Comparing the Adventures of Tom Sawyer Book with Movie - Essay Example

? Compare the “Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876 Book with translated version of 1938 movie” Enter and Roll Number or College of Professor November 24, 2012 ABSTRACT The Adventures of Tom Sawyer reminds the transition of a boy’s life from childhood to a young man. It reminds a person about his past, the way he was, the carefree and the fun element of life. The novel and the book both are very well merged and are classics. The main objective of the movie was to return the memory of the precious times, about the simple and the care-free days. There are a few changes in the movie which are done by the director yet it creates the same picture as the book does. 1. Introduction “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is a classic written by Mark Twain in 1872 (The complete literary, n.d.). The novel is about the past of every individual’s life, about the silly things they did and about being adventurous, thrilling and having wild memories of doing something extraordinary. The novel is still read by thousands because it is close to the heart of every individual. It takes the reader back to his past and makes him remember those beautiful moments which can never come back. 1.1. Story in brief In the book, the story begins with a boy named “Tom Sawyer”, a mischievous boy, always wandering for adventure, lives in a Mississippi River town around the summers of 1840s (The complete literary, n.d.). Tom lives with her Aunt Polly who is also sister of her deceased mother, along with his half-brother Sid and cousin Mary. The writer introduces us to Tom stealing a jam-jar from the pantry and is punished to whitewash fence by Aunt Polly. But Tom is a clever boy. He gets out of the punishment by tricking the local boys into paying him to paint the fence and Tom heads off to enjoy his day (Stockton, 2009). While coming back, in Jeff Thatcher’s house, he sees a beautiful girl and falls in love with her. This marks the time when his personality becomes show-off just like any other young boy. In Sunday school (the next day), Tom uses the loot to buy some tickets from the “other boys” and gets himself a Bible prize (Stockton, 2009).Then he makes a fool of him in front of a visitor and the Sunday school crowd when he tells them all that the first two apostles were named "David and Goliath" (Stockton, 2009). The next day, Tom runs into Huckleberry Finn. Huck is an orphan and son of a drunkard. He gets to do everything he wants. Everyone in the town covet him (including Tom). Tom and Huck discussed different ways to cure warts and later on agreed to meet in the graveyard in the midnight to experiment the new cure involving a dead cat (Stockton, 2009). The next day, Tom is forced to sit with a girl named “Becky” as a punishment for coming late, the girl likes him lot. During the lunch time he convinces her to get engaged and kiss but he slips about the engagement with another girl and he faced rejection. He runs away in the woods and meets Jo. Then they start playing Robin Hood. At midnight, Tom and Huck sneak into the graveyard and hear people. They hide and see Dr. Robinson arriving along with Injun Joe (an evil guy) and Muff Potter, who was drunk. They were stealing bodies from the graveyard. They started arguing and later on fighting in which Injun Joe kills Dr. Robinson (Stockton, 2009). Both Tom and Huck run, fearing for their lives. When Muff Potter wakes up, he is told that he killed Dr. Robinson (Stockton, 2009). Tom and Huck got extremely scared and swore that they won’t tell this to anyone. However, Tom begins to get nightmares. Becky got sick and it depresses Tom. When she gets back to school, she still rejects him and Tom decides to run away. He convinces Joe and Huck to become “Pirates”. They steal a skiff and sail to Jackson’s Island down the Mississippi river from St. Petersburg. They see the villagers searching the river (as they thought that they might have drowned). The two boys begin to get home sick but Tom convinces them to stay back. However, he sneaks into the town that night. Tom intends to drop a note saying “We are alive and well”. Hearing the closer-ones mourn and talk about the funeral Tom sneaks back without leaving the note. He tells a new plan to the boys on his way back to the island (Stockton, 2009). That night, there is a thunderstorm and the boys spend most of their time getting soaked and finding shelter. They act on their new plan the day of the funeral. They hid in the gallery of the church to watch their own funeral. They show themselves in the middle of the funeral which over joys the villagers. At school, Tom and Becky makeup when (by accident) Becky rips a page from schoolmaster’s book. For this Tom takes up the punishment (Stockton, 2009). On the other side, the trial of Muff Potter begins. Tom is still in the guilt. He goes against his oath and confesses in front of the court and tells everything to the defence attorney. Potter is freed while Injun Joe escapes. Tom and Huck looked up for the buried treasure. Instead, they found Injun Joe and figure out that he possesses a large amount of treasure. They decided to keep an eye upon him and steal his treasure. The town announces a picnic to McDougal’s cave. All the children (except Huck) went. Tom and Becky get behind and got lost. Meanwhile, Huck follows Joe and overhears his plan to kill widow Douglas and Huck runs to Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones and his sons chased Injun Joe off. The next day, Huck gets sick and exhausted. Meanwhile, Aunt Polly (in the church) realises that Tom and Becky are missing. They started searching the maze-like-cave to find them (Stockton, 2009). Inside the cave, Tom and Becky realized that they are lost and they try to find a way out. At one point, Tom thought that he has found someone but he discovers that it was Injun Joe hiding. After several days Tom and Becky, just as they gave their hopes up, found a way out. The whole village gets really happy when they see them (Stockton, 2009).The Judge Thatcher ordered to seal the door of the cave. When Tom heard about it, he told them that Injun Joe has been hiding out there