The Great Gatsby Compare/Contrast Essay
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, “The Great Gatsby”, and Baz Luhrmann’s film, “The Great Gatsby”, both have similarities and contrasts between the two of them. The Great Gatsby is a novel and film taken place in the 1920s filled with wild parties, mysterious people, The American Dream, and most of all, love. There are several things that can be compared between the novel and film; such as the characters and the setting. There are also contrasts between the two as well; which is mainly involving the character Nick.
In both the novel and the film, similarities can be made between all of the characters, especially Nick and Gatsby. As stated by the character named Nick in the novel, “I am one of the few honest
…show more content…
people that I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 59). Throughout the novel, the reader learns that Nick himself is an honest man; he never tells a lie. In the movie as well, Nick seems to be a honest man. He kept his word with Gatsby about helping him reconnect with Daisy, Gatsby's true love. Similarities can also be made about Gatsby in both the novel and movie as well. As stated in both, he went to Oxford College and was one of the most popular men throughout New York City. In the novel, Nick tells how Gatsby is a mysterious man. In both the novel and movie, Gatsby approaches Nick one night outside his house. Gatsby later then asks Nick to invite Daisy over for tea so he can rekindle their relationship. When Nick first encountered Gatsby, his first impression was that he was mysterious, than later learned he is just like any other person. “ So my first impression, that he was a person of some undefined consequence, had gradually faded and he had become simply the proprietor of an elaborate road-house next door” (Fitzgerald 64). The more Nick accompanied Gatsby, the more he got to know who he really was. The setting in both the film and the novel are very similar. For example, they are both taken place in New York City. The characters living between the small towns of West and East Egg. In both the novel and the film, Nick and Gatsby live next door to each other. Another setting in the story that is similar in both the novel and the film would be the Valley of Ashes. In the novel Nick states, “This is the valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke, and finally, with transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 23). As written in the novel, the Valley of Ashes does not seem like a place where anyone would want to live or go to; proven in the movie, the Valley of Ashes is a dark, dust covered, dull area, where the characters pass through time to time. Although there are many similarities between the film and the novel, there are also some contrasts between the two.
For example, in the film Nick is introduced as a recovering alcoholic and is in rehab writing about his story involving The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Nick is not introduced as an alcoholic and does not overuse it. He states at the first party in the movie, “I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon…” (Fitzgerald 29). However, in the movie we learn that Nick was someone who overused alcohol and is now in rehab writing his own stories. Another contrast between the novel and the film would be that in the novel, Gatsby tells Nick how Daisy was driving the night that Myrtle was struck and killed by Gatsby’s yellow car. Speaking to Nick, Gatsby says, “You see, when we left New York she (Daisy) was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive-- and this woman rushed out at us just as we were passing a car coming along the other way. It all happened in a minute...first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand hit the wheel I felt the shock..” (Fitzgerald 143-144). However, in the film the split second on the screen shows Gatsby driving the car as Myrtle was killed. These are two major differences between the novel and the
film. In conclusion, both the novel and the movie have several similarities and contrasts between them. The Great Gatsby novel and film are filled with wild parties, mysterious people, The American Dream, and of course, love. All of these are included throughout the film and novel and can be compared in many different ways. Nick and Gatsby can be compared between the novel and the film, as well as the setting. Nick and his alcoholism is a major contrast between the two, and who the person behind the wheel was when Myrtle was struck and killed.
All stories have the same blueprint structure with the same type of ending whether it be good triumphs over evil, rags to riches, the voyage and the return, tragedy, or rebirth. The thing that sets these stories apart is the message they intend to in our minds. “ The power of a story to shift and show itself to anew is part of what attracts people to it, at different ages, in different moods, with different concerns” (Auxier 7). These messages are given by the characters in the story that all have their own reasoning but in the end have one meaning behind it. Some messages give specified personal messages rather than a broad stated such as the stories The Wizard of Oz and The Great Gatsby. Blinded by the ignorance of desires, the characters
Novels are very unique things to read. They contain so much detail and information it’s almost hard to comprehend. Sometimes these unique novels are translated into movies and while most movies disappoint the reader by not capturing the complete essence of the novel, I felt that The Great Gatsby did not disappoint. Sure, there are some differences between the two but not enough to make the movie a complete disappointment. In this essay, I will begin by comparing the two together, the two being the novel and movie, then I will gradually move in the contrast of this essay.
