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Imagery in the valley of ashes the great gatsby
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F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby around the 1920s. During the time period of the 1920s, it was considered the “Jazz Age”. This time period dealt with the issue of prohibition, many people attended parties and clubs. Religion did not affect the 1920s social dance very much. During the 1920s people had a sense of freedom, and were not bound by what their religion guided. Many people like flappers went against the standard and did not listen or go by the rule. Written during the Jazz Age period, Fitzgerald wrote the novel The Great Gatsby, and ironically, it is one that explores the concept of an omnipresent God which readers can guess come from the author’s knowledge of catholicism and christianity. First and foremost, the Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are representative of an omniscient God. The Great Gatsby begins chapter one with a description of “The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic – their irises 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” (Fitzgerald 23). Fitzgerald describes the eyes of T. J. Eckleburg as if they are big and nobody can miss them. The enormous yellow spectacles let the readers know that Eckleburg has During the time period this novel was written, many people believed that religion was not a big thing, but I agree that God sees everything and he is all knowing. Works Cited Dilworth, Thomas. "The Passion Of Gatsby: Evocation Of Jesus In Fitzgerald 's THE GREAT GATSBY." Explicator 68.2 (2010): 119121. Literary Reference Center. Web. 4 Mar. 2016 Hauhart, Robert C. "Religious Language And Symbolism In The Great Gatsby ’S Valley Of Ashes." Anq 26.3 (2013): 200-204. Literary Reference Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2016. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Great Gatsby." Barnes & Noble. N.p., 1920 's. Web. 08 Mar.
"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." This is a quote from Nick Carraway, the central figure of the story and the voice of Jay Gatsby. Dr. Eckelburg is introduced at this point. He takes on an image of a human figure, which he is characterized as at many times throughout the novel, and that of a Godlike figure.
In order to understand the religious imagery in The Great Gatsby, one must first understand Fitzgerald's own ideas on religion. Fitzgerald was a troubled man much of his life, and was a victim of psychological and emotional turmoil. Fitzgerald's friend, John Peale Bishop once remarked he had "the rare faculty...
The Great Gatsby shows us the decline of civilization with the loss of thought for God and religion. God is merely mentioned at all in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, except for the eyes of T.J. Eckleberg on the billboard. This notion suggests that capitalism is above God among the rich and powerful. The rich and powerful are blind to the notion of God and religion.
Work Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
“The great Gatsby” is an inspiring novel written by the famous American author Scott Fitzgerald. The novel was published in 1925. It is regarded as Scott’s supreme achievement and also as a masterwork in American literature, and it’s entirely justified.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). The Great Gatsby, a novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s creation, tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a poor midwestern farm boy turned rich entrepreneur through the illegal bootlegging business. He attempts to recapture the long-lost love of his life, Daisy Faye (now Buchanan through marriage), by throwing marvelous parties every weekend. Nick Carraway, Daisy’s second cousin, Gatsby’s neighbor, and the narrator of the novel, gives the reader a mostly accurate depiction of Gatsby and Daisy’s love affair that ends in the tragic murders of Myrtle Wilson and Gatsby, as well as the suicide of George Wilson, the garage owner and Myrtle’s husband. Gatsby’s mansion attracts socialites and is full of emotional infatuation with no conscience or presence of God; while Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes follow Wilson’s garage, full of dirt, love, and lies.
Literature Resource Center -. Web. The Web. The Web. 17 Feb. 2014 -.
The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are perhaps the most important symbol in The Great Gatsby. The eyes can be taken as the eyes of God or even as us, the observers. We are observing the characters in what they do and analyzing them as an example of what is wrong or what is right. In this case, we are observing Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. We are observing their conducts and deciphering whether their actions are wrong or right.
Fitzgerald, F.Scott. The Great Gatsby (London: Alma Classics, 2012) The Great Gatsby first published in 1925
In the Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is introduced to the wild, careless world of the rich and left devastated in the aftermath of Gatsby’s death. He watches as Gatsby, Jordan, Daisy and Tom do whatever they want and ignore the consequences. Religion has no place in this world, in fact, it’s notable for it’s absence. The characters live unethical lives; they drink, party, cheat, and even murder. Yet, there is a sense that throughout the whole book, someone or thing is always watching and is aware of their sins. When tragedy occurs in the end, the characters finally seek solace in religion. Despite the fact that the characters in The Great Gatsby live their lives immorally, a God-like
I must have read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby from cover to cover about a half dozen times since it was first assigned in my Junior AP English class, and I still uncover new motifs and themes with each new bout. There are many, from Fitzgerald’s use of colors to provide foreshadowing to the geography and how it depicts various aspects of the 1920s society. But one thing continues to pop up with upmost consistency, and that is the constant appearance of Christianity. The Christian religion plays a role in small, though numerous, sections of The Great Gatsby, and is one of the primary themes in the novel.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. The.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print
In brief, the world of The Great Gatsby can seem as sordid, loveless, commercial, and dead as the ash heaps presided over by the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. Indeed, this atmosphere is so essential that one of the alternate titles Fitzgerald considered was Among the Ash-Heaps and Millionaires. Fitzgerald using the valley of ashes, illustrates an environment where love has lost its place, which destroys hope for a family; the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, clearly intended to represent those of God, emphasizes that this lack of love and filial piety in a sin against themselves as well as society and God.