but they arrived late and Injun Joe starved to death. After his funeral, Injun Joe realized that his treasure was hidden in the cave. Huck and Tom went back to the cave and find the treasure. At Widow Douglas’s house, on their return, is announced by Mr. Jones that it was Huck who saved widows life. The widow, out of gratitude, announces to adopt Huck and Tom revealed that he has found Injun Joe’s treasure and that they both were rich. Huck was not having a good time at widows. He runs away but Tom convinces him to come back and they will start a dangerous gang of robbers. Huck agrees and goes back to the village (Stockton, 2009). Further the story is enriched with treasure hunts and much more fun. 2. Comparison of the book and the movie The comparison of the novel and movie are made in order to understand the details and how the story gets impact when it is changed from one standard to another. This makes one understand the importance of writing, storyboarding and imagination. This might be an observation of many that the books which are popular for their writing are also filmed. The films however made by masters of the industry never fade the essence of the original writing. Refer to the Twilight and Harry Porter, the people who have read the novel cannot detach them from the writing. Cinematography and writing are different genres. They serve different purposes. The writing makes the reader imagine and come up with his own characters, clothes and personality etc. This element makes the written material a very “close to heart” thing for the reader. Imagination is the magic spell in reading. However, in cinematography the director selects the scenes and makes you see and feel yourself as if you are the character. While watching the movie the director makes the viewer get the feel of the characters and break free into a world full of adventure. This makes one understand clearly the difference between the journey of the film and creation of your own imaginative world with the help of reading. Mark Twain was in the field of writing for about twenty years but Adventures of Tom Sawyer was one of his best novels. However, the writer is known for many short stories as well but this book is an extraordinary writing of his. The portrayal of the boy, his tone and narration make the novel stand out (Eason, 2012). ‘Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ is a tale which focuses on the importance of friendship and spirit of freedom. It is full of adventures and each chapter better than the previous one, making the reader involved in the story. This story has the power to keep its readers and viewers stick to their places because they want to know what happened next. Few stories have this much attraction in recorded history. This novel and movie both are marked with record breaking business. The movie “The adventures of Tom Sawyer” released in 1938 was the first movie filmed in Technicolor, directed by Norman Taurog (IMDB, 2012). The film has been associated with first class acting, creative direction which was as faithful to the novel as possible. The art director, Lyle Wheeler, had also been nominated for an Oscar Award and the supporting cast that includes May Robson (Aunt Polly), Walter Brennan (Muff Potter) and Victor Jory (Injun Joe) proved out to be the masters of their roles. However, a remarkable performance was of the child actor Tommy Kelly which made the viewers visualize Tom Sawyer. His winning smile, visible freckles and bright eyes encapsulate the literary character to a tee. After watching this film and re-reading Twain's novel, it is impossible to remove the image of Tommy Kelly from one's mind as the reader remembers Sawyer's adventures” (Flask, 2003). It is not only the main cast; even the supporting roles as well. The A+ performances of the shining stars, Walter Brennan is absolutely Muff Potter, (the made-up grubby) Victory Jory as the threatening “Injun Joe” and the violent schoolmaster, Olin Howlin are the superb cast of the successful film as Jory makes up Injun Joe “the representation of evil” and the red-faced Howlin “is superlative as an authoritarian teacher who makes the audience cringe when he canes Tom (Flask, 2003). May Robeson (Aunt Polly) was capable to show her sudden expressions, from smooth calm expressions to harsh and severe ones very easily and that is what makes a wonderful similarity between the written material and the movie. According to Butler (2012), May Robson acted just like the readers have imagined her. This allows the wave of sympathy for the character. It is said to be a very fine production which goes hand in hand with the novel and leaves the audience with a glad experience. TV Guide (2012) described it as "a lively production featuring quick pace, fulfilling climax, along with surprising amount of wit." However, the typical changes of Hollywood, as in the story line have been made in order to create a better focus. The novel tells that Huck Finn introduced “pipe smoking” to Tom but the film emphasizes on “slapstick” comedy, as an effort to appeal the audience and because it might have had censorship problems. There is a running gag in the fence-white-wash scene where Sid Sawyer was constantly being attacked by the whitewash, tomatoes and cake. The cave scene, when shot was trimmed later on, because it was giving the feeling of a “claustrophobic nightmare”, as it was a horrible shot for children and the movie was supposed to be family flick. Religion and issues related to religion are found in abundance in the novel however in the movie there is missing detail of it. The racism and chauvinism is missing in the movie in order to modernize it or maybe to cut the long story short. But the details are important in order to make the movie appear as an identical twin of the novel. This fact lacks in the movie production as it fails to be the same replica of the novel. Some things are added in the movie while others are subtracted in order to make the movie short, entertaining and colourful. In the film, Tom kicks Injun Joe off a cliff and he falls to death while this was never the ending. The novel states that Injun Joe died of starvation. The film was originally released of 93 minutes but the book has