in Gatsby's library. With these two, the symbolism portrayed is someone is always watching whether it's a higher being or a neighbor, this works well with the novels theme. Some would say the theme is love but the novel has multiple themes and to go with symbolism the theme is someone's watching. In The Great Gatsby the billboard and the owl-eyed man contribute to the theme, someone is watching.

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Throughout the story, Fitzgerald uses three vastly different geographical areas to show the separation between classes. The Valley of Ashes, where the poor live, is described as a “desolate area of land ... [where] spasms of bleak dust drift endlessly” (Fitzgerald 23). The poor people are trapped here, and no matter how hard they work, they can never escape this grim existence. The idea of no social mobility, and having no control over one's life, reflects the Naturalist view of society.

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This is accomplished through the use of symbols such as the Valley of Ashes, The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, and The Green Light. These 3 symbols play a huge roll in the novel for each of them are massively important in their own ways. Mid-way between New York City and West Egg, lies the Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is a dreary place symbolizing the moral descent of society. As described in the novel it is, “A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”

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The Valley of Ashes is set between West Egg and New York City. Depicted as a place of ruin, despair and decay where “Ashes grow like wheat…”, the place represents the upbringing of urbanization and industrialism in the 1920s and its impacts on social and economic inequality. The use of motif of the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg in the Valley highlights the absence of moral values in society in place of commodification and commercialism, acting as a constant reminder of the lack of an authorial-like figure. Through this, Fitzgerald portrays the broken pursuit of the American Dream, demonstrating his purpose of presenting greed of individuals consumed by their

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