Another image that is important in this passage are the eyes of Dr.T.J.Eckleburg which are described as “blue and gigantic”. The colour blue is repeatedly referred to throughout the novel and it suggests unhappiness and emptiness. The eyes of Dr.T.J.Eckleburg could be seen as empty because it looks “out of no face” and his spectacles “pass over a non-existent nose”. His spectacles are “enormous” and “yellow”, yellow is another colour Fitzgerald uses throughout the novel. It seems to create a sense of hope and happiness in contrast to the emptiness and unhappiness of the colour blue. The eyes could be seen as a symbol of God as no-one can see God, hence the eyes looking out of no face, but he is omnipresent and therefore can see everything. Fitzgerald talks about Dr.T.J.Eckleburg’s “persistent stare” when Nick and Tom walk under this billboard. This image is also highlighting how the American society in the 1920s is neglecting religion as the eyes are “dimmed” from neglect. This neglect is also mirrored by the “wild...oculist” who “sank down...into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away”. This businessman had made enough money and therefore forgot about this advertisement. This is similar to the American society who had got through the tough times and found enjoyment in life hence the neglect of God. The religious theme can also be seen because Fitzgerald calls this land “a valley of ashes” which sounds like the biblical passage, “as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no ill” from Psalm 23.
This neglect of religion is demonstrated through Tom’s infidelity as it is a sin to commit adultery but Tom seems to be proud of his infidelity as he says to Nick that he wants him to “meet his girl”. This pride could be down to the fact that he had “tanked up a good deal at luncheon” and therefore his desire to have Nick meet his mistress started to become violent. For the same reason, he also uncovered the information that he is cheating on Daisy to Nick. This tells us that Tom Buchanan does not obey rules and laws as he openly admitted to whoever who he knew that he had a mistress. He also went around with her in “popular cafés” and left her alone so he could go off to talk to other people. As shown by the way he “literally forced” Nick from the train and his insistence for Nick’s company, Tom seems to be an aggressive and forceful character who is used to having things his way. His “supercilious assumption” that Nick had nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon demonstrates this too.
When Nick and Tom meet George Wilson, Nick sees “a damp gleam of hope” spring into “his light blue eyes”. The blue eyes conveys overtones of unhappiness and creates a sense of emptiness. This image is aided by the “damp gleam of hope”. Something which is gleaming is usually perceived as bright whereas damp refers to something dull and lifeless. These two adjectives seem contradictory and maybe Fitzgerald is hinting that Wilson does not have a lot of hope and therefore this fact dampens his hope. He is also described as “a blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome”. Nick seems to see something positive behind something which seems negative on the outside. A blond, anaemic and spiritless man does not convey a positive image but Nick still points out that he is “faintly handsome”. This is not the only example of this feature of Nick’s character.
When Nick and Tom first enter the garage, the interior is described as being “unprosperous and bare”. Nick also sees that there is only one car, the “wreck of a Ford”, in this garage which is ironic as this is a garage but there is only one car which a potential customer can see. However, Nick thinks that “the shadow of the garage was a blind” and that there were “sumptous and romantic apartments” behind this. This again demonstrates Nick’s naivety as he is used to seeing beautiful things such as Tom’s house. It also creates an anticlimax as this passage had been building up to seeing this garage and meeting Wilson but neither seems to have had lived up to the build up it recieved.