How Does Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

For generations many have immigrated to this great nation know, as the United states of America, all seeking for their share of the American dream. The American dream is the philosophy that anyone can become successful through hard work and perseverance. The 1920’s embodies this concept like no other decade in American history. It is also during this time frame that one sees the perversion of this dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests in his novel, The Great Gatsby that there is a right and wrong way to obtain the American dream. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is symbolic for the materialistic nature of the American dream and its corruption in the 20th century.

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 eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are a pair of painted eyes that lay in watch over the valley of ashes. They remain unkempt, peeling, and fading away. Fitzgerald writes, ”The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic- their retinas are 1 yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose. Evidently, some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood over on the solid dumping ground.” Doctor Eckleburg’s eyes are the remnants of an old advertisement.

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.

Throughout Chapter Three and Chapter Nine of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents varying presentations of the American Dream, and the role it plays between social classes. He manages to define, praise, and condemn the crumbling foundation and separations of society. While Fitzgerald is able to address the demise of the American Dream, he is also able to create a relatable yet ethereal depiction of the differences between class through his descriptive uses of imagery, diction, and details.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American dream during the 1920‘s. For the duration of this time period, the American dream was no longer about hard work and reaching a set goal, it had become materialistic and immoral. Many people that had honest and incorruptible dreams, such as Jay Gatsby, used corrupted pathways to realize their fantasy. People’s carelessness was shown through their actions and speech towards others. Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism from different characters and items to convey the corruption of the American dream.

T.J. Eckleburg to symbolize him as he stares down with his empty eyes on people who have abandoned their spiritual values to achieve the American Dream. Moreover, the eyes also symbolize the corruption of characters throughout the novel. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg seem as if though it stares down on the main characters as they pass underneath the billboard when going to New York to commit some sort of unethical acts. Characters who have portrayed this are such as Tom, as he has an adulterous affair there, also this is where Gatsby drives Nick to meet Wolfshiem, the man who fixed the World Series, and this is where Daisy commits a hit and run yet never takes the blame. The eyes seem to frown down on these characters, Wilson uses the billboard of T.J.’s eyes in comparison to the eyes of God.

Involuntarily I glanced seaward -and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. ”(Fitzgerald, 25-26) This green light is Daisy’s dock, but also represents Gatsby’s hope. Gatsby made all of his money solely on the hope that he can win back Daisy. His hope is a light in the darkness and loneliness of the era.

The novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald's, is based off people's perception of the American dream in society. In The Great Gatsby money is the center of many of the characters lives; but they soon see that money isn't everything and it can't buy love or happiness. Fitzgerald uses distortion to make people see how twisted the “American dream had gotten”.

The Great Gatsby is a novel that illustrates the society in the 1920's and the associated beliefs, values and dreams of the American population at that time. These beliefs, values and dreams can be summed up be what is termed the "American Dream", a dream of money, wealth, prosperity and the happiness that supposedly came with the booming economy and get-rich-quick schemes that formed the essential underworld of American upper-class society. This underworld infiltrated the upper echelons and created such a moral decay within general society that paved the way for the ruining of dreams and dashing of hopes as they were placed confidently in the chance for opportunities that could be seized by one and all. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the

The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story on the surface, but its most commonly understood as a suspicious critic of the American Dream. In the novel Jay Gatsby overcomes his poor past to gain an incredible amount of money and a limited amount of social cache of in the 1920s NYC, only to be rejected by the “old money” crowd. The focus of my paper would be the pathway towards the American Dream and how it affects the person and others around. The American dream affects not only one person, but also those who linger around them (near or far). This dream is represented by the ideas of a self-sufficient man or woman, who works hard to achieve a goal to become successful. By having money, a car, a big house mice clothes with a big loving family symbolizes the American Dream. This dream can also represent that people, can become successful in life by their own work. The aspiration to strive for what one wants can be accomplished if they work hard enough. This text written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts the American dream as an un-wealthy individual who works effortlessly towards wealth and fame. The Great Gatsby is a novel that displays the events that took place in the American Dream in the 1920s, where in the timeframe dreams became corrupted for many unforeseen reasoning. Fitzgerald uses symbolism to amplify the story’s themes and characters, as well as a specific purpose and

Fitzgerald's dominant theme in The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American Dream. By analyzing high society during the 1920s through the eyes of narrator Nick Carraway, the author reveals that the American Dream has transformed from a pure ideal of security into a convoluted scheme of materialistic power. In support of this message, Fitzgerald highlights the original aspects as well as the new aspects of the American Dream in

Fitzgerald’s novel, the Great Gatsby is one of the most meticulously written story of all time. This book incorporates different themes, yet the shadiness of the American Dream is the most significant one. The American Dream designates that one starting very low on their economic or social status and getting success and wealth trough their arduous work. Having a big house, a nice car and a happy family show the success of the American Dream. This dream is also shown by the concept of a self-made man, who struggles through life to get successful and wealthy. This dream does not only cause corruption but also destruction.

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

Gatsby refuses to not meet his aspirations and will fulfill his dream by any means necessary. Although Gatsby’s intentions and motivation to become successful are pure, the way he obtains his status is extremely foul and criminal. Gatsby participates in organized crime, trades stolen securities, and bootlegs illegal alcohol. Instead of Gatsby using his wit and intelligence in an honest hard working way, he participates in corrupt acts, which will guarantee him his wealth and status. It is this aspect of Gatsby’s life where Fitzgerald expresses the decline of The American Dream. He tries to show his readers the demoralization of our society and how greed and power are a form of empty success that a lot of Americans buy in to.