Interpretation of Celestial Eyes: The Cover Image of The Great Gatsby

Francis Cugat’s striking cover illustration Celestial Eyes, commissioned for the 1925
edition of The Great Gatsby, is probably one of the most iconic images in literary design history.
The cover provides an excellent source of symbolism and insight into meaning of the novel. The
sad, hypnotic eyes of a woman shine through the night sky like two headlights. Inside the eyes,
the irises appear as lounging nude women. A green tear streams down from the one eye and vivid
red lips complete the face. No nose or other recognizable facial forms appear on this figure, but a
few dark streaks behind the title suggest hairlines.

The cover art applies to many aspects of the story, specifically symbols and characters.
The eyes represent a direct reference to those of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg on the billboard in the city.
Both sets of eyes seem eerily ominous, yet they also have a mystical quality about them, almost
god-like in their appearance, that everything is being watched. The irises symbolize Gatsby's
sexuality and his views about Daisy. He watches Daisy with lustful eyes and the inner eye could
signify his dreams about his future with her. Emerging from the center of the cover, the bright
red lips suggest the sensuality of Daisy. The irises could also be symbols of adultery which is
present in the novel on many accounts. For example, Daisy shows that she is aware of Tom's
affair with Myrtle and does not do anything to stop it.

Dripping down the cheek of the face, a green tear stands out from the dark background.
This tear represents the sadness in the heart of characters in the novel, especially Gatsby and
Daisy. Gatsby is a man who gives up the whole world in order to please his lover, but ends up
with leaving this world disastrously. Undoubtedly, Gatsby is a lonely man who only has one
person to mourn his death. This is also why the tear drop is only on one side of the
expressionless face.

The face on the cover is believed to be of Daisy. The face is not a solid face and the parts
that are on it are as if they were floating. Nothing is defined to a head and it symbolizes that
Daisy does not know where she stands as a person and she always conform to society. She is not
confident in herself or in her life as a wife and mother. While people are admiring Gatsby’s
selfless love, they are disgusted by Daisy, who is a selfish, amorous and money-oriented woman.
Just like the woman’s face in the middle of Cugat’s painting, it has a pair of apathy eyes, heavy
eyebrows, flaming lips and flying hair that blow by the wind. She is charming, but heartless. She
chooses Tom, a wealthy man, and abandoned Gatsby because he was too poor to give her a
luxurious life-style. Years later, when Daisy finds out that Gatsby has the ability to afford her
dream life, she falls in love with Gatsby again. Moreover, she moves between Tom and Gatsby,
which hurts two men at the same time.

Below this face is a shiny and fancy nightlife, which represents the flashy world of the
upper class. Cugat puts a lot of light-yellow pigment to reveal the desired way of life. On the
other hand, with the blue background, this color is much shiner. However, this brightness will
only be shown in the dark. Just like Gatsby, Daisy or Tom’s upper-class style life, although they
have a lot of money, their dirty secrets are much more than their fortune. Once their mysteries
are exposed under the sunlight, the luxurious and extravagant lifestyle will no longer belong to
them. Furthermore, yellow color is also an attention getter. It has the same purpose with the dark
blue, which is to catch readers’ eyes. These lights and infrastructure also act like a city that
symbolizes New York City and its commotion. There is always drama and corruption in cities.
These bright colors and lights also bring out the chaos. Some of these colors represent the ways
of people, for example, the ways of selfishness and greed. The city plays a major role in the
story, it is the main place where all the corruption takes place.

The dark blue background of the cover is not only used to attract the perspective readers,
but also perfectly illustrates the atmosphere of the whole plot as Blue color also represents cold
and depression. It stands for loyalty as well. This character is also shown in Gatsby’s personality.
Through the whole novel, he loved Daisy when he was an obscure solider with no money; he
loves Daisy when he has become a rich millionaire who has everything.

Towards the bottom left edge, the drawing looks vaguely like a car, materializing out of
the cluster of lights. Combining this with the street-like markings near the face, another symbol
in this picture becomes evident. Gatsby’s car plays a large role in the symbolism of the novel.
The car epitomizes the flamboyant nature of Gatsby and other rich people during this time
period. After hitting and killing Myrtle Wilson, the car also typifies the arrogance of the wealthy
towards the less fortunate. The accident destroys the car’s embodiment of wealth and happiness.
This also parallels Gatsby’s life and the revelation of the corrupt nature of his character.

The book cover succeeds in depicting many symbols of important elements in the story.
The mysteriousness of the picture plays on the reader’s mind while going through the book.
Adding to the effectiveness of the symbols, it contributes to the quality of the novel in a way that
most covers do not. It represents an unusual and unique collaboration between author and artist;
one that needs to establish itself more frequently in order to maintain this extraordinary level of
literature. Thus, Cugat named this painting Celestial Eyes in order to reflect his idea of this
rapidly changing world. Although this painting is the only well-known piece in his career, it is
the cover of one of the most popular books in the world. The strategy of pathos that Cugat
applied into the cover built an emotion bridge between the readers and the book because this
masterpiece is able to leave a strong impression in readers’ mind. More importantly, through this
piece, The Great Gatsby’s implied meaning and author’s thoughts are fully and clearly
demonstrated.