Great Gatsby Analysis

Alex Carignan
Professor Bartlett
Academic Writing
November 8, 2010
The Eyes
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel titled, The Great Gatsby, 1920s glamour is portrayed through characters who live lavish lives with adulterous relationships.   The characters participate in materialistic and immoral activities that later catch up with them by the events that transpire. The story portrays characters as living lives of little meaning, highlighting a sedentary lifestyle of constant social gatherings. The 1920s are progressing in the direction of the Great Depression, and the characters behavior mirrors the waning of the glamorous lifestyle they are so accustomed to living. Watching over these actions is a set of spectacled eyes. These eyes belonging to Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, signify the eyes of God, and are personified in the book as an entity overseeing the characters. They bear witness to the wrongdoings, pass judgment, and enact karma upon on the characters as they struggle to obtain the American Dream.
The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg are located in the Valley of Ashes, which is an under-class living region in between both West and East Egg that house the upper-class living territory. In order to travel into the city from either Egg the characters must travel through the Valley Ashes, forcing them to pass the large set of eyes gazing through a pair of glasses. These eyes seem to be more than just an advertisement gimmick, as the story progresses the reader gets the sensation as if the eyes are observing the indecent actions of the characters. These characters, such as Daisy Buchanan take part in sinful behavior to their marriages such as infidelity. Daisy engages in an affair with Jay Gatsby, who himself takes advantage of his so-called “Old Sport” Nick, the narrator of the story. (53) Gatsby is a rich man, although the way he obtained his fortune is suspect. (107-109) However those are not the only characters participating in the indecent behavior; Daisy’s husband Tom also has... [continues]

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