What Is The Moral Of The Great Gatsby

Although on the surface the story seems to be about a tragic love affair, “The Great Gatsby,” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is underlain with many subtle symbols and references to the societal and morality issues of which the “Roaring Twenties” was notorious for. For instance, Fitzgerald uses an old, weathered sign of a long-gone optometrist named T.J. Eckleburg to symbolize God gazing down upon American society judging its withdraw of moral standards. The story itself depicts a love affair in a place near New York in 1922. A man named Jay Gatsby, a bootlegger, seeks to be reunited with his love, Daisy Buchanan, from when he was stationed in Louisville through hosting fabulous parties. When her cousin Nick Carraway moves next door to Gatsby,

Daisy and Tom Buchanan represents “Old Money,” Gatsby represents “New Money” and “Bootleggers,” and Myrtle and Owen Wilson represents “failure of the American Dream,” and Nick represents “the moral values of a Midwestern.” Due to each character’s role in this story, the casting of their roles is imperative to be spot on. In Jack Clayton’s 1974 version of “The Great Gatsby,” the actors and actresses chosen for each role gave an injustice to the characters of the book. For instance, throughout the novel, Nick describes Daisy as very beautiful and has a voice of which is charming and alluring. In the movie, Daisy was not as breathe taking as Fitzgerald described her to be in the novel and had a voice of which made her seem more shallow than captivating. Another character who did not live up to their description in the novel was Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle was described in the novel as heavy and un-pleasing to the eyes. This, in turn, has the reader wondering why Tom would cheat on a beautiful, rich woman like Daisy. When she is depicted by Jack Clayton, she is shown as a petite, young woman which changes the reader’s view of Tom’s affair as more of

In the case of this movie in particular, many scenes are added or occur at different times and places than the novel. This is confusing to the viewer because when reading the novel, they will mix up the scenes of which everything happens and see the story only as the director is telling them how to see it. One of the most significant parts of the novel is the introduction of Jay Gatsby. Nick is talking to him without even knowing he is talking to Jay Gatsby himself at first. Jordan is later asked to see Gatsby alone and he explains everything to her about Daisy causing suspense to the reader. In the movie, Nick is escorted to Gatsby and has an awkward first encounter changing the viewer’s opinion of Gatsby. Also, it was not until later in the movie that Gatsby tells Jordan everything. This changes the order and structure of which the novel was strategically