Eyes In The Great Gatsby Analysis

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses imagery and symbolism to represent bigger ideas in his stories. For his novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald was able to do something most authors aren’t. He was able to approve of the cover of his book. The cover selected was a painting of a nightly city, being watched over by celestial eyes. The eyes stand out in juxtaposition of the rest of the dark blue sky due to their sickly yellow color as a teal tear travels down from the left. However, a closer look at the eyes in the cover show that they irises are blue, and inside the eyes are two women. The surreal art piece has as much symbolism in it as the pages it protects, especially the eyes in which the painting is named for. The women within the eyes on the cover

Imagery is used in writing when a writer trying to emphasis a specific key element, or portray a clear picture for the reader to understand. Throughout the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses imagery to paint a vivid picture for the reader. Imagery is used to describe specific key elements of a story which is shown in The Great Gatsby. Imagery was portrayed for the reader especially when it comes to the setting and characters. In the movie however, imagery was shown both similar and differently. The movie focuses a lot on the setting and charters but also shows imagery of other small factors. Imagery was both present in both the book and the movie, both the movie and book had similar routes of incorporating the imageries.

The name “Owl Eyes” is appropriately fitting; an owl’s nocturnal vision allows it to see things in what others would normally perceive as pitch black. Like an owl, this knowing stranger correctly assesses Gatsby’s feigned personality. Owl Eyes makes his final appearance as one of the few guests at Gatsby’s funeral. He sympathizes, “‘Why, my God! they used to go there by the hundreds.’ He took of his glasses and wiped them again, outside and in. ‘The poor son-of-a-bitch’” (175). Owl Eyes’ glasses are a symbol of his discriminating perception. In the manner of how their literal function is to correct vision, the glasses also metaphorically protect his judgment from the corruption of the distorted morals and ethics characterized by the East; before making his final conclusion about Gatsby, Owl Eyes cleans his glasses, as if wiping the fogginess of subjectivity and immorality off of his observations.

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.

The eyes of T.J. Eckleberg and and Owl Eyes are used throughout the story and are both recurring. Owl Eyes is a very minor character in the grand scheme of things, but his eyes are one of the most important pairs. Before the novel has taken full flight, Jordan and Nick come across a strange man in Gatsby’s library who is amazed that Gatsby owns all of the books. “‘What do you think?’ he demanded impetuously. ‘About what?’ He waved his hand toward the book-shelves. ‘About that. As a matter of fact you needn’t bother to ascertain. I ascertained. They’re real.’ ‘The books?’ He nodded” (Fitzgerald 45). Owl Eyes questions the accountability of Gatsby, because there are a very large number of rumors of things that Gatsby has accomplished and done. It may come across as odd that somebody would question the accountability of a wealthy man during this era, but there was a mystery behind Gatsby because so few people were actually able to meet him at the parties. Not only was

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

From the pessimistic introduction, it foreshadows a later downfall. Starting from the first encounter, Nick has an indescribable feeling derived from the cogent stare. For example, as Nick and Tom slowly “walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg 's persistent stare” (Fitzgerald 24), Nick feels uneasy about the inanimate billboard even though no one is staring at them. The location of the eyes, on the road half way between West Egg and New York, symbolizes the different paths of life. When one arrives at the turning point, they have their power to choose their path, but God will watch you as you make those decisions. Nick, for instance, faces the decision of whether to inform Daisy about Tom’s not so secretive affair or dissimulate the unfaithful relationship after the visit to Tom and Myrtle 's secret apartment.

F. Scott Fitzgerald includes many motifs and symbols within The Great Gatsby. One important motif is the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald ultimately uses the eyes to show disapproval and criticism of society and how God watches over everyone and everything. The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg represents the all seeing, overlooking eyes of God. The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg develops religion as the desire of wealth and social class have replaced spiritual values in American society during the 1920s.

These eyes, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, represent many things to the characters in this novel. He represents, hope, despair, and God, all while staring

As one of the most recognizable book covers in the history of American literature: two sad female eyes and bright red lips adrift in the deep blue of a night sky, hovering ominously above a carnival scene. Full of sorrow and excess, this image has become so connected to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, that many of the elements within the cover such as the eyes and the figure within them reflect the haunting messages found in the novel.

Behind closed doors, something familiar can present itself as completely different. The nine chapter, American classic The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has meaningful motifs, themes, and various writing techniques used to express Fitzgerald’s ideas. The book follows Nick Carraway, a young bondsman, who documents the deadly affair between Daisy, who is married to Tom, and Gatsby, a bachelor who lives across from the Buchanans. Gatsby refuses to give Daisy up without a fight, which ultimately leads to his demise. Fitzgerald brilliantly uses tone in recurring motifs to express how appearances can be deceiving. The most prominent are the use of eyes, flowers, and heat.

Another symbol used in The Great Gatsby is the Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is located between West Egg and New York City, and all it is, is land with the dumping of industrial ashes all over it. It represents the moral and social decay that results from wealth, as the rich enjoy nothing but their own pleasure. It also symbolizes the poor who live among the dirty ashes and lose their strength as a result. “This is a valley of ashes-a fantastic farm where ashes grown 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 powder air.”(27) Looking over the valley of ashes are the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. “The Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic…they look out of no face, but instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles.”(27) The Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg could represent God staring down on the American society. They’re just a pair of fading eyes painted on an old billboard over the valley of ashes. Fitzgerald uses the eyes to suggest symbols only mean something because of the characters put meaning in them. George Wilson makes the connection of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes symbolizing God. They could also represent the meaninglessness of the

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the story of the eccentric millionaire Jay Gatsby as told by Nick Carraway that depicts the lifestyle of the rich contrasted with the poor. The depiction of life throughout the 1920s grasps the atmosphere of the era unmasking the characters underlying emotions and beliefs regarding their roles and needs throughout the novel. The perception of characters changes due to the differing lenses that appear in situations, that shape the outlook from the character's point of view. This is captured through the use of windows as a recurring symbol in The Great Gatsby to expose the characters inner and outer looks at life that develop the sentiments of the novel revolving around loss in the characters

Foremost, however, this light greatly influences the characterization of Gatsby. In Chapter 1, when Gatsby reaches for the light, the reader becomes confused and does not know what to make of this strange man oddly extending his arms while no one is around. After understanding Gatsby’s past, though, and knowing what it is he is reaching for, the reader can deduce much about Gatsby’s character from this action. By reaching out for his dream, Gatsby shows his determination to win Daisy back; this solitary motion demonstrates his level of commitment to her. After realizing this, the reader can also begin to associate more of Gatsby’s actions, such as his gain of wealth, with the American dream because it is understood that the quest for Daisy is closely tied in with this theme (21). After this event with Gatsby, Fitzgerald chooses to focus on another peculiar object, Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes. It is this unusual amount of attention given to such a solitary entity that alerts the reader that a deeper meaning may exist than what the author expresses.

In his article,“Liking is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts,” Jonathan Franzen pushes people forget the fear of rejection and instead welcome raw, authentic love. The author explain that it's impossible to have a compatible relationship while striving to be likeable because, “There is no such person whose real self you like every particle of.” In order to find love, partners should have empathy and acceptances of each other’s imperfections. Contradictory to Franzen’s article the protagonists in “The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston delusion themselves to believe in the existence of flawless romantic parents. Both novels reveal that idealistic perception of love can misguide people into chasing the wrong American dream which leads to dissatisfaction.