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Corruption In The Great Gatsby

Decent Essays

The Great Gatsby: Pursuit and Corruption of the American Dream

In great literature, unlike great cinema, the ability to seize one’s attention and depict a world outside of one’s own relies solely on the magic of words. It is interesting, then, to heed that movie adaptations never quite live up to the illustrious novel they were based on. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation, showcase, critique and emphasize the much-heralded philosophy of the Roaring Twenties, the American Dream. Through the removal of racism, the subtle changes in Gatsby’s death, as well as Nick Carraway’s explicit incarceration in a mental asylum, the philosophy of the American Dream in Luhrmann’s adaptation of the novel is demonstrated …show more content…

The 1920’s, a time of the reborn Ku Klux Klan, immigration restriction legislation, and the pseudo-scientific racism of Madison Grant, was a period where racism had an extreme presence on the surface of national life. Although present day society does not remember this enhanced prejudice as much as the flappers and the bootleggers, racism plays a key role in the overall tone of the time. Since “The Great Gatsby” was written in an era where racism and anti-Semitism was commonplace, these two traits seeped into the pages of the text, but were subsequently ripped out of the story in Luhrmann’s adaptation. Early on in the book, Tom says “It’s up to us (white people), who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.” (19). In this quote, Tom is quoting a book, “Rise of the Coloured Empires” that explicates “coloured empires” and their upcoming rise and domination over the whites. In Luhrmann’s adaptation of the novel, racism is removed from the story, as to focus and strengthen the depiction of the American …show more content…

In both versions of the story, Gatsby, our anti-hero is desperately waiting for a call from Daisy, and decides to go for a swim. In the text, Gatsby is shot just as he is climbing aboard a float, while his butler waits for the phone call “until long after there was anyone to give it to if it came”. In the text, Gatsby dies waiting for a phone call from Daisy, telling him that they would elope together. In the movie, however, Luhrmann takes a much more showy approach. As Gatsby is stepping out of the pool, the phone rings. As Gatsby smiles, he is shot in the back, and falls in the pool as he mouths “Daisy”. In the film, Gatsby goes out thinking he got the girl, even though the viewers know that it was only Nick

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