“It takes two to make an accident (The Great Gatsby)”, just how it takes two things to be able to compare and contrast. An appropriate compare and contrast subject is movies versus books. With books being written before a movie is released, the movie director has plenty to consider when filming a movie bouncing off of the book. The things to consider consist of plot, characters, and tone/mood. These things and more contribute to building up a compare and contrast analysis. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby (1925) versus Baz Luhrmann’s movie, The Great Gatsby (2013) both delve into the unrequited love that Gatsby has for Daisy, but take different approaches in many areas and also keep certain things the same.
An important thing
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in a novel is the time period. Fitzgerald wrote his novel in 1925, and placed the time period of his novel during the roaring 20s. A character who shines throughout this time of music and drunken joy is Gatsby. Gatsby is introduced as a fond character and shows his love for Daisy throughout the story. Although he deeply loves her, he later becomes aware in the novel that she would not be his to love. When he is in his pool, “no telephone message arrived (page 161)”. This does not affect him deeply due to the fact that “Gatsby himself didn’t believe it would come, and perhaps he no longer cared (page 161)”. Daisy leaves no message telling him her decision of whether or not she chose him. Daisy is described in the written story as a bright eyed woman who has Gatsby’s love and a bright passionate mouth. Deep down in her heart, she is shallow and is caught up in all things materialistic. In the shirt scene of the book, she cries out about missing out on Gatsby’s wealth. She explains her reason for crying with saying “it makes me so sad because I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before (page 92)”. This scene proves the shallowness that Daisy carries with her, and how little she cares about Gatsby. In the movie, Daisy is portrayed slightly differently. She is less shallow and instead of wealth being her reason to cry over beautiful shirts, the narration of Nick tells that she cries over missing spending time with Gatsby. This character choice is most likely taken so that the audience may feel some sort of sympathy towards her, and give some sort of understanding as to why Gatsby would cling to the idea of forever. Forever is an illusion in The Great Gatsby, and that is shown by the death of Gatsby.
Gatsby had held onto the idea of forever with Daisy until he was unable to. His death held the same level of importance and carried the same cause of death into both stories. In the book, Gatsby is lying on an air mattress in his pool and receives no message/sign of Daisy telling him her decision and is suddenly shot by George Wilson due to a false accusation. In the movie, he goes for a swim instead of floating on an air mattress. As soon as he hears the telephone ring, he begins to get out of the pool and is suddenly shot the same way as he was in the novel. Right after he is shot, he says “Daisy” to himself quietly and falls back into the pool. He dies in the movie believing that Daisy had called him. The audience later finds out that Nick was the one to call the telephone. Gatsby has a funereal in both stories, but no one arrives for him in the movie. No one comes to his funeral in the movie, except for Nick, this plot choice could be seen as to purposefully get the audience feeling remorse for …show more content…
Gatsby. When looking at a movie and a book of the same title, one overlooks the things that are kept the same, and jump to the differences.
In both of the stories, a subtle, but important thing was the time period. The movie stayed along the lines of the roaring 20s and captured the attributes that come along with it such as the style, slang, and cars. Although the death came with slightly different approaches, they both had the same cause of death and the same level of importance of it placed into the story. Another subtle prime point, is the way the weather corresponds with the plot. The confrontation between Tom and Gatsby held in both of the stories take place on the hottest day of the summer. After Daisy has made her decision, the air suddenly cools and is seen through the way the leaves begin to fall. In both of the stories, the butler of Gatsby’s suggests draining the pool to avoid having the falling leaves clog the drain. The same way that Gatsby clings to the possibility of Daisy loving him how she previously did before, he insists on taking a swim as if it were still
summertime. All in all, a movie and book will quite possibly never be identical due to a director’s preference of doing things to their liking. The Great Gatsby was captured wonderfully in the movie and had an appropriate way of presenting itself to audiences everywhere. As mentioned before, there are many things to consider and look over while comparing a movie and a book. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past (page 180)”
The first impression that the reader gets of Gatsby is Jay’s initial explanation of him. Nick describes Gatsby as having an “extraordinary gift for hope” (2) or the ability to always be hopeful for the best outcome. This “ability” directly correlates to Gatsby 's platonic conception of himself and the world. Gatsby’s gift was not that he was able to see the best out of the worst situation but rather assume that the best situation would always occur for him. This “ability” lead Gatsby to take many risks especially the risk of believing that Daisy had only loved him. Gatsby also hopes that Daisy would call him back, leaving the phone lines open for Daisy when swimming in his pool. These acts only further lead to Gatsby becoming enemies with Tom, who gave Gatsby’s life up to Myrtle’s husband whose final act was shooting
