Novel VS Movie

Written in 1926 by F. Scott Fitzgerald and filmed in 2000 by A&E Cable Network and Granada Productions as a television film adaption -The Great Gatsby. The novel has been filmed three times before which makes the 2000 edition the forth and another edition is being published in 2012. Both the movie and the novel share various similarities as well as differences, however the disparities are significant. Themes, characters and motifs appear through out the movie relating to the book one remarkable motif occurred several times in the novel and movie, the land between West Egg and New York, which is being watched by the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg and called the Valley of Ashes, just as the name has no pleasant meaning, this is the place of darkness.

“A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat... “ (26) When we are first introduced to the Valley of Ashes and the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, book and movie have very similar description by the narrative voice (Nick), which makes the setting akin to the imagination created by the book. In both it is intently referred to the ashes through repetition “ ashes grow…ashes take…ash-grey”(26). Yet in the movie the display of ashes is rather limited, where as the eyes are very much in focus. The movie has followed the very detailed description of the book.

“…Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s faded eyes came into sight…”(117) In the book as well as in the movie the eyes are always in relation to Tom but also in association with darkness. As Tom arrives in the Valley of Ashes the first thing appearing are the eyes. Not always are they mentioned directly in the book but shown in the movie for example when Tom is filling up gas, where he sees Myrtle alive for the last time from a distance and when Tom arrives at the accident. Here it switched to a POV, emphasizing that the eyes of the doctor watch over everything that happens in the Valley of Ashes very similar to the book as in the book the impression is also given that the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg look upon.

Unlike the novel. Two different reasons are given in the novel and the movie, which have lead to the cause of the accident. “Toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve” (137) as explained in the book, while in the movie Daisy is caught in the eyes and therefore the drive gets out of control. The film intensely puts the eyes in focus therefore there is no misunderstanding that the eyes are a distraction to Daisy which result in the death of Myrtle. The movie includes a very detailed display of the tragedy while the book keeps it short, which can be therefore since the movie focuses a lot on the eyes and them symbolizing to watch everything.

Has the movie really succeeded? When to compare and contrast movie and novel, the movie has succeeded in having this symbol reoccur and making it a motif especially by two additional scenes showing the eyes. Not only rhetorically but also visually have the Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg fulfilled my imagination- not so much the Valley of Ashes though. The motif has always been in the right place and not set at an inadequate time, because do to the events which have happened the motif always occurred when it was negative such as Tom seeing his mistress at last, the loss of Myrtle but also in general where the poor resident and no one likes to spend time. Yet, most of the time books are by far better than the movie, because what can exceed our imagination? Not some simple display on TV.