The Giver Book Vs Movie Essay

The Giver is a story that focuses on the main character, a male named Jonas, who becomes the Receiver of Memory, and tries to escape the community in order to give the memories to the rest of the community. The book and movie both have the same basic storyline, but what sets the two apart is how each of their plot is developed. The movie changes, and takes away many things that were in the book, but also adds things that are not in the book. The way events are shown in the movie, the way characters are portrayed, and the overall plot are the 3 things that were changed for the screen adaptation of the book, and because of this, caused the movie to not be able to retell the story that is found in the book.

Many of the scenes depicted in the movie are not accurate,

according to the book. For example, the scene in which Jonas takes an apple in the movie does not create the same image that the scene created in the book.

“ATTENTION, THIS IS A REMINDER TO MALE ELEVENS THAT OBJECTS ARE NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE RECREATION AREA AND THAT SNACKS ARE TO BE EATEN, NOT HOARDED had been specifically directed at him the day last month that he had taken an apple home. No one had mentioned it, not even his parents, because the public announcement had been sufficient to produce the appropriate remorse.” In the movie we just don’t see how it wasn’t about the punishment, but how Jonas felt about the public announcement. Also, the ending in the movie does not reflect on the images that are created by reading the ending in the book. “He settled himself on the sled and hugged Gabe close. The hill was steep but the snow was powdery and soft, and he knew that this time there would be no ice, no fall, no pain. Inside his freezing body, his heart surged with hope. They started down. Jonas felt himself losing consciousness and with his whole being willed himself to stay upright atop the sled, clutching Gabriel, keeping him safe. The runners sliced throughout the snow and the wind whipped at his face as they sped in a straight line

through an incision that seemed to lead to the final destination, the place that held their future and their past. He forced his eyes open as they went downward, downward, sliding, and all at once he could see lights, and he recognized them now. He knew they were shining through the windows of rooms, that they were the red, blue, and yellow lights that twinkled from trees in places where families created and kept memories, where they celebrated love. Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead they were waiting for him; and that they were waiting too, for the baby. For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.” In the book, the author does not tell the reader if Jonas and Gabriel make it or not. This is not the case for the movie. The last shot of the movie features Jonas and Gabriel walking up to a snow covered house. According to these two examples, the movie does not create the same images imagined when reading the book.
There is much dissimilarity between Fiona in the book, and Fiona in the movie. The movie portrayal of Fiona is not accurate. First, in the movie, Fiona is 16. In the book, she is 12. The reader knows she is twelve because she received her Assignment at the ceremony of twelve. “Even the applause, though enthusiastic, seemed serene when Fiona was given the important Assignment of Caretaker of the Old. This piece of textual evidence also tells us that Fiona’s Assignment was Caretaker of the Old, not a Nurturer. Based on these two pieces of evidence, the movie depiction of Fiona is not accurate.
Many changes were made to the plot to make the movie. One specific difference between the plot of the book and the movie is the role that the Chief Elder plays. In the book, she is simply the head of the government and the community. However, in the movie, she is the antagonist. Because of this, Jonas tries to leave the community, not because he wants to save Gabriel from release or give the memories to the rest of the community. This change in the story adds more conflict, but overall, it takes away from the story because the focus was supposed to be on how Jonas was trying to release all the memories to the community and save Gabe from release. Another specific difference between the movie and book’s plot is Jonas and Fiona’s relationship. Fiona and Jonas seem to be ‘more than friends’ in the movie. The two also kiss in the movie. None of this is true for the book. The two are just friends. Jonas does have Stirrings regarding Fiona in the book, but he never acts upon them. The screenwriter and production crew probably made this change to make the movie more interesting. This change in the plot takes away from the story because she becomes the main reason why Jonas feels the need to leave the community and enter Elsewhere rather than going to release the memories or save Gabriel from release. Besides, this change seems to make the movie into a love story, when it should not be that kind of story at all. The two changes made to the story to make the movie better failed at doing so. The changes only succeeded at taking away what should have been the focus of the film.
There were many unnecessary changes made to the story for the movie. The movie failed at recreating the scenes found in the book, portraying the main characters, and adapting the plot. Overall, the movie-making team failed to adapt the story to the big screen because they simply did not do a good job at retelling the story that is in the book.