The Great Gatsby: Novel vs Film Version
The Great Gatsby, a novel that debuted in 1925 is among the top classical books that have acquired much approval and widely read in the modern United States. The novel is a cornerstone of many teens introduction to literature studies as it is commonly taught in schools. The most recent film version of The Great Gatsby was released in 2013 directed by Baz Luhrmann. Although the film stays close to the plot and copy the language style in the novel, most of the facts in the novel are either distorted, stretched or omitted. More precisely, the film version of the novel hardly captures the essence of the themes and depicts the characters differently. Hence, the text does not exactly translate into the movie. Reading the novel and watching this movie appear to be like two different experiences; The Great Gatsby in the 1920’s and The Great Gatsby with the modern 21st-century touch. The settings, atmosphere and the costumes do not appear to be anything close to similar. Ideally, conveying how Gatsby’s love for Daisy is a driving force to his ambition is a key figment in the storyline. All the elements in the novel combine together to create a character who acts as an embodiment of the American Dream. In Luhrmann’s film, the subtle elements in the text are substituted by splashy brushstrokes that end up missing the heart of the classical tragic novel. These subtle elements in the film give rise to a totally different setting and atmosphere. This clearly implies that creating a movie that stays faithful to a written literary work can hardly be accomplished.
Essentially, the film and the novel are much similar in the aspects of characters and the broader thematic concerns. The characters starred in the film are similar to those in the novel and play similar character roles. The story in both cases is narrated by the character Nick Carraway. Nick, as he is popularly referred to in the book, tells the story of the main character, Jay Gatsby, a mysterious billionaire whose main ambition is to get back with his old lover, Daisy Buchanan, now married to Tom Buchanan. The two had parted ways with Gatsby aiming to amass wealth in order to marry her as she was from a rich family. His attempt comes along with all possible drama including extravagant spending in parties that Daisy does not even show up. Tom Buchanan, has a mistress, Myrtle, married to a garage owner. Nick learns about the affair from Daisy’s friend, Jordan. Myrtle’s husband, George, un-suspecting of Tom’s affair with his wife until the later stages, suspects Gatsby for having hit her wife who died instantly and avenges by killing him. George also kills himself. In both the film and the novel, Gatsby misses his dream as Daisy ends up with Tom and does not even attend his funeral.