Preview

Dr. T. J. Eckleburg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1878 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dr. T. J. Eckleburg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby Study Package
Symbolism:
Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s Eyes:
Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes, in The Great Gatsby, symbolize a kind of guardian angel or god that watches over the valley of ashes. “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 a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose” The above quote establishes the authority of the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, the fact that the retinas of the eyes are one yard high establish for us the overpowering size and authority of the eyes. The fact that the eyes “look out of no face” and that we can see nothing but the eyes and its yellow spectacles also enforce the idea that the eyes are godly this is because god is a figure whom nobody can see, but we know he looks upon us.
…show more content…
Eckleburg.” This quote shows us that the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg which symbolize god are watching over nothingness of land where the poor, such as Myrtle Wilson and Wilson, reside. The ashheaps which the eyes are looking over are completely the opposite of the more lavish East and West Egg.
“But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” This quote shows us how the god has dimmed looking over the poor land and endured many problems of the poor that live in the valley of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    is loathed and on the outskirts of society, even the blind are seen as lucky for not having to “set eyes on evil himself”. However,…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald there are many symbolic meanings. One of biggest symbols in the book is the Owl-Eyed Man in Gatsby’s library. Another symbol in the book is the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg on the Oculist’s sign in the city Valley of Ashes where Myrtle lives. Scott Fitzgerald wants us to look at the big pictures instead of staying in the little box that we look look through while reading his story. Noticing the very small things that could symbolize what he is writing about helps us find the key points that lead us to intensity.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fitzgerald chooses the symbol of the green light to represent everything Gatsby longs and desires. The light represents hope, his dream of a life with Daisy as in the old times. On the other hand, in “Of Mice and Men” Steinbeck uses the symbol of the animals, such as the rabbits to represent their safe place. In this case, the rabbits are a synecdoche since one thing stands for the whole dream. Moreover, this animal is warm and fuzzy, which is equal to Lennie’s childhood dream. “The Great Gatsby” presents a very significant symbol: the eyes of Dr. T.J Eckleburg. These eyes are and allusion to the eyes of God. It is the only God-like figure it can be seen throughout the novel. The only thing the society of that time can look up to are those eyes, meaning that there is no longer a religious figure to watch over the people and the events. On the other hand, in “Of Mice and Men”, the reader can appreciate a symbol in the killing of Candy’s dog. "Got no teeth, he's all stiff with rheumatism. He ain't no good to you, Candy. An' he ain't no good to himself. Why'n't you shoot him, Candy?" His dog was old and crippled, as well as his master. As the dog was useless, Carlson suggests they should shoot him. This is a connotation of what happened to people at that time. When they were not useful, other people got rid of them. This passage can also be interpreted as a metaphor of what George must do to…

    • 4550 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    | “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. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic---their retinas are one yard high.” (23)…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. Do you think the eyes of Dr. TJ Euckelburg were included specifically for one particular character in The Great Gatsby based on their thoughts, actions, etc.?…

    • 2226 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This quote shows how the narrator has such a focus on these eyes that it projects to the audience that these are something much more magnificent than just a pair of eyes. He…

