Great Gatsby Comparison Essay

As in all adaptations, there are noticeable differences in Baz Luhrmann's rendition of The Great Gatsby and the original work. Luhrman’s 2013 variation held true to the majority of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original masterpiece one of the key scene that was changed was Gatsby’s death. In the book, Fitzgerald allows the reader to ponder the exact way Gatsby died by only providing vague details. Gatsby leaves his house and goes outside to swim at two o'clock and leaves the butler with the instructions of informing him if the phone rang. These directions imply that Gatsby’s phone was indoor and not at the poolside, however, in the movie Gatsby has a phone outside by his pool. Gatsby also shoulders a “pneumatic mattress” before entering his pool which means he was lazily floating around. In the 2013

Upon his departure from the pool, Gatsby is shot by a distraught George Wilson. This moment is almost identical to the book except for Gatsby being shot outside of his pool. Fitzgerald, in the book, goes on to simply state that Gatsby’s chauffeur had heard the shots and the gardener saw Wilson’s body a slight distance away in the grass. The book never explicitly states that George Wilson shot himself. Luhrmann allows the viewers to see Wilson place the barrel of a gun in his mouth and the sound of a gunshot rings out coinciding with Gatsby hitting the surface of the pool. Besides the visual differences that are present in the original work and the cinema adaptation there are differences in the themes present. In the book, Fitzgerald goes to great lengths to imply the degeneration of the American dream and in Gatsby’s death the readers see the flaws in Gatsby. Gatsby goes his whole life sacrificing his dreams and love for mass wealth. However, the one dream that Gatsby continued to long for was Daisy and at the end of the book, he dies believing that Daisy was prepared to drop her life and leave Tom for