symbols

Question 1

the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg

Answer 1

Symbolises the power of advertising in 1920s America and the tensions between reality and appearance

Symbol of religion- when Myrtle dies, Wilson remarks that ‘God sees everything’ whilst looking at the billboard.(C8) Perhaps if God is advertising, then capitalism is a religion.

Fitz characterises this advert as a ‘voyeur of the valley’ and ‘its retinas are one yard high’ and they ‘brood on over the solemn dumping ground’ (C2).
Here, Fitz highlights that they eyes look over the valley of ashes, perhaps judging its people as God may do.
Fits use of the ad as a proxy for God exposes America’s diminished faith in conventional religion and divinity.

George ‘doesn’t belong to any’ church (C8) but finds solace in the eyes on the billboard

Marketed towards all classes w indifference towards individual financial status. The people of the valley of ashes cannot afford to participate in the consumer culture that is inevitable to spiral them into big debt

Question 2

photography

Answer 2

photography is a leitmotif throughout TGG

• capture a moment and preserves it

G has a photo of Dan Cody on his wall
Henry Gatz carries a picture of G’s mansion

These photos suggest importance, they’re metaphors of Gatsby’s reputation.

When G shows Nick the photo of him in Oxford, he proves his position in the world

G wishes to transcend the frame of the present moment and recapture his past w Daisy