The Great Gatsby film versions

The 1974 film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's was his third that got the most hyped movie of the summer of 1974. The film stars Robert Redford in the title role of Jay Gatsby.
the film was a financial success, making $23 million against a $6.5 million budget.



The 2000 film version did a great job of telling Fitzgerald's story. It did a good job recreating of the wealth of the era. The only thing that was bad with this movie was that Gatsby and Daisy were not as close as they were in the novel
There have also been numerous critiques suggesting that the two main actors have little passion for each other and do not play the parts so well portrayed in the book. While this ruins a bit of the plot in the book, the cinemetography is well developed and the settings for the scenes work well.

I personally like the 2000 movie better.

Selfish People

In the novel The Great Gatsby there are many selfish people through out the book. One of the main characters is Gatsby, he is selfish and wants Daisy only to himself, wanting her to leave her previous life, her husband and child, just to be with him. He only his desire to be with her. He also is selfish with money, doing anything to achieve wealth. He has left his family and anything associated with who he used to be, being very selfish.

Another selfish character in the novel is Tom. He is the same way Daisy is, having an affair with Myrtle, yet expecting Daisy to stay completely faithful to him. He does not devote himself to her and her only.

Daisy is selfish, wanting to have both Tom and Gatsby. She expects them to love her and show her affection when she cannot decide between one or the other.

Women of Gatsby

Daisy Buchanan is based on Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda, Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky. She is Nick’s cousin and Gatsby's obsession for love. Daisy was very popular with the military officers stationed near her home like Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lied about his background to Daisy he said he came from a wealthy family in to convince Daisy that he was worthy of her. Eventually Daisy fell in love with him also and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but when he came back she married Tom Buchanan.




Jordan Baker is Daisy’s friend a woman which Nick starts to like her in the middle of the novel. She is a golfer and represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s which is like boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but she is also dishonest like the time she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually tries to go around the truth.



Myrtle Wilson is Tom’s lover her husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes. Myrtle tries to leave George for Tom to make her situation better. She also gets treated bad by Tom he hits her in front of people. She desires to have lots of money that is the main reason why she is so attracted to Tom and not to George.


In the 1920's when women were more independent and responsible for more things in the world than just keeping the house clean that was the mentality back in those days. Many women characters of the novel were represented in many ways. They represented how women lived in the 1920s. They were rebellious and foolish because that is when bootlegging was happening. Myrtle, Jordan, and Daisy in the novel they are the main women characters.

East Egg vs. West Egg

East Egg and West Egg both show how people are separated by their wealth. East Egg and West Egg represent Old Money and New Money. East Egg has more social clout, respectabillity, and "taste" than those resising in West Egg. In the time setting for this novel, this division was distinct and very relevant. "Old money" was considered more respectable than "new money" and this is evident in the social depiction of life in East Egg and life in West Egg. Consider, for example, how Daisy (an East Egger) considers Gatsby's (West Egg) parties to be decadent and unlike the civilized gatherings she is accustomed to attending.



East Egg is full of wealthy people, as is West Egg, but East Egg has many of the "old money" people, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan.

The East Egg thinks of themselves as a higher class above the West Egg. West Egg is made up of "new money", people who have recently acquired wealth. Jay Gatsby is an example of new money, getting all his money from bootlegging. New money was not as well-respected as old money was back then.

The Men of Gatsby

Tom Buchanan is wealthy, but not by choice. He has inherited money that has been in the family for many years. He is involved in an affair with Myrtle Wilson, yet he still loves Daisy, and will always love her. It seems the money corrupts them, making them greedy, wanting more, not only in cash, but also in women and possessions. Greed causes them to act irrationally, which proves why Nick is so kind and has such a pure heart.
Nick Carraway is meek and innocent, wanting nothing to do with scandal and doesn't give a care about money. He is interested in Jordan but he does not go to the ends of the earth to win her heart.

Jay Gatsby is the exact opposite of Nick. He is a criminal, selling illegal alcohol, doing whatever it takes to become rich and famous for the woman he loves. He pursues a scandalous affair with Daisy, extremely public and wanting to tell the whole world.

The Green Light

At the beginning of the novel when Nick first arrives to West Egg he first sees Gatsby reaching out his arms to a green light to the other side. The green light represents money, hope, new life, and to Gatsby that is what getting Daisy means to him. Green is the combination of blue and yellow which also symbolizes hot and cold or high and low which tells about Daisy because she is a good person in a bad situation.This is what Gatsby believes he will get from Daisy.



At the end of the novel Daisy’s dock is barely visible from Gatsby’s lawn. Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream. In Chapter 9, Nick compares the green light to how America looked like to early settlers. The American dream. When immigrants come to America it is because they want to live a better life. People come to America to give them hope and satisfaction in life that is the same with Gatsby trying to marry Daisy. He believed by doing that he would truly be happy.

Mafia's and Gangsters

The Mafia is a organized criminal society which people believe that started in late 19th century. They are criminal groups that have the same. Each group, known as a "family", "association", "clan" or "cosca", claim their own territory in which they operate their crime which is usually in a town or village or a part of a larger city.

Many people believe that the prohibition started the mafias in the US. Al Capone, Bugs Moran, Johnny Torrio, The Purple Gang, and Peter Licavoli became famous names because of prohibition. For the mafia and the gangsters, prohibition meant money to make, easy money, good times, shiny new cars, and new suits. The tainted money, prostitution, loan sharking, bookmarking, extortion and other criminal activities were in comparison to bootlegging. Prohibition created an atmosphere that made more crime, an atmosphere which the mafia increased rapidly.

There is a certain amount of workers in the mafia. first its the associate an associate is not a member of the mob, and an Associate’s role is more similar like an errand boy. Then there is a soldier, soldiers are members of the family, and can only be of Italian background. Soldiers start as Associates that have proven themselves. Then caporegime or capo a capo is in charge of a crew. There are usually four to six crews in each family, possibly even seven to nine crews, each one consisting of up to ten soldiers. Then a consigliere a consigliere is an advisor to the family. They are often low profile gangsters that can be trusted. Then a underboss a underboss, usually ordered by the Boss, is the second in command of the family. The underboss is in charge of all of the Capos, who is controlled by the Boss. Then finally the Boss the boss is the head of the family, usually compared to a dictator, sometimes called the don or “godfather”. The Boss receives a cut of every operation taken on by every member of his family.