A Rewrite of Some Plot Sections of The Great Gatsby from a Different Point of view.
原文片段:
She turned her head as there was a light,dignified knocking at the front door.I went out and opened it.Gatsby,pale as death,with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets,was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes.
With his hands still in his coat pockets he stalked by me into the hall,turned sharply as if he were on a wire and disappeared into the living room.It wasn't a bit funny.Aware of the loud beating of my own heart I pulled the door to against the increasing rain.
"I certainly am awfully glad to see you again."Gatsby,his hands still in his pockets,was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease,even of boredom.His head leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock and from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy who was sitting frightened but graceful on the edge of a stiff chair."We’ve met before,",muttered Gatsby.His eyes glanced momentarily at me and his lips parted with an abortive attempt at a laugh.Luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head,whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers and set it back in place.Then he sat down,rigidly,his elbow on the arm of the sofa and his chin in his hand.
"We haven’t met for many years,"said Daisy,her voice as matter-of-fact as it could ever be.
——《了不起的盖茨比》(第五章)
原文剧情:“The reunion of Gatsby and Daisy”
原文视角:In the first person point of view
是出于“我”(尼克)的视角去描述我眼中二者重逢时的场景,以及我判断的二人的心理状态。
改写视角:In the limited omniscient point of view(主要关注盖茨比)
It was raining outside.Silver threads of rain formed a veil beyond the eaves when a knock came—soft but deliberate,which seemed to still the very atmosphere.Daisy's fingers flinched and she pivoted her face towards the door,so that Gatsby could not discern her facial expression clearly.All he perceived was Nick's immediate movement that Nick traversed the room to answer,leaving Gatsby rooted on the threshold,with his hands plunged like lead into the pockets of his coat.
As he stood there, the damp air clung to him,water pooling at his feet.Rigid stood he,with his heart pounding wildly beneath his ribs.He had rehearsed this moment countless times. However,now his voice deserted him completely.His eyes locked onto Nick's, seeking some unspoken prompt,some form of reassurance.But all he encountered was the same inscrutable courtesy that had always shielded Nick's thoughts.
Then Gatsby started moving,wordlessly walking past Nick.Stiff as if pulled by invisible strings,he made his way down the hallway, which blurred around him. Abruptly, he spun around—so abruptly that his shoulder slammed into the doorframe.But he scarcely noticed.All his thoughts zeroed in on her—she was just beyond the archway.At long last,he could reach her.
Hands still in his pockets,he forced himself to walk over to the mantel.Despite attempting to appear relaxed,he couldn't pull it off.Behind him,the clock had stopped,its hands frozen at some forgotten hour.Leaning against it,he tilted his head back until the carved wood dug into his skull.Look at Daisy,he pleaded silently.See her as she was...and as she is now.
And then—there was Daisy.
She sat ramrod straight,her dress pooling around her like a spill of moonlight.Perhaps she trembled slightly—Gatsby couldn't be sure.Afraid to be overwhelmed,he didn't dare look at her too closely.Even from his peripheral vision, she radiated light,more vivid than his memories.The curve of her neck,the gentle rest of her fingers on the chair's edge—each detail pierced him like an arrow.
His throat constricted.Five years of conjuring conversations,penning unsent letters,and yearning for her in dreams—all distilled into this excruciating silence.He'd fantasized about her voice countless times,yet now dreaded hearing it.What revelations might it carry?Would she remember? Would she even care?
The room spun around him.Through his pockets,he gripped his wrists firmly,fighting to steady himself.This was the moment that had reshaped his life.Now that it was finally here,he was rooted to the spot,a man ensnared in the gilded ruins of his own long-held yearning.