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Understanding the 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)

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Understanding the False Eyes of “God”

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  1. Understanding the False Eyes of “God”

  2. SYMBOL- an object or action that stands for something else

  3. Background Information

  4. 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

  5. What do we know about the billboard?

  6. What we know • Located in the Valley of Ashes • “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). • Gigantic blue eyes with yellow rimmed glasses • “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).

  7. What conclusions can be drawn?

  8. Symbolism • The billboard represents the eyes of God in a morally broken America • 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 represents that God is still present even when people reject Him or don’t seek Him • 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

  9. 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.

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