Symbols In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Symbolism erects a facade of respectability to hide the indecency of dreams” (Mason Cooley). In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the several landmarks that the author uses; a green docklight, the valley of ashes, and a giant billboard, convey a sense of symbolism throughout the story, and are seen multiple times. Fitzgerald also uses most of these symbols to show the major differences between the rich, and the poor. Fitzgerald uses these various symbols to symbolize significant themes and create an influence to the overall plot.
One important symbol seen throughout the novel is the billboard portraying the face of optician, Dr. T.J. Eckelberg’s enormous, all watching eyes peer down onto those that drive between West Egg

and Manhattan. Fitzgerald describes the man on the billboard as, “... 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” (Fitzgerald, 27). This billboard stands near the garage of George Wilson, and represents an all seeing/knowing God, who does justice to those that sin. Wilson’s wife, Myrtle, has an affair with Tom Buchanan, who absuses her to his will. However, Tom’s wife Daisy threatens marital infidelity with the main character, Jay Gatsby, and in response to this, Tom, in a state of jealousy, rejects Myrtle, who then runs heartbroken into the road, and under the all seeing eyes, only then to be struck by a car driven by a speeding Daisy, with Gatsby in the passenger seat. This climactic turn of events is symbolic of Fitzgerald’s theme of the privileged taking advantage of those who are less fortunate. This symbol is one of the most prominent symbol in the book, and is even featured on the front cover of the novel.