Imagine. You are sitting in complete silence, even the nearby crickets won't dare to let out even the slightest of croaks. You stare down at your cluttered, dimly lit desk. Your hand grasps your pen, and the other rubs back and forth across your temple in angst. Your eyes pass over each paper, containing each incomplete thought, and your mind floods with memories of your past. Trapped by writer’s block, you are all alone with only your experiences, surroundings, and philosophy aiding you in the fall that is the dark reality of alcoholism and depression. For renowned authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, these influences all played a crucial role in identifying their style techniques, as well as determining similarities and differences
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 ...
Similar to Nick, Fitzgerald found that his different lifestyle was exciting. And similar to Gatsby Fitzgerald idolized the rich and extravagant life style. In conclusion The Great Gatsby seems as if it it reflects personal experiences in Fitzgerald’s life but not his full life. Fitzgerald envisioned Gatsby as what he dreamed to be and always tried to be like. And Nick was whom Fitzgerald really embodies. Both these characters in The Great Gatsby can help us understand more about Fitzgerald and what he was trying to say through the characters of the book regarding his own
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about Nick Caraway, a man who moved into New York in West Egg. He soon finds out that his house borders a mansion of a wealthy man, named Jay Gatsby, who is in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchannan. Nick describes his past experiences with Gatsby. He is an unreliable first person narrator, for he is extremely subjective being biased towards Gatsby and he is deceptive, with his lying and past actions. His evaluation of Gatsby is not entirely just, due to his close friendship with Gatsby.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby”, is one of the few novels he wrote in 1925. The novel takes place during the 1920’s following the 1st World War. It is written about a young man named Nick, from the east he moved to the west to learn about the bond business. He ends up moving next to a mysterious man named Gatsby who ends up giving him the lesion of his life.
The novel’s main protagonist, Nick Carraway, came from a sophisticated family; however, they didn’t have enough money to be labeled as “Old Money”. Still, in the book, Nick was more stiff-necked and at times, pretentious than his film counterpart. He shows his pretentious ways when he constantly refers to blacks as “Negroes”. He was also very observant, and he wasn’t very playful. His film counterpart, however, is far more playful. He literally jumps on top his cousin, Daisy! “Novel Nick” wouldn’t do such a thing. Also,“Novel Nick” was very judgemental. His film counterpart, however, isn’t as judgemental. In fact, we hear Nick’s inner thoughts more in the novel. The film calls for more spoken interaction between characters, so “Film Nick” doesn’t get the chance to be as judgemental. Lastly, the most striking contrast between the two appeared within the first five minutes of the movie. Nick is obviously adjudicated insane, and he is talking to his psychiatrist. On his psychiatrist’s paper, it says that Nick has a slew of issues, such as being “Morbidly Alcoholic” and having “Random Fits of Anger.” He is telling the story of Gatsby to his psychiatrist. In the novel, there was no reason for Nick telling the sto...
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
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
is Nick. In the novel Nick is a man who comes from a poor family who
The Great Gatsby’s Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire), helps reunite lost loves Jay Gatsby, his neighbour (Leonardo DiCarprio), and Daisy Buchanan, his cousin (Carey Mulligan). Only in Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation, Carraway tells the story from inside a sanitarium, where he is taken to writing it all down as a form of therapy. Fitzgerald’s Nick refers to Gatsby as “the man who gives his name to this novel”, so the form of The Great Gatsby text written by Nick is almost the same as Luhrmann’s film and he expresses deeper into the story than Fitzgerald. In the film Luhrmann showed us how Nick was writing the tale by hand, then typing, and finally amassing his completed manuscript. He gives the name Gatsby ...
In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays a world filled with rich societal happenings and love affairs. His main character, Gatsby, is flamboyant, pompous, and only cares about impressing the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. Nick is Fitzgerald's narrator for the story, and is a curious choice as a narrator because he is of a different class and almost a different world than Gatsby and most of the other characters in the book. Nick relates the plot to the reader as a member of Gatsby's circle, yet he expresses repeatedly his dislike for the man. Nick cannot relate to Gatsby because of their fundamental personality differences. Moreover, he disapproves of Gatsby's desire to impress Daisy at all costs. However, Nick continues to follow Gatsby because by doing so he can ensure his relationship with Jordan, a celebrity socialite, and because, in a perverse way, Nick can use Gatsby to bolster his own self-esteem.
Movies can enhance the experience of a story, but they aren’t always completely accurate to the book. The movie, The Great Gatsby, by Baz Luhrmann, is a good representation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel; however, there are quite a few differences between the two. Some differences include; the portrayal of the characters, the importance of symbolism, and events that were either added or taken out of the movie.
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.