Examples Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby

438 Words1 Page

God’s eyes were watching them The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg represent windows to the soul, the loss of morals and, materialism during the 1920s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald implies that eyes are the windows to the soul. In the beginning of the book Nick goes to a dinner party at his cousin Daisy’s house. Things get awkward when Tom gets a call from his mistress in New York: “I was conscious of wanting to look squarely at every one, and yet avoid all eyes. I couldn’t guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking” (Pg. 15). Nick wants to look into the eyes of the people around him understand what they are thinking. Dr. Eckleberg is a little bit different; he is like a god, observing the people of the valley of ashes: “I followed him over a low …show more content…

24). Dr. Eckleberg watches over people, but unlike a god, he doesn’t care and doesn’t try to help. The billboard of Dr. Eckleberg represents the loss of religion and moral values of the 1920s. When Americans began to get wealthy, they abandoned their religion and replaced it with materialism. Instead of going to church, people went to Gatsby’s house for parties on Sunday mornings. As Dr. Eckleberg’s billboard faded, so did the morals of the people in the roaring 20s. “But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (Pg. 24). The wealthy were measured by their material possessions instead of their morals. Gatsby does everything he can to climb to the top of the social ladder, but he loses his morals on his way up because of his illegal means to gain capital. Dr. Eckleberg’s billboard represents the growing materialism in the roaring 20s. Gatsby portrays this materialism perfectly because of his decadent life style. The valley of ashes is the complete opposite of the world in which Gatsby lives. “This is a valley of ashes… where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and… of men who move dimly and already crumbling

Open Document