    • 985 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes are a significant talking point in the novel. For quick background, Eckleburg used his eyes with his spectacles included for a billboard advertisement that promotes himself as an oculist, a clever idea. Nick describes to us and notes that the eyes keep a perpetual vigil. “That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon, and now I turned my head as though I had been warned of something behind. Over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Dr. T. J. 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.” (132). Nick personifies the set of eyes as one that performs a perpetual vigil over the world, but an inanimate object can not perform such a duty. Nick uses it for security, or for a sense of protection that something is awake to keep an eye on things. The advertisement sits over the “valley of ashes”, which is very symbolic and can be seen in the sense that Eckleburg is all-knowing, almost as if he is a God. “'God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me but you can't fool God!” (170). For context, this is when Wilson is speaking to the police officer about Wilson’s wife, who was just previously killed. Wilson looks to that billboard and personifies it to a god figure, it is a set of very stern and perhaps wise looking eyes, which is where he comes to the conclusion that they are a god’s eyes.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eckleburg, a billboard that was built to promote the ophthalmologist. Throughout the story the pair of eyes watches just like the eyes of God himself. George Wilson explains this to his wife Myrtle through the window and tells her she cannot fool God. “‘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’- 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!’” (pg.159). This image also shows the extreme disregard to religion, God is shown as an advertisement, a simple billboard.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    T.J. Eckleburg. The eyes symbolize the loss of moral values in America’s people. The billboard was created to promote the business of an optometrist. The eyes symbolize the growing commercialism of America - life in America is all about making money, a lot like the wealth of Tom Buchanan. They believe a man’s success is measured by how much money he has, not on what kind of person he is morally. The billboard, like the values of America, is neglected “But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (Fitzgerald 28). The old values of America are completely absent from the East, God seems to have abandoned America, leaving only Dr. T.J. Eckleburg behind to stare down on the people who have forgotten their values in the quest to achieve material…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses symbolism in such detailed way. Fitzgerald integrates symbolism into the book so well that it is necessary to read it several times to fully understand it. Maureen Corrigan quotes “Many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.” Even a critic on the book itself had to read the story many times to fully understand all that the book has to offer. Fitzgerald focuses on three main themes in “The Great Gatsby” they are time, loss of appearance, and perspective. Most of the book’s structure is in one of these categories. In order to fully understand the book, we must better understand these three themes.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eyes In The Great Gatsby

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In conclusion, As Fitzgerald has always exemplified through his timeless tales of the woes of the extravagant, He uses this opportunity of writing “The Great Gatsby” to express his impressions that eyes are the words kept one's tongue, but will never say- their real intent, if you will. Through his characters, Fitzgerald shows the reader this profound concept which is explained in the above content. From beginning to “the end of that holocaust”(fitz), the eyes hold conversations that the reader’s can only imagine, and that is Fitzgerald’s greatest accomplishment as well as most fervent…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "You must remember, old sport, she was very excited this afternoon. He told her those things in a way that frightened her – that made it look as if I was some kind of cheap sharper. And the result was she hardly knew what she was saying." (Fitzgerald 159) is a quote made by Jay Gatsby, the main character of the novel The Great Gatsby. This character is best described as being infatuated.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light” The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is the symbol of Gatsby's hopes and dreams. "Dr. Eckleburg's eyes are the eyes of God, which sees everything." The sign in front of the house with the girl that Tom is cheating with.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is an advertisement of a large pair of eyes and glasses that belongs to Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, and everyone in the valley worships these eyes. The eyes are a representation of God. Wilson had started his rant about God knowing everything about Myrtle’s affair when “Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg” (Fitzgerald 159). Doctor Eckleburg was held on a pedestal, and the people of the Valley of the Ashes worshipped him as a god. He was rich and living a life the people did not have, so they looked up – physically and figuratively – at the doctor. They will not be able to reach his level because they are too…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Eckleburg and in the middle and low classes. Whatever the eyes sees is what the mind wants to imagine. Myrtle and George both have blue eyes because they are both middle class people who aspire to have wealth. Myrtle has a dark shade of blue which implies that she desperately desires wealths. To further elaborate, her eyes represents her aspirations from what she sees in her relationship with Tom. Tom provides Myrtle hope in which she can use him to receive money. Ironically, Myrtle neglects to see with her blue eyes the true nature of the Tom. While in contrast, George does not have a strong sense of desire in wealth or a passion for the future and instead focuses on what is around him at the moment. He focuses on what he has rather than what he desires to have. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s gardens as “Blue gardens men and girls came like moths” as to imply Gatsby’s hopes to attract Daisy the same way that other people run to his parties. Fitzgerald uses small detail such as the description of the characters to convey symbolism and themes for each character. For instance the day when Gatsby’s car crashes into Myrtle is when Fitzgerald describes E.J Eckleburg’s eyes as, “ Dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (24). This signifies Gatsby’s hopes and dreams is deteriorated and is faded as Gatsby would soon see Daisy’s true…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays