The first metaphor that appears in Their Eyes Were Watching God is that of a pear tree. It appears early in the novel when the story takes us back to when Janie was 16 and she found herself captivated by a pear tree. She discovered this tree and its wonders, “From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from leaf-buds to the snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously.” The pear tree symbolizes Janie’s coming of age in which she blooms into womanhood and sexual maturity. This is when she first realizes what she really wants more than anything: True love. Janie’s idealism leads her to deny her Nanny’s belief that she must marry someone just for money or just to be better off. She denies her Nanny’s lessons about what the ideal woman should be. She wants to marry someone that will make her happy and not treat her as a prize or a slave. She is in search for the intense sensuality that…
6. The eyes of Tj Eckleburg symbolize that god is always watching. which means whatever you…
F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel about wealth in 1920's American culture, The Great Gatsby, includes various symbolic themes. One of which is the concept of blindness. This concept is referenced and represented numerous times within the novel. Examples include: a billboard advertising eyeglasses from a doctor named T.J. Eckleberg, a man the narrator dubs "Owl Eyes", and several figurative mentions used in dialogue and…
“But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and moved away” ( Fitzgerald 27).…
The aforementioned eyes appear on a billboard, advertising an oculist and overlooking the Valley of Ashes. They are introduced to the reader during Nick’s first journey to the Valley. Already in this initial mention, the eyes are given human characteristics and life: “But his eyes … brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (??, ch. 2). Already here it is made clear that the eyes are more than a simple commercial. They are given further life in a later instance as the eyes keep “their vigil” (??, ch. 7) as Jordan, Nick and Tom are at George Wilson’s garage for gasoline and are watched by Myrtle. Finally they are brought to life and given a mystical aspect as “the eyes … emerged … from the dissolving night” (??, ch. 8). These descriptions draw a picture of ever watchful, contemplating and giant, ominous eyes watching over the people, reminiscent of the eyes of God. This theory is reinforced when Wilson recollects talking to Myrtle and states “God sees everything” (??, ch. 8) whilst looking at the billboard.…
In most novels, the rhetorical device of symbolism is used to enhance the depth and meaning of a story. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 American novel, The Great Gatsby, he utilizes the green light, the valley of ashes, and the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg to portray the central theme of the hopelessness of the American dream.…
The most prominent symbol in the novel may not be the most out rightly obvious one: Janie's journey. As she ventures from Eatonville, to the marshes of Florida and back to Eatonville again in a search for "spiritual fulfillment", her journey is a…
Eckleburg, are always looking over the Valley of Ashes. The old, dazing eyes painted on a billboard symbolize God looking over the “solemn dumping ground.” Although the novel doesn't specifically state that God is judging the ever-changing American society, Fitzgerald points out that this symbol only has meaning because the characters ingrain it with meaning. "and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’" (Fitzgerald 125) Wilson is the only character that connects the eyes on the billboard with God. The eyes also show how much people in this time didn't care and how certain characters engraved meaning in these objects.…
Eckleberg. “The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic- their retinas one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles”(Fitzgerald 23). These eyes are used to represent God, and how as George says “you may fool me, but you can’t fool God”(Fitzgerald 159). He says this to Myrtle and what this means is that God is looking down on them, and he knows what she is doing even though he may not know everything. He later goes on to say “God sees everything”(Fitzgerald 160) This is said when George Wilson is looking out the window at the sign of T.J. Eckleburg. When he says this it represents what the sign means and how God is pretty much judging them for how hard they are working to achieve their dream or the American dream. Also another thing that describes the desperate need of people trying to achieve the American dream is all of the animal names that are used in the book, for example, there is Wolfsheim and Owl eyes that are barely talked about in this book. Using the eyes on the sign of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg Fitzgerald again tells us that the American dream is…
By introducing the imaginary of the green light at the beginning of the novel Fitzgerald is using it to make the reader feels as though they need to find out more about this mysterious green light. Water is also used within the novel to provoke a perception of uncertainty in the novel an example is Gatsby’s dreams that “beat on boats against the current”. Then there is the famous last line that draws the reader into the novel to affect the reader in profound ways,” So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. Life is uncertain, with no particular path that is predetermined, and by using the work we, Fitzgerald involves our lives with that of Gatsby’s, and life’s uncertainties and our pursuit of redoing or fixing something from our past. There is an absence of religion within the characters of The Great Gatsby. But Fitzgerald still imposes the image of god within the novel with the giant eyes of the billboard. He writes “The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic-their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose” (p. 27). The yellow spectacles are representing corruption and greed and the watchful eyes of god. He hammers the image down in chapter VII when Wilson looks out at the giant spectacles…
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.…
The symbols in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in chapters 6-9 suggest that not everything is always as it seems and people may believe they know the whole truth, but that is not always the case. In chapter 6 of the Great Gatsby, everyone created a false sense of happiness in their lives, but in reality no one, but the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg were the only ones that saw the harsh truth. T.J Eckleburg's eyes symbolizes that not everyone knows the whole truth but the eyes of Eckleburg, and that his eyes are always watching... “over the ashheaps the giant eyes of T.J Eckleburg kept their vigil” (Fitzgerald 124). The illusion is that there is always someone watching, but the reality is that just because it seems someone is watching…
T.J. Eckleburg. The eyes symbolize the loss of moral values in America’s people. The billboard was created to promote the business of an optometrist. The eyes symbolize the growing commercialism of America - life in America is all about making money, a lot like the wealth of Tom Buchanan. They believe a man’s success is measured by how much money he has, not on what kind of person he is morally. The billboard, like the 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” (Fitzgerald 28). The old values of America are completely absent from the East, God seems to have abandoned America, leaving only Dr. T.J. Eckleburg behind to stare down on the people who have forgotten their values in the quest to achieve material…
In conclusion, As Fitzgerald has always exemplified through his timeless tales of the woes of the extravagant, He uses this opportunity of writing “The Great Gatsby” to express his impressions that eyes are the words kept one's tongue, but will never say- their real intent, if you will. Through his characters, Fitzgerald shows the reader this profound concept which is explained in the above content. From beginning to “the end of that holocaust”(fitz), the eyes hold conversations that the reader’s can only imagine, and that is Fitzgerald’s greatest accomplishment as well as most fervent…
Eckleburg and in the middle and low classes. Whatever the eyes sees is what the mind wants to imagine. Myrtle and George both have blue eyes because they are both middle class people who aspire to have wealth. Myrtle has a dark shade of blue which implies that she desperately desires wealths. To further elaborate, her eyes represents her aspirations from what she sees in her relationship with Tom. Tom provides Myrtle hope in which she can use him to receive money. Ironically, Myrtle neglects to see with her blue eyes the true nature of the Tom. While in contrast, George does not have a strong sense of desire in wealth or a passion for the future and instead focuses on what is around him at the moment. He focuses on what he has rather than what he desires to have. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s gardens as “Blue gardens men and girls came like moths” as to imply Gatsby’s hopes to attract Daisy the same way that other people run to his parties. Fitzgerald uses small detail such as the description of the characters to convey symbolism and themes for each character. For instance the day when Gatsby’s car crashes into Myrtle is when Fitzgerald describes E.J Eckleburg’s eyes as, “ Dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (24). This signifies Gatsby’s hopes and dreams is deteriorated and is faded as Gatsby would soon see Daisy’s true…