Celestial Eyes In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francisco Coradal-Cougat was a famous Spanish artist who created the classic melancholy cover F. Scott Fitzgerald used for his award winning novel, The Great Gatsby. The striking cover is called “Celestial Eyes” and was painted in 1924. According to the Oxford dictionary, celestial means “positioned in or relating to the sky, or outer space as observed in astronomy”. The title the cover was given is very straightforward and practical, for the haunting face he drew almost looks as if it is floating in the dark blue, nighttime sky. The artwork symbolizes many things in the book, including the tear, the city, the eyes, and the two women in them. It foreshadows the common adultery, sadness, and out of control parties throughout the story. Because …show more content…
The eyes on the cover are said to represent God’s eyes, and how he looks down on us. They symbolize that everything is being observed and watched over, no matter what. In this piece of art, New York City is illustrated underneath the eyes, showing that the glowing cityscape is always being looked upon. A major thing in the book that has to do with eyes is Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s billboard, overlooking the valley of ashes: “But his eyes, dimmed a little by many pointless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (Fitzgerald 24). Fitzgerald describes the eyes on the billboard as “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” (Fitzgerald 23). Fitzgerald elucidated the eyes on the cover into the book itself, in the form of “the recurring billboard eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. Scribner, an American publisher, agreed that Fitzgerald used the eyes on the cover as inspiration for the billboard: "I do not know of another case in which an author acknowledges so central a debt to an illustrator" (Runa). While glaring at the billboard of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, the narrator states, “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God” (Fitzgerald 159). After this statement is said, Wilson …show more content…
The cover is famous for its relation to and symbolism in the book itself, representing some of the most important aspects of it. Because of its inspiration to Fitzgerald, certain lines in the book were written and changed specifically because of his love for the cover that Francis Cugat created. Fitzgerald wanted to connect the book with the cover by using it as guidance for some of the major themes and passages in the novel. Fitzgerald 's sorrowful description of the 1920’s is boldly shown throughout his novel: “Fitzgerald uses imagery not only to create vivid effects but also to emphasize the book’s theme of loss” (Cavendish 532). His writing consists of many descriptive passages in order to show the reader the sadness throughout the novel. Francis utilized cool colors for the background, like dark blue, to create a spooky, hopeless, and depressing feeling. On the other hand, he used warm colors, like yellows and oranges, for the city at the bottom of the artwork to give the readers a feeling of craziness while looking at his illustration of New York. The cover, ‘Celestial Eyes’, shortly became one of the most famous book covers in American history after the final copy of the book was published on April 10, 1925. It is even said that it is “probably one of the most iconic images in the literary design history” (Runa). The cover of The Great Gatsby, created by Francis Cugat, is well