The Great Gatsby Persuasive Essay PDF

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Persuasive essay on why the book is better than the movie for The Great Gatsby....

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Ashleigh Campbell Ms.Atkinson ENG1D

June 10, 2020

The Great Gatsby By: F. Scott Fitzgerald Fitzgerald’s novel embodied misery in a time of celebration, where as the film did not do this justice in it’s omission of key elements to the story. The Great Gatsby novel was honest, in the way it draws readers into it’s depiction of wealth. The emotions were raw and understandable, Gatsby once said, “Well, there I was, ‘way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn’t care.”F. Scott Fitzgerald, page 215. You understand his pain, you feel the love he felt for Daisy and understand the intensity of his emotions. Gatsby’s funeral showed the person Gatsby really was which the movie never gave us the opportunity to see. The 1920’s was a time where the wealth was exponential and the music was rebellious, the film disrespected the sophistication in it’s depiction of this time. There are many reasons as to why the movie to this novel is inadequate in it’s illustration, let me enlighten you in some of those reasons.

My first reason for thinking that the book is much better than the novel is the difference in it’s characterization. Characterization is what helps to shape the plot of the story, without proper depiction of the characters you can not understand why the story is the way it is. When first meeting Gatsby, Nick says, “I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.”F. Scott Fitzgerald, page 70. This quote implies that Gatsby is unsure of himself which adds to the mysterious side of him. In movies it is very hard to capture this thought unless actually said. Nonetheless, you can’t fully grasp as to why Gatsby says all those random facts about himself without the idea that he is unsure of what people think of him. This is just one of

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the characterization flaws in the movie, but you can begin to understand why the book is better than the movie.

The second point for why the novel was better than the movie is the difference in symbolism. The most prominent symbol in the book is Wealth. Wealth is shown as a tool used to obtain happiness, but it shows that wealth can’t buy happiness. In the book you see both the happy and sad side that wealth has to offer, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.”F. Scott Fitzgerald,page 112. Gatsby made his money so he could live close to Daisy in hopes of a future together. But, no matter the amount of money Daisy would not leave Tom, “please, Tom! I can’t stand this any more.”F.Scott Fitzgerald, page 194. Daisy says this after finding out about how Gatsby obtained his large sum of money. The movie goes over money, wealth, and all the parties. However it doesn’t truly keep the solemn tone, which the book has, it rather celebrates the wealth in that era.

My final reason as to why the book is better than the movie is, the preservation of the era. The 20’s were a time filled with jazz music, wealth, and alcohol. The book shows with respect to the 20’s what parties would be like, “the orchestra has arrived, no thin five piece affair,”F.Scott Fitzgerald, page 58. This quote represents the sophistication that the 20’s had at the parties of wealthy people. The soundtrack used in the movie was disrespectful to the type of music the twenties had. Some might say that the movie was trying to modernize the story. But, no one in the 20’s would ever have listened to rap or pop. Therefore, the use of modern music throws off the perspective of sophistication in this era and disrespects the quality of music.

You may now see that the film did not do this extraordinary piece of literature, and all of the shaping qualities it needs justice. The characterization in this novel is very important to fully understand the characters and why they act the way the way they do throughout the story. It is important to understand both sides of what wealth has to offer, and the responsibilities or stress they can add to peoples lives. The 1920’s was a very flamboyant era that was filled with wealth, greed, and crime, people need to understand the wealth and sophistication of the era. The movie

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did not do this story justice, whereas the book gave this story the detail and respect to the time frame that is needed. When you think about wanting to know what The Great Gatsby is, I highly recommend reading the book to fully grasp the content.

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