In this passage the sheer size of Eckleburg’s eyes, and the fact that they are in “spectacles” gives them the quality of being watchful. However later in the passage Fitzgerald references the occultist sinking “into eternal blindness”. He then goes on to say that the eyes, although “dimmed by many paintless days” remain in their place. The way that the eyes have continued to stare out into the world long after they have been forsaken by mankind gives them the feeling of being an eternal presence. Their weathered quality makes the eyes, at the same time, feel all the more permanent, but also that they have a limit to their power. The idea of eternal watchfulness has long been associated, in our culture, with the divine. The watchful eyes
