This Boy’s Life
In both the film and the book This Boy’s Life Tobias Wolff is surrounded by bad role models and terrible father figures. Wolff and his mother are constantly looking for the complete family life and find themselves in a series of bad situations on their quest. In the book Toby’s relationship with his mother Rosemary is illustrated in a clear and deeper manner but the movie just didn’t seem to focus on it enough. This paper will evaluate the portrayal of Toby’s relationship with his mother and the men in their lives as told in the memoir and the film.
The relationship that Toby has with his mother is a very strong bond. That is evident in the film and the book. But what Toby lacks in both versions of this story is a good father figure, which his mother seems to be always on a journey to find for him. Early in the book Toby has several misadventures with bad influences, whether they are friends or father-like figures. Roy seems to be one of the first influences to really catch the reader’s eye. He follows Toby and his mother all the way to Utah from Florida mostly just to be with Rosemary. Roy uses Toby to get to Rosemary in many ways, for example when he buys Toby the rifle or when he takes him to spy on Rosemary at work and follow her home. Roy makes this seem like it is a game to Toby and befriends him this way. This portrayal of Roy is very well done in the film, too. To me this is a very important part of the story in general, because after you read the book and see the film, almost all the men who come into Toby’s life treat him in some way like Roy treats him.
Anything it took to get to his mother seems to be the theme of the story. This behavior would have a very traumatizing effect on any young child at that time in their life, but with the influence Toby’s mother has on him he is always trying to find a way out of bad situations. Another example to this theme would be the chapter in the book when Toby and his mother go to Alkai Point to watch the mock naval battle and they run into the two men. They had left Roy not long before that and moved to Seattle so they could escape him again. This must have worked, finally, because Roy does not try to find them for the rest of the story. This chapter is not used in the film and probably could have been omitted from the book, but it des...
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...e he belongs. He sets out to be a wise guy, masking the uncertainty he feels. His stepfather, Dwight, masking his own demons and insecurities, also sets out on a mission to drive Toby down to his level. It’s to
Toby’s credit that he doesn’t want to stay down and that’s enough of an edge. Instinctively using the creative license of his absent father, he finds a tenuous way out--enough of a break to set him on a better path.” (Salavarria)
Of course the film could not add all these things that I feel make it weaker than the book. It would have become a short television series or something like that if all these things were added. The story had a very long list of characters and became very involved at some points, but I think this made the book interesting to more than one audience. Some parts of Toby’s life were very comical and fun, some parts left you on the edge of your seat, making you wander why he did some of the more consequential things that he did.
In closing I feel that the book did a much better job than the film of illustrating the life of Wolff. The book made Toby’s relationship with his mother and the men that were in their life much more dramatic.
In conclusion, details involving the characters and symbolic meanings to objects are the factors that make the novel better than the movie. Leaving out aspects of the novel limits the viewer’s appreciation for the story. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person will not overlook the intense work that went into the making of both. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.
The Notebook (Cassavetes, 2004) is a love story about a young couple named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who fall deeply in love with each other. The Hamilton’s are financially stable, and expect for their daughter Allie to marry someone with the same wealth. Noah on the other hand works as a laborer, and comes from an underprivileged family. Throughout the film there were several negative behaviors, and interpersonal communications within the context of their relationship, which relates to chapter nine. This chapter explores relationships, emphasizing on affection and understanding, attraction, and the power of a relationship. The focus of this paper is the interpersonal conflict with Noah, Allie and her mother, Anne Hamilton.
Rosemary’s past isn’t her fault, but her inability to but her past behind her has a negative influence on Toby. Discipline is needed when you have a son like Toby, But Rosemary, who “doesn’t have faith in discipline” fails have any kind of ground rules set down for Toby, and this is due to her awful past with her father, showing us why she cannot be a disciplining, and good parent to Toby. Her influence of her father meant that Rosemary is attracted to “men of a tyrant breed” like Dwight and Roy. Toby then has to live with these awful men who are a corrupting influence on Toby, and this is all because of the influence of Rosemary’s past. Rosemary’s father used to “badger her into smoking cigarettes” and many other things as a child, and as a result in her adulthood is badgered into many bad decisions, like marrying Dwight. These decisions that she gets persuaded into often land her in trouble, which then lands Toby in trouble, hence highlighting gain her inability to put the influences of her past behind her. Since Rosemary cannot discipline Toby herself, when she finally finds out he needs disciplining, she tells toby to “take a ride with Dwight” and uses Dwight to punish Toby instead, which of course is a very scarring experience for Toby’s childhood. The inability Rosemary has with her brutal past carries on into her present, making her unable to be a good parent to
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Overall, the movie and book have many differences and similarities, some more important than others. The story still is clear without many scenes from the book, but the movie would have more thought in it.
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As a single parent, Michael takes on the roles of father and mother to his teenage son. His brother-in-law even refers to him as, “a non-traditional mother,” in, “S.O.Bs” (Day and Vallely). Michael is a non-traditional parent in that he displays the qualities of a traditional mother as well as a traditional father. He fulfills the expectations of traditional father in disciplining his son, George Michael. When Michael chooses to transfer his studious son to a new school in, “S.O.Bs,” he is oblivious to George Michael’s unhappiness (Day and Vallely). After discovering what he believes to be the truth regardi...
Cecilia was diagnosed with cancer while Ruth was in high school and the day before her daughter’s graduation, she passed away (Salokar & Volcansek, 1996). One of the greatest influences on Ruth’s life was her mother and the values she instilled in her from a young age. Two of the greatest lessons that Ruth learned from her mother was to be independent and to be a lady, and by that she meant not to respond in anger but to remain calm in situations (Reynolds, 2009).... ... middle of paper ... ...
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