he world around them. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggested the moral decline of the period in American history through the interpersonal relationships among his characters. The situations in the lives of the characters show the worthlessness of materialism, the futile quest of Myrtle and Gatsby, and how America 's moral values had diminished- through the actions of Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and Gatsby's party guests. Despite his newly acquired fortune, Gatsby still cannot afford his one true wish, therefore he cannot buy everything which is important to Daisy. "..Their love is founded upon feelings from the past, these give it, notwithstanding Gatsby's insistence on being able to repeat the past , an inviolability. It exists in the world of money and corruption but is not of it." (Lewis 48 ) In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the uses of literary technique of symbolism to reflect what life in the 1920's was like, through Fitzgerald's eyes. The image of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg's eyes is used to signify an ever watchful godlike figure. "Just as Wilson comes half—consciously to identify the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg with God, so the reader gradually becomes aware of them as representing some kind of detached intellect, brooding gloomily over life in the bleak waste land surrounding it, and presiding fatalistically over the little tragedy enacted as if in sacrifice before it." (Miller 36) The eyes not only symbolize a god—like being but also Fitzgerald himself and his negative views of 1920's society. Fitzgerald's negative views of society are society are also portrayed through his depiction of certain guests at Gatsby's parties.The symbol of the two women dressed identically in yellow at Gatsby's party represent the values of the people of the 20's. The two women meet Jordan and Nick at Gatsby's party and are completely self—involved. These women are only concerned with what happens to them and the fun that t...
