Literary Techniques In The Great Gatsby

Filmmaking and cinematography are art forms completely open to interpretation in a myriad ways: frame composition, lighting, casting, camera angles, shot length, etc. The truly talented filmmaker employs every tool available to make a film communicate to the viewer on different levels, including social and emotional. When a filmmaker chooses to undertake an adaptation of a literary classic, the choices become somewhat more limited. In order to be true to the integrity of the piece of literature, the artistic team making the adaptation must be careful to communicate what is believed was intended by the writer. When the literature being adapted is

For example, he deletes a scene that is key to Fitzgerald’s novel; consequently, he perverts the author’s original intentions for an initial establishment of the friendship between Jay Gatsby and Nick prior to the introduction of the cultural party elements. Dixon (2003), who asserts that Coppola sullied Fitzgerald’s original intentions, reinforces this claim when he states, “For example, Nick meets Gatsby during one of his parties at Gatsby’s mansion in a causal, offhand fashion. But in the film, Nick goes for the first time to one of Gatsby’s parties, is melodramatically accosted by a grim-faced bodyguard, taken upstairs in a private elevator, and finally thrust into Gatsby’s study. This attempt to heighten artificially the initial contact between Nick and Gatsby demonstrates an unfortunate reliance upon extremely clichéd devices to provide dramatic tension” (p. 293). However, Fitzgerald makes it clear that Nick and Gatsby’s relationship exists separately from the dramatic elements of the

As the banter continues, they tend to mock each other as they go back and forth in the playful dialogue. When Nick first introduces the reader to Gatsby, he seems in awe of his wealth, “imposing, delightful parties filled the mansion” Nick’s descriptive embellishment of Gatsby’s extravagant parties add to Nick’s bewildered intrigue of Gatsby. However, later in the novel once Nick becomes more drawn to Gatsby, the tone changes to disgust after hearing Gatsby’s full story, “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.” Nick constantly battles the emotion that he was invited to Gatsby’ party while it seemed like no one else

“The last thing you want is Hannibal Lecter inside your head.” It is a daunting task to effectively transfer textual tonality from page to screen. Balancing proper visual interpretations of the text with original insights is not an easy procedure, and not every filmmaker is equipped with the artistic skills necessary to complete such an undertaking. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s wildly unsuccessful attempt at adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune, for example, ended in bankruptcy for the studio and premature cancellation of the project due to the extensive runtime the film was to have in accordance with the length of the book. Many filmic adaptations fail in their inability to recapture and translate what originally gave a text literary merit. Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of the quintessential Thomas Harris novel Silence of the Lambs is so well

This lavish description is an example of how Nick is taken in by Gatsby and his world. Whereas to others, these parties would be perhaps commonplace, he is in complete awe. This is evidence for Nick’s, instead of impartial, as he claims, rather subjective narration of the events that took place. Indeed, even when he attempts to distance himself from the parties and Gatsby’s lifestyle, we are not convinced:

Lastly Fitzgerald uses details to strengthen the idea Nick’s character has evolved through the novel. He demonstrates this to the audience by describing how privy Nick is to secrets, “Most of the confidences were unsought-- frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon; for the intimate revelations of young men, or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions.” He uses this statement to reiterate that in the beginning of the novel Nick’s character felt as though since he is an elite he was inclined to listen to these unequal men who plagiarize others suppressions to make themselves seem as though they were more powerful. Fitzgerald changes his attitude towards the end of the novel by suggesting Nick is now struggling with the careless people he is acquainted with and the decisions they believe are entirely justifiable. Tom believes that even though he is indirectly responsible for Gatsby’s death Nick does not realize what he has been through, “And if you think i didn’t have my share of suffering --look here, when i went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard, i sat down and cried like a baby.

