Motifs In The Great Gatsby

Motifs are repeated images or symbols that reoccur in stories to suggest a theme. In literary works, motifs are often used produce other literary aspects such as mood, theme, and foreshadowing. They are a crucial literary technique that writers use to create and convey themes. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the narrator, Nick Carraway, relives the story of his stay in the luxurious yet corrupt East, specifically New York. Various motifs and symbols can be found in the story and illustrate key themes to the reader. In the novel The Great Gatsby, the motif of being on the outside and inside works to create the theme of wealth and class throughout the novel.

In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is an important theme in the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. These eyes watch over the events and characters of the novel like the eyes of God. Many things happen in front of the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg, like the vehicular manslaughter of Myrtle. There is one quote in particular that describes the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg. This quote has many different meanings to the reader, depending on which way you pick it open.

The use of symbolism is evident in the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg. Fitzgerald's use of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg, symbolizes the love of Gatsby for Daisy. The “blue and gigantic” (Fitzgerald 27) eyes of Eckleberg present the

In The Great Gatsby, motifs serve as markers for developing themes. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg is a motif F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes to mark the development of his message about values. To explore the question, is religion sinking away? The first appearance of the eye of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg is in chapter 2 when Tom and Nick are both on their way to NYC to meet Tom’s mistress, Myrtle.

F. Scott Fitzgerald presents many themes in his novel, The Great Gatsby. One of the themes is someone is always watching even when you think they’re not. This theme is developed throughout the book by his use of the motif of eyes. The motif of eyes is demonstrated in the billboard which watches over ash city, the man in the library with owl eyes, and lastly Gatsby always watching over Daisy. Fitzgerald uses this in his story to make clear that someone is always watching over what happens in the city whether it’s god, a billboard, or just someone in general nothing goes without being unseen and unspoken about in this city.

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

The famously written book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, provides many details, which help to provoke the meaning behind this narrative. The use of symbolic objects helps to connect the significance of the story on a deeper level and eventually reveal its literal meaning. Many symbols portrayed throughout The Great Gatsby, such as the green light, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, Gatsby’s Mansion and the weather help to uncover one of the main themes–the American Dream.

One such example of symbolism is the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg on the billboard in the valley of ashes. Fitzgerald states, “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” (Fitzgerald 23). The eyes give the reader the impression of omnipotence. While the spectacles seem to clarify any hazy details the wearer may have missed without them. Later in the story, these eyes symbolize God watching and the characters action when Mr. Wilson is talking to Michaelis. George Wilson tells Michaelis:

T.J Eckleburg’s giant eyed billboard is an essential symbol in The Great Gatsby. Eckleburg’s watchful eyes are a representation of God that observe the people who live in East and West Egg and the valley of ashes. They convey themes like; even when a person perceives himself to be alone, someone is always silently watching. “The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic-their retinas are one yard high…. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under the sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (Fitzgerald 27). In chapter seven, Tom, Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, and Jordan decide to go into the city on a hot day. On their way they stop at Wilson’s garage to get fuel. In the same day, Tom and George Wilson both discovered that their wives are having affairs with other men which creates tension between the characters. Dazed from the heat, Nick is overcome with the feeling that something is watching them. He turns to see what it is and notices Eckleburg’s massive eyes staring down at them.

The Great Gatsby has a few ways to show symbolism throughout the book and one of the ways is through the eyes on the billboard. The eyes are mentioned multiple times throughout the book, typically when something bad is about to happen or is happening. They are usually called watchful and observant as well as judgemental. For the reasons i have mentioned, I think the eyes represent the way F Scott Fitzgerald sees God which is as a being who doesn’t interfere and just watches and judges.

The Great Gatsby Motifs The theme society and class in The Great Gatsby relates directly to the motif of the parties. The parties showed how each class acted at the party or how it was hosted based on their rank in society. At Gatsby’s parties it was described as “…they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park.”

The Great Gatsby is one of the most read pieces of literature throughout the current modern Western world. High school kids all across the globe must learn and read it as part of their curriculum. One of the aspects that makes this novel so notable is that Fitzgerald, at no point in the story, needs to convey to his audience the theme of his novel directly. The main points of his novel are brought out by the powerful symbols he infuses in the book. Not only does he use them to convey his theme, but also ties them in to the rest of the story. Every aspect of this book is affected by the presence of one of his symbols. Through the use of the green light, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, and the Valley of the Ashes as symbols,

In the first book, a Separate Peace, by John Knowles, Gene, the narrator, meets Phineas and they become very close friends. Their life is based in the Devon high school during the WWII period. Gene goes through a lot of confusion after others blame him of pushing Phineas off a tree and breaking his leg, even if he feels very connected to Phineas as a friend. The other book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is narrated through Nick’s eyes who observes the story of his neighbor Gatsby’s difficult life as he is trying to get the person who he loves: Daisy. This book does well in representing the wealthy life and struggles during the 1920s with Gatsby’s big parties and the Buchanans capability of escaping punishment from crimes thanks to

Authors who write works of literary merit often use symbolism to reveal character traits that are not explicitly made known. Scott Fitzgerald does this in his fictional novel, The Great Gatsby, by using the symbol of the eyes of T. J. Eckleburg which represent the eyes of God. T. J. Eckleburg is an optometrist who has an advertisement showing just his eyes located in the valley of ashes. The eyes of T. J. Eckleburg function as the eyes of God and portray that the characters in the novel are secular and have no moral compass.

Gatsby actually lied about his past – turned out his name is actually James Gatz