Although most of the characters were portrayed the best that they could be, Daisy was not. In the book Daisy is said to have “The voice of money” (Fitzgerald 127). However, in the movie she talks more sweetly and not at all how I expected her to be played. In the novel, Gatsby’s father shows up to the funeral and shows Nick the journal that Gatsby had had when he was younger and talks about how proud he is of Gatsby but unlike the novel, the movie does not have this scene (Fitzgerald 180-182). However, the movie shows that no one came to Gatsby’s funeral except all the paparazzi that showed up to take pictures of him in his casket (The Great Gatsby). I feel this should have really been included because it showed a little more insight into the life of Jay Gatsby. The last and final difference I have about this comparison is about the scene where Daisy is going to visit Nick for tea. The book really did not include many details about how Nick’s house looked after Gatsby had sent everyone over to “get it ready” (Fitzgerald 89-90). When this scene occurred in the movie, I was really thrown off because of how decorated it was. Especially all the flowers that had been brought over to Nick’s house. It was filled to the brim with flowers which made the scene more awkward than it should have
Even though at first when they finally got together after all those years and everything seem great and romantic but good things always come to an end. The affair effected Gatsby in his life by having him back the old love he first had for Daisy even hoping for a lifetime future together. His dream is very much vivid about his romantic hopes about Daisy in his mind, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). He seems to be falling deeper in love with her even maybe more than the love she really had for him even though through the end of the chapters her love that she claims to have for him seemed not truly. In New York, the truth comes out more about she feels about Gatsby by being questioned and feeling guilty when Tom gets to the fact that she loves him and not Gatsby but Gatsby rejects his sayings and tells Daisy to say how she truly feel about him. Over all the excitement, Daisy tells how she truly feel about the whole love affair, “I did love him once but I loved you too” (132). It is possible that the leading of Gatsby’s death was caused from Tom’s jealousy of his wife’s confessed love for Gatsby. Tom would had told Wilson that Gatsby was the driver of the car that killed Myrtle and her secret
She is feeling low and wants to drive to get her mind off things, not surprisingly Gatsby let her charm him once again. On the way back to The Buchanan’s, a woman runs in the middle of the road and Daisy doesn’t slow down. Daisy hits her and kills her, but the most tragic part was that she didn’t stop. Tom sees all the commotion on the way back and stops by. Tom discovers it is his mistress who Daisy hit; he begins to talk to Mr. Wilson her grieving husband. Mr. Wilson describes the car and Tom tells him it was Gatsby. Gatsby let everyone believe that knows what happened, what Tom said is true, and Daisy’s selfish ways doesn’t stop him. A few days later, Mr. Wilson hunts down Gatsby and shoots him, and right after shoots himself. Daisy never spoke the truth, and her and Tom leaves town immediately. Daisy’s selfishness and pride make her directly responsible for Myrtle Wilson’s death; and indirectly responsible for George Wilson’s and Gatsby’s. Neither Daisy nor Tom goes to Gatsby’s funeral because ‘they were careless people who smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they
For example, Leonardo Dicaprio’s character of Gatsby was focused on emotions. I enjoyed that Redford was very calm and cool about everything and the way he approached the character but, Dicaprio made such an open and outgoing character which made the movie more entertaining. DiCaprio captured Gatsby’s intensity and charm and brought out the crazy mood swings and took his character and the audience to a more emotional place. Both Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio had their own way of approaching the character and really selling Gatsby but Leonardo DiCaprios was better. Another reason I prefer the 2013 version of the 74’ is because of the bond and friendship Nick Carraway played by Tobey Maguire and Gatsby had MaGuire was able to bring a true and strong meaning to their friendship that made his and Gatsby’s bond feel organic and real and you were able to see that clearly unlike with Waterston where you just saw the friendship and didn’t feel any emotion. But I felt much more of a connection with his character than I did with the ’74 version. If you have read the book and seen the original film, then you understood where Nick was coming from in the scene where he was furious with Gatsby, after he believe he killed Myrtle only to find out that Gatsby wasn’t the one driving the car that killed Mrytle, MaGuire, did a fantastic job in showing his emotions and how what happened to Myrtle and the person that killed Myrtle affected him. I loved that Nick was a lot more real in this movie. He didn’t hold back and he gave the audience a reaction that anyone in life would have had if they were in his situation. Nick had the major issue of being dragged into situations because of people he knows. I thought Maguire did a great job of showing ...
