The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis (Symbols) Essay Example

The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis Throught the book of The Great Gatsby we can analyze that many things are more than they seem. Like a simple green light means so much more than just a light. A simple billboard a lot more than that. The symbols in The Great Gatsby are what make this book so unique and intriguing. We are first introduced to the owl eyed man in one of Gatsby’s parties, but after that we only read about him one more time. And his appearance might seem irrelevant but owl eyes reveals so much about Gatsby. "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! Knew when to stop, too- didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?" (Fitzgerald pg.50). What he means by he didn’t cut the pages is that Gatsby hasn’t really read his books. This shows us that Gatsby is wanting to create an allusion that he is well educated and well read because of all the books he has but he hasn’t even opened they up to read as how owl eyes has said. Gatsby knows that the people in the parties aren’t going to take the time to open up the books to see if he has actually read them because they are just as fake as he is. Owl eyes himself can symbolize an omen to Gatsby. Like the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena her symbol is an owl. Owls can also represent death. Which could mean that owl eyes is an omen to Gatsby. This representation of death is backed up with owl eyes showing up for Gatsby’s funeral.
T.J. Eckleburg's billboard is the second pair of eyes in the novel, owl eyes being the first but both mean something completely different. The eyes are mentioned when something interesting/eventful in the book is about to go down. Nick notices that the eyes are keeping a “watchful vigil” (Fitzgerald pg.106) not long before Tom and Gatsby’s showdown. The eyes also appear when George takes Myrtle to the window where the billboard is visible and tells her she can’t fool God.