Symbolism_False Eyes of God
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Transcript Symbolism_False Eyes of God
UNDERSTANDING THE
FALSE EYES OF “GOD”
SYMBOL- AN OBJECT OR ACTION
THAT STANDS FOR SOMETHING ELSE
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
TIMES ARE CHANGING
Modernity
Literary and cultural movement
Concerned itself with the present (NOT the past)
Focus was shifted from reality to introspective reflection and
abstract images
Industrialism
The Age of the Machine
People no longer did ALL of the work
Machines allowed for a better, more complex life
Religious tone of post-WWI era
No longer concerned themselves with an omnipresent being
who controlled everything and everyone
Moves toward self-seeking and self-reliance
WHAT DO WE
KNOW ABOUT THE
BILLBOARD?
WHAT WE KNOW
Located in the Valley of Ashes
Gigantic blue eyes with yellow rimmed glasses
“But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which
drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of
Doctor T.J. Eckleburg” (35).
“The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic– their
retinas are one yard high . They look out of no face but,
instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass
over a nonexistent nose” (35).
The billboard is advertising for someone of importance
that has faded away
“…his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun
and rain, brood on over the summer dumping ground” (35).
WHAT
CONCLUSIONS
CAN BE DRAWN?
SYMBOLISM
The billboard represents the eyes of God in a
morally broken America
The billboard represents that God is still present
even when people reject Him or don’t seek Him
The billboard watches over the very place that Tom
picks up his mistress– in a town that is so polluted
with ashes from all of the factories
The billboard still stands even though the paint and
quality of the structure are clearly neglected
Eternal Blindness
Moral decay of the time– people looking for
satisfaction, but ending up broken
DR. T. J. ECKLEBURG’S
BILLBOARD AND ITS EERIE EYES
ARE THE EYES OF GOD IN A
POST-INDUSTRIAL, MODERN AGE.
Do you agree with this
statement? Write a
paragraph to explain
your answer.