Introduction
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the greatest American novels ever written. Since its publication in 1925, both the book and its cover artwork have become highly symbolic and analyzed works of art. The original book cover, which depicts a woman’s face on a dark blue background, was painted by Francis Cugat. The mysterious, haunting face against the celestial background has sparked many interpretations over the years about what deeper meaning it held. Some key symbolic interpretations of the famous cover include femininity and idealized romantic notions, the darkness lurking beneath the Jazz Age, judgment or a higher power watching, and the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg that loom over the events in the book.
Femininity and Romantic Ideals
The eyes and mouth of the painted face have oft been compared to those of Daisy Buchanan. As the object of Gatsby’s desire and romantic obsession, Daisy represents femininity, beauty, wealth, and idealized romantic aspirations. Gatsby’s feelings for Daisy are revealed to be based more on his own dreams and illusions rather than her true self. The giant gaze overlooking the events could represent Daisy as a deity Gatsby worships and makes sacrifices for. Some see the ethereal blue background as heaven, from which Daisy and her class of socially elite individuals figuratively look down upon Gatsby and judge him unworthy.
The feminine lips are also described as being sad and mournful. This could reference the sorrow Daisy feels deep down over betraying her true love for Gatsby by marrying Tom Buchanan. It also foreshadows the tragic events surrounding Myrtle’s death that Daisy plays a role in. Some interpret the sorrowful face as Daisy realizing the destruction and moral corruption that she and her social circle have spawned. The cover simultaneously captures Daisy’s beauty and social status that Gatsby aspires for, as well as her underlying sadness and culpability in the story’s tragedy.
Darkness Beneath the Glitz and Glamour
Beyond representing Daisy, the haunting eyes overlooking the dark blue night sky are often analyzed as symbolizing a higher power looking down and judging the immoral characters and their extravagant but meaningless lives. The eyes seem to perceptively peer into the souls of the reckless partiers of the Jazz Age and all their pretense, deceit, and underlying unhappiness and emptiness.
The mournful face against the ominous celestial background creates an overall feeling of darkness lurking beneath all the glitz and glamour of the Roaring Twenties party scene. The decade has come to represent wild indulgence, carefree decadence, liberation, and giddy optimism following World War I. However, Fitzgerald exposes the frivolity and its ultimate hollowness through Gatsby’s tragic story. The giant eyes seem to foresee the lurking chaos, depravity, and destruction all the revelry conceals. Just as the sad eyes know of the coming tragedies, so too does the cover convey a message that all is not as shiny and bright as the times seem in prosperous America.
The Watching Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg
A direct connection can be made between the eyes on the cover and those belonging to Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. His worn-out advertising billboard depicts a giant pair of watching eyes looming over the barren valley of ashes. The characters pass under the haunting gaze when traveling between East and West Egg and New York City. The omnipresent eyes symbolize a higher power of morality judging the wicked ways of the wealthy elite characters as they speed carelessly by.
Eckleburg could represent God, though Fitzgerald leaves room for ambiguity about whether the eyes symbolize an absent god, an watching one, or something else altogether. Various interpretations see Eckleburg’s eyes as the ever-present pressure of moral conscience watching over humanity. The lost sight billboard also connects to the theme of seeking meaning in a seemingly meaningless modern world. The cover art’s sad eyes echo those of the billboard in the text, with both images warning of darkness beyond the blinding light of Jazz Age revelry.
Conclusion
The haunting, iconic cover art of the original Great Gatsby invokes many symbolic meanings. The giant eyes and mouth have often been associated with Daisy Buchanan, representing idealized but tragic romantic notions as well as the judgmental elite class looking down on outsiders like Gatsby. The sorrowful feminine face against a dark and celestial blue background conveys darkness, chaos, and judgment lurking behind the facade of 1920s prosperity and parties. Parallels can be drawn between the eyes on the cover and those of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s billboard, which watch over the immoral characters as a reminder of conscience, morality, and meaning beyond the decadence of the times. Nearly a century after publication, both Fitzgerald’s masterpiece work and its famous original cover continue to be analyzed for their symbolic significance.
