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The Great Gatsby Symbols Analysis

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Symbolism and Deeper Meanings Portrayed through The Great Gatsby

In the 1920s people partied like never before. It was a great time for people of the middle-upper class; celebrating wealth, peace, and youth. There were bright lights and people of high class all throughout New York City. This was a unique time period in history and had never been seen until that point. Even now the certain elegance and class of that scene hasn't been around since then. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the Great Gatsby, in 1925, the peak of the “Roaring Twenties”. His novel was in many ways a reflection of life in his own eyes and the life he was living. The narrator Nick Carraway moves the New York City to be a broker. He lives in the “West Egg”, which is described …show more content…

Eckleburg as a major symbol. The billboard, like the spiritual 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” (Symbols and Motifs). This evidence directly links the symbolism of the billboard of T.J. Eckleburg to the greasy part of town it advertises in. Also, it relates to the morales and ethics of the people residing in the town. Major evidence of symbolism in the book came from this quote, “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. "That's an advertisement," Michaelis assured him” (Fitzgerald 88). This piece of text connects the eyes of Eckleburg to the eyes of God. In a way, that he sees all things and it is a sign of keeping people accountable for their wrong doings.“The eyes also symbolize the corruption of America’s people. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg stare down on the main characters as they pass underneath the billboard on their way into New York City where Tom carries on his adulterous affair, where Gatsby drives Nick to meet Wolfsheim, the man who fixed the World Series, where Daisy rushes off to find a few thrills with her over, Gatsby” (Symbols and Motifs). This evidence explains exactly how the billboard plays a part in this story is as being ‘the eyes of God”, just in the sense that it sees all that goes on in the city. Throughout the story, the reader is able to understand how the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are seen as more than just a billboard in a

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