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What Does Eckleburg Mean In The Great Gatsby

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In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the lack of morality and judgement in the story is pervaded by various symbols throughout the novel, but none are more startling and apparent than the Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg which convey a message of judgement and instill a sense of unease in the characters who come across them. At the start of the story, Tom Buchanan takes Nick to the Valley of Ashes, where readers make the first connection to Eckleburg's eyes, “we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Dr. Eckleburg’s persistent stare... ‘terrible place, isn’t it,’ said Tom, exchanging a frown with Dr. Eckleburg” (Fitzgerald 20). The disembodied eyes are part of a faded billboard that stares across the barren and wretched terrain of the valley. …show more content…

As the plot thickens following the awkward standoff between Tom and Gatsby in New York, Nick observes the eyes again as they make the drive home, “over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg kept their vigil but I perceived, after a moment, that other eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away” (Fitzgerald 103). In this instance, Dr. Eckleburg’s eyes foreshadow events to come as the group proceeds through the Valley of Ashes, and it is striking how the eyes can be compared to that of a god-like or supernatural being. Nick’s sense of unease becomes apparent as he feels another stare boring into him - real eyes this time in the form of Myrtle Wilson. In a final chilling encounter, Nick listens to Wilson talk about his last altercation with his

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Eckleberg's eyes witness some of the novels largest ethical collapses. The first of these is evidenced in Fitzgerald's quote “But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessy over it, you percieve, after a moment, the eyes of T.J. Eckleberg”(23). Nick refers to this area as “the valley of ashes”(Fitzgerald 23). The site of the billboard doubles as a representation for the poverty and class system that persisted in the time period, accompanied by the hypocrisy of the country's wealth boasting attitude. In the most literal sense, Eckleberg's eyes are an advertisement, which eludes to the harsh effects of capitalisim on the people who were unable to make it big.

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