A significant literary device is used in chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby. During this scene Nick is explaining who Gatsby really is, even though it actually happens closer to the end of the novel he explains it now. It is very confusing for Nick finding out that Gatsby had been lying to him the whole time. He explains it using a paradox where he believes everything and nothing. It shows how most of Gatsby’s charade is composed of white lies and stretching the truth. Parts of his stories are true, but are stretched to better fit this new persona he has created for himself. Nick can not fathom the idea that someone would completely change who they are completely like Gatsby did. Everything that Gatsby said was only partially true so trying to figure

In society nowadays, we are run by the presence of media. We define our lives by the things we see and hear in the world today. Many old movies and books have been remade to meet the standards that we have set upon ourselves. The alterations in the literary work and motion pictures from before our time are usually not major. In some cases, the artistic views of the author and director are changed immensely. An ideal example of this modification process in a literary work would be the epic poem Beowulf, written in 1000 A.D.,compared to the movie Beowulf and Grendel, produced in 2005.

Nick is especially brought with Gatsby and thinks of him as an incredible figure. He sees both the exceptional nature of expectation that Gatsby has and his optimistic dream of cherishing

Employing Nick’s perspective allows an objective opinion on the actions and behaviours of Gatsby, and allows the reader to view him from another’s point of view. Utilising this we can get a clearer picture on his true character, which Is proven to be reckless, naïve and somewhat controlling.

As the years go by, storytelling has evolved as the society adapts to the new technologies. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter transformed the way stories are told (and even the length) but before that; when the screen started to move the Filmmaking industry was one the first in taking the images made by books. We “mankind” the natural born storytellers who comes from a history of traditional and cultural strategies to make people shivers under the power of word, shifted. At a point we started to understand the stories as images and as the pop culture kept growing; literature and authors started to absorb the way or technics of films, leaving a thin line that keeps them apart. This research wants to help to understand the behavior of the literature

From my point of view, novels are a great topic when it comes to shoot, even more provided they are some sort of well-known authors’ brilliant masterpieces. One might derive a lot of pleasure just from seeing his or her favourite novel running on the screen. After all, it is the director’s thrilling mind that adds uniqueness and a pure vision to what the novel is about. Not only is the plot transfigured so that it fits the creators’ minds, but also it may take the watcher’s effort to imagine another perspective to the initial meaning she or he has attributed to it.

Contrary to the general public’s belief, adaptations are much more than a mere visual illustration of a novel. When adapting a literary work, the screenwriter’s integrity towards the author is highly crucial to prevent a disagreement, which could lead to a copyright infringement. This will also ensure the audience’s approval because the screenplay’s plot is less likely to deviate from the author 's fundamental storyline in the original work. Furthermore, adapting a literary work into a screenplay consist of a very rigorous filtering process that is often challenging for the screenwriter. The screenwriter often faces dilemmas in which the decisions to omit or heighten certain aspects could either ensure the movie’s success or its failure.

A literary adaptation is defined as “a composition that has been recast into a new form e.g novel, play or screen production”. (Ross, 2009, p.5) It has been noted that almost a third of all film productions ever created were based on novel adaptations, and in today’s contemporary society the ‘book to film’ adaptation cycle is more present than ever. Although this could to seen as an innocent move allowing ‘great’ texts to be more approachable and appreciated by modern culture, it has been argued that the process damages the original content and understanding that is taken from the source material. By discussing and analysing some of the main factors and issues filmmakers use when adapting a text to film, based on the article Adaptation:

One of the greatest components of textual work is its ability to be translated into different mediums of art. Throughout history, inspiration has been drawn from written works as a means to convey a new perspective on an old story: paintings depicting biblical scenes, stage plays, ballads, films and even youtube videos. In today’s society, it has become commonplace for written work to be converted into a visual medium, most notably films. Cinema provides distinct options to explore stories in a way that other mediums are incapable of doing. For instance, William Shakespeare’s plays have often been texts that are predominantly performed on the stage, but when adapted into screen versions, new devices for storytelling become available. The