Sophies Choice: Movie vs. Book
Truth exposed!
The Book
-In the book there is a large emphasis on the comparison between WWII Germany and Poland and America during it's civil war.
-In the book we briefly get to see Stingo face his families past as slave owners and see how he grows from it.
- Using the parallels previously mentioned the story had a theme that the holocaust hurt more than the jewish community.
-The book goes in more depth with Sophie's choice. It says her daughter was sick and had an ear infection, implying that that was one of the underlying reasons why she chose her to sacrifice.
- Rape and suicide are very present.
The Movie
-The movie is much much more plot oriented and thus loses alot of the comparisons and personal commentary between anti semitism at the time and its parallel to slavery.
-The movie is even more brief than the book when it comes to Stingos past.
- Without the parallels of anti-antisemitism and slavery the book loses one of the biggest themes it has to offer; that the Holocaust was a tragedy for Jews, Polish and just about anyone target by Hitler.
-The movie leaves out certain details that might have influenced Sophies Choice when it was time to sacrifice one of her children, thus losing some of the character complexity.
- Rape and suicide are either lessened or implied, for obvious reasons.