Dreams are goals in life where people aspire to execute their passionate desire to an extent where it motivates them, allowing many to grasp their objectives (Dictionary). However, the dream can consume someone’s thoughts and acts, altering their persona. The nature of each protagonist in the novel, The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, and in the film American Gangster by Ridley Scott, were very similar due to the fact that their dreams destroyed their character. The protagonist in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, first aspired to become a rich man. In efforts of fulfilling his desires, his own dream destructed his emotional conscious. Similarly, the main character of American Gangster, Frank Lucas was destructed, but by immorality and wrongdoing
Have you ever thought about when a producer makes a movie out from a well- known novel, how many scene will actually stick to the original story? It has been a trend that the movie industries tend to dismiss many details from the original book in order to gain more rating or revenue from the movie. On the other hand, many viewer will argue or dislike the fact that the movie industries disrespect the author of the book. Recently I got the chance to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and watch the 2013 version’s movie. While the book and the film are pretty similar; there is one major different between the book itself and the movie.
Is the book always better than the movie? While many may disagree, in these circumstances, yes, yes it is. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is an “elegiacal romantic novel” that takes place in the roaring twenties, where spirits run high and life is an illusion of wealth (Canby). The 1974 Hollywood film version of The Great Gatsby fails to depict this complex elegance and superficiality of the twenties. While it is difficult to include every detail of the novel in the movie, it is important to depict the overall tone and message of the story. Devoted readers look forward to film adaptations of their favorite novels, but The Great Gatsby film fell short of their high expectations.
Some individuals make drastic changes, but with a story as iconic as The Great Gatsby, it is key to remain faithful to the original. Small changes are unavoidable and welcome, as long as they do not change the meaning of the text. When it comes to approaching film adaptation John Harrington elaborates on this idea and argues that,
As the case with most “Novel to Movie” adaptations, screenwriters for films will make minor, and sometimes drastic, adjustments to the original text in order to increase drama and to reach modern audiences. Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film interpretation of The Great Gatsby followed the 1925 classic great plot quite accurately, with minor deviations. However, Luhrmann made some notable differences to the characters and settings of The Great Gatsby in order for the story to relate to the current generation and to intensity the plot
Benjamin Disraeli once said, “the magic of first love is the ignorance that it can never end”. In similar ways, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and the film The Notebook directed by Nick Cassavetes both share a similar love story producing the idea that first love never dies. Both the novel and the film present the idea of a lower class man falling in love with a wealthy woman. Neither of the men are able to stay with the women due to disapproval. When the men finally reconnect with the women, they realize they are already in a new relationship. Although the women are in different relationships, they know they are still in love with their first love, leaving a conflict for them in the current relationship
Essay 4: Comparative Analysis of Two Texts When comparing two texts, one must look at the characters and themes to find similarities and differences and we see a similarity with the theme of accepting reality in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and The Great Gatsby. There are differences in both texts with the way the characters fight reality, but the outcome is the same. The power of love in both texts is looked at as more important than social priorities and the main characters will do anything to get what they want and it results in death. One might come to conclusions to say that F. Scott Fitzgerald based the relationship of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan on Romeo and Juliet, seeing that both stories have characters who do not accept the reality and in their minds, love overpowers everything. When looking at these two texts side to side, one would notice many similarities in the actions of the main characters.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, and Baz Luhrmann’s movie adaption can hardly be compared but the film somewhat stay true to the text. Luhrmann’s movie was fun to watch but it should have had more originality to it from the
While in a New York City hotel room one evening late in the summer with Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby, there is a massive confrontation during which Tom exposes Gatsby's corrupt business dealings. Jay and Daisy leave to drive back to Long Island together with her driving Gatsby's car "to calm her down" when she accidentally hits and kills Tom's mistress. The car doesn't stop after the accident and speeds on towards Long Island. Gatsby's charm has faded with his exposed corruption. While Nick goes off to work in New York City the next day, the dead woman's vengeful husband, told that it had been Gatsby's car that killed his wife by a vengeful Tom Buchanan, shoots Gatsby to death in his own swimming pool and then kills himself.
The story The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott and directed by Baz Lurhmann, is a story narrated in the first person by the character Nick Carraway , about a man called Jay Gatsby , and his love/obsession for a girl called Daisy Fay Buchanan , who is married to a man called Tom Buchanan . In this story, the director uses film techniques like characterization, setting, cinematography, soundtrack, and visual elements to portray particular ideas and themes in the story - but these techniques are over-the-top, inefficient, and sometimes completely unnecessary. Some of the themes of The Great Gatsby that will be discussed here are wealth, hope, and infatuation.