The Great Gatsby Movie Vs Book

Some movies are based off of good books, this is a known fact. Often, Hollywood blockbusters stem from the imaginations of a work of an author. However books and movies don’t always portray the same meanings and story in the end result. Often a movie will have all the same people and places, yet by changing a changing the dialogue, deleting a scene or two, and changing other details certain facets of the story change from the novel. In contrast the novel may do a better job explaining certain symbolism, but it may gloss over larger details that people have a hard time imagining. That difference in storytelling is one of the major differences between the novel version of The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald, and the companion movie interpretation …show more content…
In the movie, sadly, the symbolism that was so apparent in the story is removed or simplified to a basic level. In the book colors, specifically clothing, are used to represent something about a character or an attribute of something. The dresses of Jordan and Daisy, for example, were used to show qualities like innocence, or the lack thereof, through the color white. Power through gold and blue and any number of other meanings. This is a very important aspect of the story as it allows the reader to subconsciously say things like, “As the story progresses her dress color seems to get more soiled”. By using that symbolism Fitzgerald can focus the reader onto deeper conecpts than what they would normally pick up. Very few people will attach meaning to dress color unless it’s repeatedly brought to their attention. That is made clearer in the movie when dress color is modified, or even completely changed, from the novel. Consequentially the symbolism that was attached to it is completely removed from the story. Another way that the symbolism that runs so rampant in the novel was toned down is the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. In the movie the light was a sign of Gatsby’s hopes and dream, of the future he could never catch. Yes, it’s beautiful and inspiring, but it’s only a small part of what it means in the book. In the book the green light also serves to represent the dreams and hopes of immigrants coming to America and any number of other things. One of the weaknesses of the movie is that is loses a lot of the symbolism that was so artfully crafted in to the story. The movie does a fantastic job showing the environment but in doing so it leaves out the symbolism of the story. That’s one of the key differences between the novel and movie that serves to highlight their strengths and