Literature Analysis #3

For my literature analysis I wanted to compare and contrast "The Great Gatsby" book and movie. After recently  watching the movie all I talked about was how minor instances were missing and I knew I had to read the book again.

Last year in class reading "The Great Gatsby" and discussing the novel made aspects of the book and movie stand out. For instance, in the book reading it the first time in class we discussed how the billboard of the doctor symbolized society in the valley of ashes being watched. My second time visiting the book alone I noticed how Fitzgerald brings up and takes the time to describe something that seems as simple as a billboard which grabs your attention due to the simplicity of the object but the complexity of what the meaning may be. The eyes of doctor TJ Eckleburg are in the film a couple of times but if I were watching the movie, without having knowledge about the story, the billboard would seem pointless to have in a shot.


Another symbol that had the same effectiveness in the movie was Daisy's green dock light. Reading the book you get a feeling of the light representing Gatsby's hope of the future with Daisy. The idea of the light having a meaning would be absurd without the background information and thoughts that didn't make it in the movie.

The book and movie both quote Nick describing Daisy and Tom as careless and foolish people. Nick specifically calls Daisy "a beautiful little fool" the movie and book both did a good job at showing how Tom and Daisy don't go after what they want, they are fools of society who care about their materials more.

Another point in the book that lacked in the movie was the movie never brought up Daisy and Tom's daughter. In the book, Daisy's daughter being taken care of by a nanny and not Daisy indirectly characterized Daisy as a bad mother because she had not raised her own daughter and didn't know how to. But, the movie excelled in showing the audience that Daisy is the one who killed Myrtle and right before Mr. Wilson kills Gatsby which unveils the whole story and who was cheating on who and all the back stories connect.

Overall the movie was great for entertainment but after reading the book twice the movie falls flat. Where the movie provides great visuals of the characters and just how extravagant Gatsby's life and parties are the book captures all the small details the movie producers (most likely) viewed as unimportant to get the gist of the story across.