Yellow Glasses Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

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The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg
The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg represent the eyes of God in The Great Gatsby. As the billboard looks over the dull and bland Valley of Ashes, his eyes are described as “blue and gigantic,” and he is wearing “a pair of enormous yellow spectacles” (Fitzgerald 26). The blue eyes represent that what he is seeing holds a lot of sadness. He is using the yellow glasses to see better; yellow is associated with death and corruption in the novel. By wearing yellow glasses, the corruption in the world of The Great Gatsby enhances the sadness that is already seen. Later on, George Wilson says, ““God knows what you’ve been doing…” he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg... [and repeated] “God sees everything”” …show more content…
At Gatsby’s first party in the book, Owl Eyes crashes his car into a ditch while drunk. He explains, ““I know very little about driving—next to nothing.” [Someone replies, “Well, if you’re a poor driver you oughtn’t to try driving at night.” [Owl Eyes] explained indignantly, “But I wasn’t even trying”” (Fitzgerald 59). He doesn’t know anything about driving, yet he attempts to while he is drunk. This shows how much he doesn’t care about automobile wrecks. He doesn’t even bother to try and drive. Later on, Nick and Jordan were driving in a car; “she passed so close to some workmen that [their] fender flicked a button on one man’s coat…” (Fitzgerald 64). Nick explained that she wasn’t careful and she replied, ““Well, other people are… They’ll keep out of my way,” she insisted. “It takes two to make an accident’” (Fitzgerald 64). Wealthy people were very selfish and expected others to worry about the rules of the road. They were careless and self-centered; even if they got in a wreck, they had plenty of money to repair their automobiles. Both of the incidents show how automobile wrecks weren't a concern to rich people because they were egotistical and didnt care about the well being of
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