The Movie Gatsby or the Novel

The Great Gatsby is one of our best American novels. It’s a shame that now fewer students read the book because of the outrageous movie that Baz Luhrmann created. What students don’t realize is that the movie was based on Trimalchio, a novel idea that Fitzgerald was playing with before he completed The Great Gatsby. They are very similar, but there are subtle differences that students should be aware of.

First, Nick is not in an insane asylum in The Great Gatsby. In fact, one could argue that Nick should never have been in one. He might be shocked by what he has seen and wants to return home to where “uniformity” reigns, but he’s not so devastated as demonstrated in the movie. That kind of devastation diminishes the end of the book when Nick explores his inner thoughts about values and morality, about east and west, and essentially about the destruction of the American Dream.

Second, there is not enough of Jordan in the movie to support Nick’s infatuation and “bad driver” behavior. As usual, in both the Robert Redford movie and this one, Jordan is relegated to the side. And yes, she is a minor character in the novel, too, but she’s also part of the “selfish and reckless” crowd that Fitzgerald wants Nick to experience.

Third, the pizzaz of the movie diminishes the subtlety of Fitzgerald’s beautiful writing. The movie shakes and dazzles; the book wonders and contemplates.

I find it sad that this generation of students don’t have the patience to read, to sit silently and have words flow over them, and feel that emotion. One of our most melodic and accessible writers of the twentieth century has been relegated to a video game.