The Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Symbolism Behind Gatsby Throughout the story “The Great Gatsby” there are countless symbols that pop out to the reader. Symbols are so apparent that there is not a chapter missing at least one. F. Scott Fitzgerald does an exceptional job at situating symbols in the text. However, there are a select few that stand out over the others for being most controversial The infamous green light at the end of the dock, this is #1 symbol in the reading. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter tomorrow we will run farther, stretch out our arms farther” (193). For some odd reason, this green light really struck a nerve with Gatsby. It can be assumed
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. Endless are the opportunities to read and analyze the numerous symbols and themes in “The Great Gatsby”. There is no end in terms of interpretations of these symbols such as the green light, or T.J Eckleburg’s glaring eyes, that is one of the great things about them, the discussion is