The Great Gatsby
Different elements of fiction that contribute to the conveying main ideas in The Great Gatsby
Characters
There are several characters in the film who are involved in one or several actions to convey a particular message in the story. The characters can be categorized into two main classes; the main characters and the minor characters. Gatsby, Nick and Daisy are the main characters in the film.
The story is narrated from Nick Carraway’s perspective. Jay Gatsby is a wealthy man who pursues the love of a lady called Daisy Buchanan. The film depicts him as a millionaire who takes in his vast wealth, and his luxurious mansions have been highlighted through the various scenes of the film. Jordan Baker is a good friend of Daisy and also a golf star. Daisy Buchanan is Tom’s wife, Nick’s cousin and Gatsby’s ex-lover.
The Plot
Nick Carraway is in his youthful years when he changes his residences from Minnesota and settles in the West Egg district, New York. In the neighbourhood are homes of wealthy people who have recently made their way up to financial prosperity and who socially are not we connected. His interest is to gain knowledge and experience in the bond business. Nick has an opportunity to meet with Jay Gatsby, one of the people in the old fashioned neighbourhood. Unlike Gatsby, Nick is well-educated and one evening as he has dinner with his cousin Daisy. Daisy is the wife to Tom Buchanan. That evening, Nick meets with Jordan Baker, one of Daisy’s childhood friends, who reveals to Nick that Tom has a mistress by the name Myrtle Wilson. On the same night, Nick has an encounter with Gatsby. After a couple of days, Tom and Nick meet up and head to New York en route a garage where Myrtle lives with her husband, George Wilson. At the garage, they picked up Myrtle and proceeded to New York for a party. There, conflict emerges when Myrtle mentions Daisy to Tom. In turn, Tom slaps her and inflicts severe injuries on her nose.
Days later, Gatsby invites Nick to a party he hosts in his elegant mansion. However, Nick doesn’t seem to know most of the people at the party. To beat boredom, he drinks heavily. After some time, Jordan joins him, and while having a conversation, Gatsby joins the two and insists on having known him before at the third Infantry Division. Later, Jordan reveals to Nick the history of Daisy and Gatsby who had fallen in love in the early years before Gatsby’s deployment, separated them to an overseas country. However, Gatsby is still determined to win back the love of her life despite Daisy being married to Tom. Gatsby eventually reunites with Daisy and have a love affair.
Conflict emerges when Tom discovers that Daisy has an affair with Gatsby. After that, as Daisy and Gatsby are driving back to East Egg, they are involved in a road accident that leaves Myrtle dead. Daisy is responsible for the mess, but Gatsby wants to take responsibility to protect Daisy. Tom urges Gatsby to flee, but he declines. He then reveals to George that the car that killed Myrtle belonged to Gatsby. In revenge, George then shoots Gatsby and leaves him dead. Nick is angered by the behaviour of Daisy, Tom and Gatsby and decides to leave New York for Mid-West.
Style
According to (Egan 2014) Catherine Martin, the film’s production designer, has emphasized the modern Art Decor Style in conveying the message of the film. The Art Deco style has been in exhibited in the film, through the master bedroom in Jay Gatsby’s house. The style encompasses the use of geometrical shapes such as rectangles on the shelves and drawers. The walls have elements of polished wood, and patterns of silk diamonds are repeated severally on the walls. Other geometrical shapes include zigzag and rectangles On the carpet are patterns of symmetrical images and diamonds which match the geometrical patterns on the walls.
Further, the room has several elements of ornamentation, including the floor panels, hardwood floors and the mahogany columns. The symmetrical shape the Art deco style while ensuring the spaces are pulled together. Elements of Art Deco design take the mind of the viewer back to a period in history when such elegant designs were used.
Lighting
Several lighting techniques have been used throughout the film. Artificial lighting has been in most scenes of the film. The director used bright light on the foreground and the characters while the sky is dark. Such lighting techniques communicate the time during which the scene takes place. Fireworks illuminate upon Gatsby spotlighting and making his presence conspicuously noticeable. Fireworks provide the light that illuminates the scene and reflects on Nick’s during the scene Nick and Gatsby are introduced to each other. The lighting of the fireworks as they go off successfully made the scene more exciting and dramatic. The lighting techniques convey different messages about the characters.
Colour and Music
The film director has used different colour schemes to express and enhance mixed feelings and emotions in the story. In the affluent homes, bright colours such as white, gold, red and yellow have been used to describe the luxurious and extravagant lifestyle of the different characters.
White colour has been used severally and has been associated with Daisy. On the contrary dark colours have been used to describe the poor scenes and the non-affluent lifestyles. Further, white has been used to symbolize purity and beauty.
Music in the film is done by Craig Armstrong and has used soundtracks from the modern hip hop genre. In between the different scenes, some special music effects have further described the emotions if the story. For instance, music has been used alongside the characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy. Music has been used to depict the mutual feeling of love between the two.
Themes
Several themes have been used to convey different messages. Conflict and hollowness among the affluent members of the society have been used throughout the film.
Conflict
The theme of conflict comes out clearly through the character of Gatsby, who is in love with Daisy and goes ahead to pursue her passion. Gatsby gets into conflict with Tom, Daisy’s husband as he seeks the love he once had. On the other hand, Tom battles to save his marriage with Daisy. The second scene that portrays conflict is through Tom, who has an affair with Myrtle. When Myrtle is killed in an accident, Tom uses that opportunity to eliminate Gatsby who is eventually killed by George.
Gatsby always had an intense desire to acquire wealth, and his childhood dream was to become wealthy. He pursues his goal with sheer determination and undivided attention. His willingness to grow wealth intensifies after he had an encounter with Daisy, a beauty from an affluent family. Gatsby falls in love with the lady and therefore works hard to amass wealth and match the standards and class of Daisy’s family. After he successfully acquires the wealth, he is fascinated by his achievements and leads a luxurious and extravagant lifestyle.
The film depicts Daisy as a person is already used to wealth and is more conservative with the resources at her exposure.
Hollowness among the Affluent
According to (Egan, 2014) the film has portrayed the wealthy families to live in lavish mansions, but their lives are filled with hollowness.
Gatsby, after years of struggle to acquire wealthy, he eventually makes his fortune and acquires a gigantic mansion where he leads an extravagant life. However, wealth transforms him to become disgraceful and vulgar. On the contrary, Daisy, who has spent her whole life in a wealthy home, is selfish and fickle.
Conclusion
The film The Great Gatsby has depicted how different elements of design can be used to narrate and enhance the meaning of a story.
References
Egan, K. (2014) Film Production Design: Case Study of The Great Gatsby. Elon Journal of Underground Research in Communications