Time And Space In The Great Gatsby

Time and Space in Novel and Cinema In his 1957 academic work, Novels into Film, George Bluestone breaks down differences between literature and cinema. He goes on to analyze the process of adaptation and the ways in which time and space are used differently in the two mediums. Film and literature essentially share many characteristics, such as plot development and characters. But, unavoidable changes will happen through the process of adaptation. Bluestone argues that cinema relies on the visuals and spatial image, while the capability to play with time is important in novels. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby was adapted by Baz Luhrmann in 2013 into a spectacle of a film replete with visual images. These art forms are directed towards different audiences in time, but they are noteworthy examples of how the treatment of time and space directly change the reading or viewing experience of the piece of work. These differences can be seen when comparing the use of language, characteristics of time and the representation of thoughts. It is hard to compare prose in a novel to dialogue in a film. Bluestone argues that, “the rendition of mental states - memory, dream, imagination - cannot be as adequately represented by film as by …show more content…
This is going to influence how the author and director decide on their treatment of time and space. The Great Gatsby novel relies on a longing for the past which is made possible through Fitzgerald’s prose. The film adaptation relies on the stimulating visuals rather than the original writing. Bluestone argues that “the novel renders the illusion of space by going from point to point in time; the film renders time by going from point to point in space” (250). This can be seen when focussing on how time is portrayed and the connection between language and the spatial