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Cedar Schumacher

Mr. Smith

H 11 ELA

24 April 2024

Gatsby in Print and Picture

Wealth and love are some of the most ubiquitous themes in literature as well as more

modern media, largely due to their relatability across all walks of life and the constancy of these

topics in society. Read in hundreds of high school classes, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

examines these themes through the perspective of an incredibly affluent man and his

relationships with others, society, and himself. In the film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s

iconic 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s identity is defined almost entirely by his immense

wealth as well as his obsession over Daisy, in an almost ‘fairy-tale’ manner. This contrasts with

the original book, which represents Gatsby in a less saturated, more believable frame that is more

grounded in reality.

One of the key differences between the book and film lies in the portrayal of Gatsby’s

relationship with Daisy, the woman he has been pining over for 5 years. In the film, Daisy’s

presence is constantly reinforced through metaphors, which represents Gatsby’s constant

obsession over her. In the book, however, Daisy is treated as a much more individual person, and

her relationships with people other than Gatsby are given more significance, which serves to

de-emphasise her relationship with Gatsby. In the movie, Daisy is represented in many scenes by

the green beacon at the end of her dock. Since the sight of this beacon is something that Gatsby

has almost worshiped, as it represents Daisy to him, the beacon is used as a repeating motif

throughout the film. The distinctive green hue and the accompanying soft ringing sound of the
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beacon serve as a constant reminder of Gatsby’s true priorities throughout the film. To

underscore this point, the beacon is even shown in the very first shot of the first scene of the

movie, establishing Daisy herself as one of the driving forces in the plot. In contrast to this,

Fitzgerald’s original book doesn’t solidly establish the significance of the beacon until the

seventy-second page. Additionally, the book represents Daisy’s relationship with Tom more

positively and concretely than the movie, stating, “I thought I’d never seen a girl so mad about

her husband….She used to sit on the sand with his head in her lap by the hour, rubbing her

fingers over his eyes and looking at him with unfathomable delight. It was touching to see them

together — it made you laugh in a hushed, fascinated way” (Fitzgerald 60-pdf). The overarching

impact of these differences between the book and film is that the print portrayal of Gatsby lacks

much of the obsessiveness that defines his cinematic self. In the movie, Gatsby and Daisy seem

to reunite with very little friction, and their relationship is consistently emphasized through the

metaphor of the omnipresent green light. This emphasis largely overshadows Daisy and Tom’s

marriage, which has its dysfunction very deliberately laid bare. Conversely, the book not only

reduces the green light to a borderline inconsequential detail, it also places much more

significance on Tom and Daisy’s relationship - even so far as to describe them in an undeniably

sentimental, concretely romantic fashion. This serves to undermine the possibility of Daisy and

Gatsby ending up together, since how can they live ‘happily ever after’ as Gatsby desires, if

Daisy is firmly married to Tom? This point even moreso highlights some of the intrinsic thematic

differences between the book and film - when onscreen, Gatsby’s story almost comes across as a

fairy tale of sorts, a decorated, affluent man waiting patiently for his one true love to return from

her evil husband, whereas the novel in many ways blurs these staunch character roles, it allows

the reader to see the positives in Tom and Daisy's relationship, as well as the inherent unrealism
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of Gatsby’s own supreme philosophy. In film, Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship is significantly

saturated and over-emphasized when compared to the book, through the extensive presence of

metaphors in the film, and the emphasis on Daisy's existing marriage in the novel.

In addition to Daisy, Gatsby’s other primary defining feature is his staggering wealth - his

incredible affluence even grants him annual Christmas cards from the New York commissioner.

In a similar manner to the increased intensity of Daisy’s presence in the film, Gatsby’s cinematic

portrayal also sports his wealth in a much more fantastical and hard-to-buy fashion than in the

novel, where his prosperity is much more moderately and realistically displayed through the

inclusion of logistical details. In the movie, almost every single shot exhibits almost

inconceivable wealth, but this effect is truly driven home by the several party scenes. Gatsby is

famous across New York for his immense, spectacular parties, and the film does not shy away

from the appearance of these galas - in fact, the party scenes are perhaps the most famous shots

of the movie. These sections of the film are incredibly saturated both literally, through deliberate

color grading, and metaphorically, due to the overwhelming intensity of the scenes. These

spectacles cross over easily into the realm of cartoonishness, featuring people rolling on the

ground in tuxedos as they exit their glittering automobiles, wedged into Gatsby’s overcrowded

