Eyes In The Great Gatsby Analysis

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The eyes are a one-way street to a person’s soul. Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, there are many connections between eyes and a greater symbol, which symbol lies deep within the story. The reader is given small hints through the story on how the character truly is, based on descriptions of the character’s eyes. Throughout The Great Gatsby, the eyes of various characters are used as a symbol, from the symbol of being able to reveal true personalities to being an all mighty figure. Throughout the Great Gatsby, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg are used repeatedly throughout the story as a god-like figure. The eyes of this billboard look out over the Valley of Ashes and watch quietly as demoralizing events occur: “God sees everything,” …show more content…

Eckleburg, the use of eyes pertaining to Owl Eyes is used in the same context. Owl Eyes is a symbol of eyes in that his huge eyes and glasses see that the books in Gatsby’s library are real, “It 's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella 's a regular Belasco. It 's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism!” (Fitzgerald 45-46). This may seem pointless, but what the books truly symbolize are Gatsby’s true self. “ This minor character illuminates the character of Jay Gatsby. He finds that the books in Gatsby 's library are real, even though the pages were uncut. Like the books, Gatsby is the real thing, but unformed, unlettered, and for all his financial cunning, ignorant.Furthermore, the ocular imagery in the book is enhanced by this character 's role since various acquaintances of the mysterious Gatsby lend their truth to his real story” (Telgen). Owl Eyes is a very minor character, who plays a hidden role, but he is one of the only characters who is able to see Gatsby all the way …show more content…

Like when Owl Eyes realizes that the pages in the books are actually real, not some kind of cardboard: “Absolutely real-- have pages and everything. I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they’re absolutely real” (Fitzgerald 45). Also when the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are referenced lurking behind the Valley of Ashes watching the evils transpire; “Over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Doctor 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” (Fitzgerald 124). They never cease to hint at what Fitzgerald wants us to see with those eyes, whether it be Gatsby’s true self or the evils of Tom in the Valley of

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