Essay A Changing Era of Religion in "The Great Gatsby"

In another case of watchful Deism in the book, Nick travels with Tom through The Valley of The Ashes. In The Valley of The Ashes lies another Deist god-like icon, the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. This billboard reveals the blue eyes of an eye doctor. The eyes watch over The Valley of The Ashes, suggesting another panopticon, where someone is watching (in this case the Deist God figure). Under Eckleburg’s watchful eye,characters can be seen changing their behavior (Tullo np). The Valley represents truth, and characters in the book are unafraid to speak the truth under Eckleburg’s eye (Fitzgerald 26). Myrtle and Tom can truthfully embrace their relationship under Eckleburg’s eye, but not quite under George’s! While Wilson goes to get chairs per Myrtle’s demand, she moves closer to Tom and makes plans to meet him (Fitzgerald 26). While this idea of Deism is present in their interaction, Tom and Myrtle ignore it. Their actions cannot be punished by a belief with an uninvolved God, so the Ashes allows them to meet. T.J. Eckleburg surveys over The Valley of The Ashes and Tom and Myrtle’s encounter, adding another layer of Deism throughout the text.

The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg can be seen as if someone is looking over you which is described as, “above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg” (Fitzgerald 23). You can see his eyes in the sky and above land. His eyes are gigantic and he does not have a nose. The eyes do not look out of a face, but out of glasses. T.J. Eckleburg's eyes can be symbolic to God. They are always looking over you like God is. His eyes see everything, as you are constantly being watched. When you look out you can see Eckleburg's eyes just like how you know God is the man above you. Eckleburg's eyes are symbolic to God watching over you.

While reading The Great Gatsby, we see a symbol of God in the eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg and the character of Owl Eyes. Dr. Eckleburg represents an all-seeing, uninvolved God who sees the immoral actions, but does not interfere. In a conversation with Michaelis, Wilson says, “‘I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the winds’ - with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it - ‘and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’’ Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night” (Fitzgerald 167). Wilson believes that the one person who has the right to judge is God and He is watching.

One of the most significant associations between religion and this world renown novel is the connection between the ‘eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’ and God himself. The ‘eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’ are first introduced in chapter two, and the literal presentation of this symbol is that it is a billboard of an oculist (eye doctor), and its purpose is to serve as an advertisement to this doctor's business, “But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg”. (Fitzgerald 23) In chapter eight, Mr. Wilson is talking to his neighbor, Michaelis, about the events that occurred right before Myrtle's death, ““I spoke to her," he muttered, after a long silence. "I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the window"..."and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’" Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.” (Fitzgerald 160) Wilson had found out that Myrtle has been having an affair with another man, (Tom) and explains that the eyes on

In the Valley of Ashes, between East Egg and West Egg, there is a billboard with “...eyes...blue and gigantic…[whose] retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose (Fitzgerald 23).” These blue and gigantic eyes belong to Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. To George Wilson these eyes represent God’s omniscient power. "Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg which had just emerged, pale, and enormous, from the dissolving night. ‘God sees everything’, repeated Wilson (Fitzgerald 160).” Wilson finally finds out that his wife, Myrtle, is having an affair. He interprets Doctor Eckleburg’s stare as confirmation that whoever killed Myrtle is also her former lover. “I told her she might fool me

T.J. Eckleburg. During the second time seeing the eyes, they are presented as a warning for Nick. This is seen when the group is on their way to Manhattan and they stop for gas and the narrator says, “Then as Doctor T.J. Eckleburg's faded eyes came into sight down the road, I remembered Gatsby's caution about gasoline” (Fitzgerald, 99). In this they end up stopping at Wilsons garage to fill up on gas and he talks about how he has found out that Myrtle is having an affair. Myrtle sees Tom in the yellow car and assumes it is his, so the next time she sees it she goes to run out to it to stop it but gets hit and dies. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg are believed to be the eyes of God or watchful presence by some of the characters. This is seen when Wilson is looking out his window to the billboard and says to Michaelis, “God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me but you can't fool God!” (Fitzgerald, 131). It means Myrtles lies could have gone past him without any consequences but when “God” figured this out she could not have gone unpunished which is the reason Wilson believes she was murdered. Therefore, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg bring out a deeper meaning throughout The Great