driveway. The undeniable production of these scenes ultimately gives the entire affair a hazy,

detached feeling akin almost to a fever dream. Additionally, the use of contemporary music

which would obviously not have been available in the 1920’s only adds to the scene’s undeniable

feeling of disreality, as the insistent bassline and kick serve as an almost metaphorical heartbeat

to the party. In rather stark contrast to this menagerie, the original novel takes a much more

practical approach to Gatsby’s infamous parties. To this end, it is described how, “Every Friday

five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New York…At least once a fortnight
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a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to

make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden….By seven o’clock the orchestra has

arrived…” (Fitzgerald 32-pdf). Although this may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of the

novel, especially considering that it includes several of its own party scenes, which are suitably

opulent, the inclusion of practical information such as this goes a long way in grounding the

scene. The movie scenes feel strikingly detached, almost floating in time in space, as though

unbeholden to the laws of nature, economics, or logistics. The same scenes, when shown in the

novel, are given that crucial sense of reality by the admission that yes, Gatsby has to order food

for these galas - food which has to be delivered and prepared. Not only that, but the music and

decorations don’t just magically pop out of the foliage, either - arrangements have been made to

set these things up ahead of time. Although the movie contains its own scene or two describing

party logistics, these take place well into the second half of the movie, after every actual party

scene, therefore not impacting the audience perception of the actual events. However, the book

includes the description of the necessary coordination before any actual party takes place, which

grounds the entire premise in reality even before it starts. When these effects are taken in

together, the result is a conclusion similar to that of the Daisy situation - the book simply

portrays Gatsby and his life in a more realistic, grounded fashion, whereas the film easily strays

from the realm of reality into scenes that feel disconnected and overly improbable. This strongly

corroborates the trend found in the previous paragraph concerning the portrayal of Daisy, and

how the movie can feel almost ‘fairy-tale-ish’ at times. As a whole, the movie exhibits Gatsby’s

wealth in a very spectacular, yet unrealistic manner, while the book, by including organizational

details about the parties, grounds his wealth, making it appear much more believable.
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The Great Gatsby has been reproduced several times, including most famously the 2013

film adaptation of the original 1925 novel, as well as of course the novel itself, a staple of

literature classes. However, perhaps as a result of the necessities of adapting an almost

century-old story, the film adaptation of Fitzgerald’s novel differs in many significant ways in its

portrayal of The Great Gatsby himself. When these effects are all taken together, the summative

impact is the clearly more grounded and realistic style the novel takes when compared to the

film, which takes a more abstract, almost ‘storybook’ approach, which may translate well

through a cinematic format, but nonetheless only reduces the believability of the adaptation of F.

Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel.

Skill N Foundational Proficient Advanced

Y

Thesis Establishes *previous and *previous and

a basic Indicates the Effectively & clearly
claim relationship conveys the
Mentions between texts relationship between
both texts Claim is a texts & and the
Specifically reasonable message or
mentions or interpretation interpretation that
alludes to a and moves can be determined
critical lens beyond Clearly developed
summary throughout essay
Developed
throughout
essay

Claims Makes a *Previous (and) *Previous (and)

statement Somewhat Considers the thesis
that requires considers the of the paper
evidence to thesis Effective use of
support Somewhat transition
developed words/phrases
through Clearly developed
paragraph through paragraph
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Evidence Includes *previous and *previous and

evidence Includes multiple Includes a variety of
from both pieces of specific, meaningful,
texts (either evidence/ and well-chosen
quotes or examples that evidence that relates
examples) clearly relate to to the thesis
Most the thesis,
evidence individual claims,
relates to and critical lens
lens Includes multiple
pieces of
evidence in each
body paragraph

Analysis Somewhat Explains how Explains

explains evidence well-selected points
how supports topic of comparison
evidence sentence of among evidence
supports individual and their connection
topic paragraphs to the thesis
sentence Explains how
and thesis evidence
supports the
thesis of the
essay
Some use of film
specific
vocabulary

MLA Some elements missing No errors in MLA format

or some errors in MLA
format

Conventio Shows Most quotes are All quotes are

ns evidence of correctly correctly integrated
basic integrated Shows evidence of
proofreadin Follows essay careful proofreading
g organization
Shows evidence
of proofreading

Fluency Simple use Demonstrates Strong use of of

of use of grade vocabulary, diction,
vocabulary level vocabulary, sentence structures
Simple diction, sentence
sentence structures
structures Accurate use of
text specific
vocabulary
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