about 35 chapters. The movie is however a splendid adaption of the novel. At some points, I felt as if the scenes of the movie are extremely close to my imagination. This element makes the movie even more special. The novel is cherished by many therefore the expectations to it are also kept higher. This book makes me cry and laugh enjoying every bit of it every time I read it. This is a magical book for boys just like Barbie or Snow White if for girls. Mark Twain is a great American writer. The language used in the book and that of the movie are poles apart. The book involves detailed description of each scene and emotion, however, the movie tries to cover up some parts by skipping the details or involving visual depiction of colours or clothes. Tom and Huck are the literary figures in American literature. They are explored in detail in the novel however in the movie they are not. The movie seems to be quite a good one but as compared to the writing it misses some of the most important details. The whitewashing scenes depiction in the movie is entertaining but it is not in comparison with the written details and essence of the scene. The movie is a colourful adventure whereas the novel is a splendid mix of treasure hunt, murder, adventure and suspense. The movie was an excellent execution of the novel. The cast, the crew, the producer, director, cinematographer, matt painter, all of them gets an equal hats off for bringing out such an amazing translation of the novel written in 1876 for children. The movie turned out to be a hit and also won many awards. Although the movie and the novel go parallel, yet a few changes have been brought about in the film like Tom not smoking, addition of a gag, the trimming of the horrible scenes and making Injun Joe fall off a cliff. Both versions have the same theme, fantasy, excitement, thrill, adventure, voyage, quest, journey and exploration. I enjoy the detailed part of the novel and love to see my imagination doing the magic. If I were to watch a movie or read a book, I would certainly go for the novel because “there is nothing beyond imagination”. 3. Conclusion ‘Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ was written in1876 by Mark Twain who was an American legend in literature. This story is amongst the favourites of many because of its interpretation of life, friendship and breaking free in order to explore, learn and have an adventurous life. Popularity of this writing made many directors and Hollywood masters to envisage it into different films. Number of films and TV shows were made on this story to capture the entertaining spirit. However, writing and movie production are different genres and hence have different impact. The novel is still considered the best as it goes in details and makes the reader get involved in the scenes easily and boosts the imagination. The reader makes his own characters, towns and attitudes based on the written information. This novel is a magical tale which makes people associate themselves with the characters and enjoy it to the full. The characters which are “imagined” by the readers of the novels are different from the ones who are “hired to act”. No matter how close to the characters the actors act still there is a huge difference between the details of the characters in written and visual form. Other than the similarity of the characters, the importance given to religion differs. Importance if given to religion in the novel however in the movie there is no such depiction of it. The movie is made in a way that it is “entertaining” and “well performed” but it is not the exact same replica of the novel. Language is another difference in the movie and the novel. The movie involves dialogues which are not like the ones in the novel. This is mainly because the script of the movie is made separately than the novel. The plots in the novel are not portrayed in the movie. They are altered or made short in order to make the movie. The changes include Tom not smoking, addition of a gag, the trimming of the horrible scenes and making Injun Joe fall off a cliff etc. People who are fan of the novel will always go for the writing flick because it has details which make the reader develop his own scenes making him enjoy at the highest levels. Making a movie is an art but it can never compete to a written novel. In the written novel, Mark Twain makes his readers go by the flow and makes simple things complex by adding in the details, one by one the details build up the characters, personalities, tones, towns and what not!!! However, the scenes of the movie make the viewer stick to what the director wants them to see. However, the acting of the whole cast is brilliant yet when it comes to comparison, the novel is always the first choice of every Mark Twain fan. 4. References Butler, C. (2012). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Critics' Reviews. Retrieved from: http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-critic-reviews/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer.1/ (Accessed Nov 22, 2012) Eason, L. (2012). The Alabama Shakespeare Festival 2012 Study Materials and Activities for The Adventures of TOM SAWYER. Retrieved from: http://www.asf.net/uploadedFiles/Content/Educational_Programs/Study_Guides/sf%20Tom%20Sawyer2.pdf (Accessed Nov 22, 2012) Flask. (2003). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer [Region 2] (1938), Retrieved from: http://www.amazon.com/The-Adventures-Tom-Sawyer-Region/dp/B00006RHUL (Accessed Nov 22, 2012) IMDB. (2012). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Retrieved 29 Nov 012 from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029844/ Stockton, S. (2009). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain, Virtual Books Editora e LivrariaLtda: Brazil. The complete literary works of Mark Twain. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/ TV Guide (2012), The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, Retrieved from: http://movies.tvguide.com/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer/109695 (Accessed Nov 22, 2012) Twain, M. (2009). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: The Big Read: Alabama Edition. New South Books: USA. Read More