When people discuss and debate The Great Gatsby, three items/symbols in particular tend to always come up; the pool, the green light, and the billboard. The infamous billboard of a set of eyes advertising an oculist is an important aspect of Fitzgerald’s novel as it displays his thoughts on God’s role and feelings towards the 1920s society. The eyes are an omnipresent symbol that is described as staring and frowning at the characters as they partake in multiple love affairs, drive recklessly, and kill. The eyes watch, disapprovingly, upon the spectacle before them, never intervening, but always casting down judgement on the actions of the characters.
This is Fitzgerald’s way of conveying God’s presence in American society at the time. He watches as they engage in overindulgent behaviors, forgoing ethics, and instead becoming greedy, selfish, materialistic human beings. He never intervenes as Fitzgerald doesn’t think God has the power to do so, unable to truly understand what he created or how to control it, nor does he really want to. God watches and does nothing when Myrtle is gruesomely killed in a hit and run, and continues as simply a witness when Gatsby is murdered because he was believed to be the driver that killed Myrtle. God is detached from American society, not wanting/unable to create a bond with humanity.
God is perplexed, slightly disgusted, and overall, completely involved in his experiment of life on Earth. He’s uncaring, and cruel in Fitzgerald’s eyes, rather than the benevolent caretaker He’s usually depicted as. Most importantly, he’s just as confused about the behaviors of humanity as the rest of us.
I find this idea of God watching from the sidelines because I think in may ways Nick is also watching the story evolve as a passive character. His connections are utilized by Gatsby to meet with Daisy but other than that he is brought along by far more wealthy and influential people.
This is a very interesting theory as God being represented through the billboard. It is interesting that Fitzgerald makes the most important scene in the story happen right where the billboard is present, clearly showing that the billboard is a God-like figure.
I think that your idea that the billboard represents a higher power watching over a crumbling society is spot on. Note that the billboard is for an optometrist, someone who specializes in sight and improving vision. It seems unlikely that Fitzgerald would but such emphasis on a detail like the billboard unless it had an important symbolic meaning.
There is certainly a level of spirituality associated with the billboard. I feel as if it is a return to antebellum reform, which embraced God to perfect society, rather than the reformers from the Progressive Era. Perhaps that suggests that the methods of the Progressive reformers could no longer be effective.