The Great Gatsby

Symbols
 Tj. Eckleburg:
o "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" Chapter 2 page 20 these are “desolate”
and “grotesque”
 Wealth vs poverty
 Gatsby’s lavish parties contrast with the scenery.
 "watchful vigil"(Nick); and then, George takes Myrtle to the window (from which,
we know, the billboard is visible) and tells her she can't fool God.
 There is a continuous allusion to this billboard as God
 God has been replaced by capitalism. Instead of a truly religious
representation, the best this world can do is manifest God in a billboard –
an advertisement.
 Capitalism
 The green light
o “his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it”
o “orgastic future” pg. 148
o
o Unattainable dream
o Future
 The owl-eyed man
o Wisdom, truly seeing: "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. pg. 38 chapter 3
 David Belasco, a theater producer known for his super realistic sets. He expected to
be the books fake, but the books were real, but Gatsby never have read them.
 This man was the only one that could see clearly and understand who Gatsby was,
by looking further in detail, and not lost in materialism as the others.
 Gatsby knows how much he has to do to fool people, and he knows that he
doesn't need to cut the pages. Nobody in this crowd is going to check,
because they're just as fake as he is.
 books used to come with their pages uncut, the sheets aren't sliced open on the top.
You'd have to cut them open before reading. If you didn't, everyone would know
that you hadn't actually read the book.
 He wants people to think that he's well-read, but he's never even cracked the
covers. So, the simple answer is that the books represent the fact that
Gatsby is a fraud.
 Appearances vs reality
o Was the only one who come to Gatsby’s funeral