Essay Poster
By Brad Chu
Introduction
Lois Lowry wrote the science fiction novel The Giver. The Giver is about a boy named Jonas who lives in a secluded community. He sees things that others don't. After being named the Receiver of Memory, he goes to his mentor, the man that calls himself the Giver. After he spends some time being the Receiver of Memory, he begins to see past memories and emotions that no one else does. When The Giver was made into a popular motion picture, there was little more than a handful of differences but it didn't change the plot of the story.
The main differences lie the age of maturity, changes in dialogue and when things happen in the story. Starting with the differences in ages in the book, Jonas and his friends are twelve but in the movie they are eighteen. I believe the producers did that because eighteen is a more mature age and our society see it as such. "The ceremony of Twelve was the last of the Ceremonies. The most important." (Lowry pg 14). That says he is twelve because he is in the ceremony, and in the movie, he is eighteen to make his character more mature to relate to today's world. The use of different dialogue because they want to catch the audience that read the book off guard and make it more exciting,"Now he cleans him up and makes him comfy,"(Lowry pg. 149). And I remember in the movie, Jonas didn't say the line when he asked to see the release. And a different way of living. Instead of asking to share each other's dreams in the afternoon in the movie and in the book they shared their dreams in the morning, "Thank you for your dream Jonas,' Mother said after a moment. She glanced at Father. "Lily,' Father said,'it's time to leave for school."(Lowry pg 36). In the movie, they said their dreams right before their bedtime.
As a member of the audience or a reader, the handful of differences do not affect the outcome of the story. But the movie producers modified the storyline to draw a larger audience, instead of staying true to the plot. Overall, the movie production was a success and it did not ruin the story.