The implementation of symbolism in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby (original) (raw)

2022, The implementation of symbolism in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of "The Great Gatsby"

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is extremely well known not only due to its high level of literary excellence, but also as a consequence of Fitzgerald's superb usage of literary devices. More specifically, he used symbolism to his advantage in order to enhance the level of his most popular piece. The novel has grown to be well known to the extent that it was adapted into films multiple times. However, little research has been done to determine the quality in which the most recent of these adaptations, directed by Baz Luhrmann, has used symbolism as a part of the film's plot to implement the most characteristics possible from the original novel. Consequently, this paper has been put together in order to fill such gaps in the literary field and answer the question "to what extent is the symbolism in the Great Gatsby book accurately represented in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation?". Through the deep analysis of both the film and novel, aside from the creation of a comparative analysis table, it is evident that symbolism is successfully implemented in the newest version of The Great Gatsby motion picture, specifically through the use of element positionnement and narration of each scene containing the literary device.