Great Gatsby Comparison

The Great Gatsby is a classic piece of American novella by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story was later made into a film which is directed by Baz Luhrmann. The novella and the film were respectively published and released in 1926 and 2013. As the novella was published in the 1920s, the novella reflects and explores the American society in the early-to-mid-1920s, known as the Jazz age which is named by Fitzgerald. It was the time of growth, prosperity and corruption after the World War I. The story talks about a man named Gatsby who lives his life for his lost love for the past 5 years. Gatsby, the protagonist in the novella and F.Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the original book has similarities in their love life. In the novella, Gatsby dedicates …show more content…
Nick and Jordan has sort of relationship going as shown in the novella on page 103, “Unlike Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, I had no girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs, and so I drew up the girl beside me, tightening my arms. Her wan, scornful mouth smiled, and so I drew her up again closer, this time to my face.” Despite these romantic sides in the novella, they are shown more like a close friend in the film. Their relationship was modified to not distract the audience from focusing on Gatsby and Daisy. Another difference is in the fighting scene between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy. In the film, Gatsby suddenly loses his temper and violently grabs Tom and yells at him which scares Daisy about Gatsby and decides to not stay with Gatsby which gave the climax an extra impact, while there are no violence in the actual novella. Although the story builds up apace, the film didn’t involve all the events that occurred in the original story, therefore, it had to be …show more content…
In comparison of the two texts, the novella has its focus more on the American Dream, society and class, which describes the story in a wider range compared to the film which gives a pessimistic tone as the reality reveals in society that the American Dream is unachievable. The film emphasizes on the romantic side of the character’s relationship in the story and creates a sympathetic tone. The audience are able to see Gatsby’s struggles within his effort to have Daisy back in his life and allows them to feel disappointed at the end as Gatsby fails to reach his dream. The audience can get more emotional when they watch a movie since it’s expressed with real life visuals as they view it in a more realistic way and the usage of relative visuals and audios may also stir their