TheGreat Gatsby Throughout the Great Gatsby novel by F.Scott Fitzgerald andthe movie adaptation directed by Baz Luhrmann there are many similar andborrowed aspects throughout, but the two are drastically different in otherfactors as well. There are three major differences that contrast the two fromone another the first one being the level of wealth displayed in the lives ofNew Yorks elite.
Some of the symbolism in the book was portrayed through thesame way in the movie, keeping in line with the meaning and significance ofthese important symbols. The characters that the novel and movie follow are portrayed indifferent ways from the novel, this makes the actions and feelings and eventsbrought along throughout have a different impact on the view and reader. Through these changes it is evident that if thecharacters the symbols that affect them and the significance of their actionsare altered in any way it can make a major difference in the overall in thestory. The Great Gatsby follows along the lives of the rich throughthe eyes of the wealthy and not so wealthy, this creates a feeling and sets thestage for the following events, it also creates a background to the charactersand how you perceive them to act and react to situations in the novel. Thewealth was exaggerated in the movie from the novel for example the size andexpansiveness of Gatsby’s wealth and home, in the novel we are told his houseis one that fits in with other homes on New Yorks East Egg island; but in themovie it is depicted as a castle like compound that is beyond the size of whatis shown in the novel.
The same goes for the size f Daisy and Tom’s house as well, thiseffects how you view the characters in the novel and movie because in the moviethey are now viewed as beyond everyone else on a whole new level; the viewer ismade to not even be able to comprehend and imagine the life of thosecharacters. In the novel theirlives are made a little bit more within ones reach of though and are madeeasier to understand and imagine. The wealth effects how the party’s arebrought out and the drastic size and influence they have in the world of themovie, in the novel they are shown as a way of Gatsby meeting daisy but thesize of them in the movie make it hard to see that. The wealth creates a majorenvironmental impact on the feeling and relationships the viewer and reader haswith the characters and storyline, and the difference between the novel and themovie create different feelings. The symbols in the novel and movie are all brought up and processed throughoutthe story so that they technically still have the impact they are meant tohave, but the size and amount of impact they have is very different between thetwo. For example the billboard with the eyes and glasses in the book it isstated that it is like gods eyes and watches over the area, and this makes usthink that God judges and sees all in truth when Daisy is shown to kill myrtle.But in the movie the size of the billboard is majorly increased and thiscreates a heavier feeling towards the whole entire idea, this makes us see thesymbol and meaning brought out before it is stated, unlike the novel.
Thesymbols like the green lights at the end of the dock are also very different inthe size of meaning they hold in between the two. The book uses the green lightas a more major and drastic aspect of Gatsby’s love for Daisy; but in the moviethe green light at the end of the dock is not made to be such a bigrepresentation of the love Gatsby’s has for Daisy. This effects the way the viewer and reader looks atfeels about Gatsby’s passion because it does not seem to be so concerned andobsessive because it does not focus in on tiny aspects that Gatsby overanalyzes in life.
The symbols help to bring special aspects and feeling throughin the storyline and depending on how they are portrayed and depicteddetermines how they will effect and how much power they will have on the readerand viewer. The characters themselves are the most important part of a story it overpassesthe importance of the actions taken because the people themselves determinewhat will happen, and if these characters are altered they will make the eventsand relationships different. Gatsby is portrayed differentlyfrom the book because in the movie he is shown as a bit more obsessive and diehard for his love than in the novel, this is done through the size of theparties he has for her, the house he built for her, the life he made for her;everything he does is for her but in the novel Gatsby makes everything so bigand expresses feelings so big and strong it changes the way the readerperceives him. For example Tom and Daisy’srelationship is shown as more toxic in the movie than in the novel because itis visual that tom is controlling in the way that he hits her and controls her,it is shown more in the movie than in the novel and it creates a drasticdifference in the way we look at Tom and Daisy separately and together. These characters have so much story andinfluence to them that the way they are brought out and the feelings andactions they portray have a major impact on the story and how it is broughtout.
