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Felix Liu

Mr. Smith

English 2, Period 5

September 26, 2009

Movies vs. Books

Many people have experienced the difference of comprehending a movie and a book.

Some find one or another is easier to understand. Of Mice and Men is one of those stories made

into a wonderful production that attracts viewers of all ages. Movies often create more suspense

in every scene which engenders attraction and pulls people into the story. Real actors perform the

dialogue of the book which gives viewers better understanding of each character’s true feelings.

Also, movies can set limitations due to the director’s viewpoint but without it, one cannot

understand the true meaning of the story. The movie unequivocally is better than the book

because of the thrilling suspense and the spoken dialogue.

The magic that turns stories into an award winning production is suspense. Without it, no

movie could grab the attention of its viewers. In the book, the scene where George is supposed to

find Lennie in his hiding spot is briefly passed. On the other hand, the movie plays about ten

suspenseful minutes of George trying to find Lennie. The suspense that is built there leads

viewers to a better understanding of what is going to happen. The suspense may even mislead

certain people but the experience of finding out the truth puts in more thrill of watching the

movie. Obviously, an author would find it hard to do something similar because one, he is

missing the power of music, and two, writing a scene so vivid with the desired facial expressions

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and setting is near impossible. Suspense plays a major role into the better understanding of a

story.

Characters many feelings and expressions can only be shown through the powerful

communication of spoken dialogue. One example of the importance of dialogue is shown in the

quote, “I’d find things, George. I don’t need no nice food with ketchup. I’d lay out in the sun and

nobody’d hurt me. An’ if I foun’ a mouse, I could keep it. Nobody’d take it away from me.”(12)

In the book, one would probably imagine Lennie performing the same tone of voice throughout

the book, giving the impression that George has total control over him. But, in the movie, it is

shown that Lennie stands up for himself on the phrase of “if I foun’ a mouse, I could keep it.

Nobody’d take it away from me.” This gives Lennie more character and with more expressions,

a viewer can better understand a character. The book did not paint a picture of the scene as

superior, which made Lennie seem like a very boring and ordinary character. Even in other

scenes when George is talking about the dream, Lennie seems really intrigued by dream in the

movie. But, in the book, it seems that he heard the story countless times. The movie depicts more

of a friendship and the book shows more of George having absolute control. This gives more

emotion to the viewer for Lennie so people can genuinely feel the pain at the end of the story.

However, one may think that a movie might set limitations for the story because it only

depicts what the movie producer wants in the film. People might think that if they are allowed to

let their imagination go free, they will understand the story better. That is incorrect because if

they do, they lose the true meaning of the story. They will over think many parts that are

confusing and interpret the story erroneously. But, one may think how the film producer knows

exactly how a character feels because even he might interpret the character’s feelings wrong. The

reason is that film producers do not base the movie solely on their own interpretation of the

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book, but many people’s interpretation of the book. This basis will cause the movie to become

more interesting because viewers will think that the movie directly relates to what they have

read. Even if some may think that the movie is totally different, the interpretation is correct and

because of this, the viewer will understand the story thoroughly.

In brief, the experience of watching and understanding a movie definitely exceed the

slow comprehension of a book. The thrill of the suspense can be compared to a racecar, speeding

its way to the finish. Without this, none would be able to fully understand a story. The

importance of spoken dialogue shows the exact feeling of characters during every moment of the

story, and lastly, a movie sets limitations to a story which keeps people from veering off course

when going through the storyline. These elements show the importance of motion pictures and

why people almost never fully understand a book. Clearly, movies overpower the function of

books in our everyday understanding of stories.