Eckleburg are really a billboard for an optician in Queens, however, if you start at the beginning, they mean so much more than that. We see that the setting of the novel is described as a very dismal place, lacking hope, dark and brooding, when Fitzgerald calls it 'gray land'; that 'drifts endlessly.'; Then, all of a sudden, the bright eyes of Dr. Eckleburg appear on the horizon. The blueness and the size of the eyes give the reader a sense of the sky, and heavens with God in them. The lack of a full face also gives you idea of Godliness because in society we are never really given a good description of what God looks like. Also, the color yellow in the glasses of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg gives the idea of sun, which brings us back to the idea of the sky. Only this time, we get a sense of hopefulness from the eyes to combat the sense of despair from the land surrounding them. The eyes being described as dimming over time gives the illusion of loss of hope due to the bleakness of the area. The idea of the eyes being out under the sun and rain gives lends a thought to the fact that God is watching these characters, in good times and in bad, and no matter how terrible the setting gets.

God; observed as a savior who forgives those who have committed sins, is the symbol projected toward the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. From the start of the Great Gatsby, Tom Buchannon and Myrtle Wilson were having an affair with one another while their loved ones were effected by their harmful decisions. However once Myrtle’s husband, George Wilson finds out about her unfaithful second life he looks to Eckleburg as his “savior” perceived when stated, “with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it ——” and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’” (Fitsgerald 167).

The word eyes is used eighty-nine times in The Great Gatsby. This is because F. Scott Fitzgerald wanted eyes play a major role in his book, and they do. He does this by really describing a character's eyes when he describes a character to the reader. Eyes are also used as a metaphor for what is revealed and what is not revealed by a character, and the “blindness” of a character. Many symbols are used by F. Scott Fitzgerald to represent eyes in his book, but the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg is the most prominent.

One of the references that Fitzgerald uses is the billboard over the valley of ashes “The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg”, the billboard is an advertisement for the eye doctor T.J. Eckleberg but in the deeper meaning they’re eyes that see everything so in reality nothing is hidden. Not only are the eyes just looking over the city but they have glasses so they see everything clearer than everyone else does and actually knows what going on in the city, “look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over an existing nose.” They don’t only appear at the beginning of the story but they

Among the ash heaps, the dark bridge, and the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg, there is no greater sense of religion. In this purgatory of New York, however, where sins bite and consciences nag, "the giant eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg [keep] their vigil" (131). He watches, as God does, as the worlds of George Wilson and Myrtle, Gatsby, Daisy and Tom collide and dissolve, leaving the tangled mess that had arisen shattered and dead among the debris of his universe.

Find supporting evidence and examples from the novel. STARTING "above the grey land and the spactor T. J. Eckleburg" "The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose" This is how T. J. Eckleburg is first introduced into the story. Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes represent the corruption of people. His eyes stare down on the characters of the story as they pass through the valley of ashes into the city.

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is considered an American classic. The novel details the life of the New York elite through the protagonist Nick Carraway's somewhat reliable narration. Throughout many novels exploring life in America, including The Great Gatsby, religion has been a constant. Religion played a major role in the lives of the characters in The Scarlet Letter, and many other books. However, in The Great Gatsby, a more modern depiction of America, the ideas of completing “the American dream” and becoming successful, seem to clash with the moral devotion that is religion.

The eyes of, “Doctor T.J. Eckelburg,” are mentioned in chapter 2 to support the overall portrayal of the wasteland as a putrid and vile place in which no one of significance lives. The land is desolate to the extent that the only crop that grows is ashes.

Another major symbol in this novel is the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. These are a pair of spectacles painted on an old billboard in the Valley of Ashes. The significant aspect is that this symbol only has meaning when other characters instill it with meaning. The eyes represent a higher power looking over the