What Does The Man Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald is a master of literary symbolism and produced many acts of this in his book The Great Gatsby. He offers many smaller pieces of symbolism through the book like the valley of ashes, "a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and grotesque gardens" (27). Or other small symbols like cheating in relationships, or how the 1920 's was all about being luxurious and wealthy. Two big pieces of symbolism in this book are the Owl Eyed man and the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The Great Gatsby offers a plentiful amount of symbolism, many of which are present throughout the whole novel, while others are precisely interweaved within the rest of the book. Fizgerald includes many smaller pieces of symbolism in his …show more content…
This man resurfaces a few times in the book and very few is ever said about him. The first time we meet him he is Gatsby 's library during a party. He is just observing the books. Observing, the first symbol portrayed by his man. Out of the few times we see him all he does is watches. This can be seen as a symbol of God, only spectating while everybody carries on there sinful life of riches or struggles with poverty. He also never asks any questions, corrects anybody, or gives his input to anybody, just watches as people make the wrong decisions. Another strange thing about this man that gives reason to the opinion that he portrays a god is that he was the only one at Gatsby 's funeral besides Nick. This demonstrates that through all of his observations of Gatsby, he realized that he was a good enough man to deserve his presence at the funeral. The Owl Eyed man plays an important role in this book and is similar to the billboard of the watching eyes, the next piece of symbolism. The third and final piece of symbolism that will be covered is the large billboard of the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. This sign, to say the least, symbolizes a lot of thing. First, the fact that it is located in the valley of ashes could show that this area of poverty is abandoned by God and now is only observed, not given any more guide. The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburd also have a lot in common with the

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