In the publisher's afterword (starting on page 195), it states that
"Cugat's [the illustrator of the cover] rendition is not illustrative, but symbolic, even iconic; the sad, hypnotic, heavily outlines eyes of a woman beam like headlights through a cobalt night sky. Their irises are transfigured into reclining female nudes [which is very difficult to distinguish unless you take a good look at the painting]. From one of the eyes streams a green luminescent tear; brightly rouged lips complete the sensual triangle. Below, on earth, colored carnival lights blaze before a metropolitan skyline."Perhaps the artist, Cugat, was trying to suggest that though the period known as the 'Roarin' 20s' was externally beautiful but lacked any real body (in this case, a face). I spent much time trying to figure out who it may be depicting- Daisy? Myrtle? Jordan? However, I came to the conclusion that maybe, as was suggested, that it was simply symbolic. The greenish tear reminded me of the green light that is mentioned throughout the book (at the end of the Buchanans' dock). Do you think this was intentional?
Similar to the cover, I found that the valley of dust and ashes to be symbolic the time period. Starting on page 27, Nick describes how one could make out entire farms, cars, and people from the ashes on the way to New York City. It seems that this image represents the costs of the decadent lifestyle of many in the 1920s. I also found it to be similar to Gatsby's life. Even though it was clear that there were 'dust people' and many other objects behind the ash, we cannot distinguish them. Gatsby's mysterious wealth and surprisingly humble upbringings seem to mirror the lack of clarity in this location.
The advertisement for Doctor T.J. Eckleburg (the large, faceless eyes) presents a different issue.
" 'I spoke to her [Myrtle],' he muttered, after a long silence. 'I told her she might fool me but she couldn't fool God. I took her to the window-' With an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it, '-and I said 'God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me but you can't fool God!' 'Fitzgerald wrote this book following World War I. This war is notoriously famous for being one of the first "modern" wars- many new weapons and tactics first used then are still being used today. Understandably, the writers of this age felt significantly disillusioned about America. By placing 'God's eyes' in the ash valley, perhaps he is trying to reawaken the notion that God did not care about people. What do you think?
"Standing behind him Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes...which had just emerged pale and enormous from the dissolving night.
" 'God sees everything,' repeated Wilson."
2 comments:
Speaking of ashes...
It seems to me that the whole "valley of ashes" could be a pretty ambiguous symbol. Ashes represent, in a way, death. They are the burnt remains of something that no longer exists. Could it represent the death of "The Age of Innocence" or even the death of the American Dream?
I definately think that it at least symbolizes the socalled 'moral degredation' of the '20s and the life of the rich. The rich, at least in this book, had very little substance, like ashes. For the most part, the characters were static, never changing or learning from their mistakes, and they didn't really care about anyone but themselves.
I must start off by saying that I LOVED reading this book. I became one of those losers in the hallway that walked and read at the same time, because I was so engrossed in the characters. But not only was I engrossed in the characters, the imagery, the detail, and the word choice was all very appealing.
I believe that the time period is very important, because after World War I many people felt that they had to go out and ‘live life’ because it was far too short. I feel that it is this mindset that Fitzgerald is trying to portray in his stories. For Nick, life is too short to live it out on the west coast (or so he thinks in the beginning). For Tom, life is too short to spend it with one woman, and for Daisy life is too short to live cooped up with a man who doesn’t love her (even though that changes in the end).
However Gatsby is the only character who does not follow this pattern. Most rational men would have given up their love for Daisy and moved on to something new. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is almost an obsession with ‘the past’. Nick even confronts Gatsby and says you can’t relive the past, but Gatsby is determined to do so.
I thought the book was a way for Fitzgerald to document the various reactions people had to the ‘Roarin 20s’ and life after the war. He used vivid description and extremely complex characters to do so.
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