"The Great Gatsby": Symbolism of the Eyes

In the novel "The Great Gatsby", Fitzgerald uses the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes, to represent the omniscient God in the dying society Fitzgerald seeks to depict. The eyes are referred to several times sporadically throughout the novel.
In the very much abandoned Valley of Ashes, the billboard stands as a solitary landmark. …