of mice and men' difference between film and book essay

Of Mice And Men Movie vs Book

The film and book Of Mice and Men are both memorable works of fiction. While they share many similarities, there are also some key differences.

One of the biggest differences is in the character of Lennie. In the book, Lennie is rather simple-minded and childlike. He doesn’t understand much, but he is gentle and good-natured. In the film, however, Lennie is played as more feral and dangerous. He’s still not entirely in control of himself, but he’s far more menacing than in the book.

Another big difference is the ending. In the book, George kills Lennie to spare him from a painful death at the hands of others. It’s a mercy killing, and George does it out of love. In the film, however, Lennie is killed by Curley – and it’s far from merciful. Curley sadistically tortures and kills Lennie for fun, leaving George to watch in horror.

These are just some of the ways that the book and film Of Mice and Men differ from each other. Both are well worth a read or a view, but they offer different experiences.

When a book becomes so popular that it is turned into a film, it’s common for the script to be altered. The filmmakers are frequently allowed to take liberties. There are numerous significant modifications in Gary Sinise’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Despite the fact that both versions feature similar symbols, audiences miss out on the foreshadowing of the red and the thematic significance of solitaire.

Curley’s wife is given a name and back story, which allows the audience to develop empathy for her. Of Mice and Men is set in the time of the Great Depression and follows two men, Lennie Small who has mental disabilities, and George Milton, his caretaker. They travel around working at different ranches hoping to one day have their own land.

Along the way they meet Candy, an old man who works on the ranch and dreams of owning his own land as well; Crooks, a black stable buck who deals with racist remarks; Curley, the boss’ son who likes to pick fights; and finally Curley’s wife. Steinbeck uses symbols such as red to foreshadow events that are going to happen later in the book.

The use of red is first seen when Lennie is talking to George about his dream. He describes the farm they are going to have with “alfalfa for the rabbits… and a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. An’ down that way there’ll be a cow pasture, an’ some pigs an’ maybe we can have a milk cow. Can we, George? Can we, huh? Say we can, George. Please say we can” (Steinbeck 17).

The color red is not just used here but also appears when Curley’s wife is first introduced into Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck describes her as wearing “a red cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (Steinbeck 67). The color red is significant because it is often associated with danger or death. In Of Mice and Men, the color red foreshadows Curley’s wife’s death.

Sinise changes Of Mice and Men by not including the foreshadowing that Steinbeck put in his book. He does this by having Curley’s wife wear a blue dress when she is first introduced in the film.

While reading Of Mice and Men, Candy comes into George and Lennie’s room to talk to them about their farm. In the book, Steinbeck has Candy playing solitaire by himself, which is a symbol for loneliness. He does this to show how even though Candy is with other people, he is still lonely. This is significant because it foreshadows that Curley’s wife will die a lonely death.

Sinise changes the scene so that when Candy first comes into George and Lennie’s room he is talking to Crooks. By having Crooks in the scene, Sinise takes away the symbolic aspect of Candy being alone.

When Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men, he wanted to communicate the theme of loneliness to his readers. He does this by having many of his characters be lonely. Curley’s wife is one of the loneliest characters in Of Mice and Men. Even though she is married, she is always left alone on the ranch.

This is seen when Lennie first meets her and she says, “I get lonely… I got nobody to talk to… You gotta talk to somebody” (Steinbeck 68). Curley’s wife is so lonely that she talks to Lennie even though he has mental disabilities and can’t have a conversation with her.

Sinise changes the scene between Lennie and Curley’s wife by having her talk about how her husband never pays attention to her. In the book, Steinbeck has her talk about how she gets lonely and how nobody ever talks to her. By having her talk about her husband, Sinise changes the theme of loneliness to the theme of being trapped.

Of Mice and Men is a book that is full of symbols and themes. Sinise changes some of these symbols and themes when he creates his film version. Although the film is a good adaptation, it lacks some of the important aspects that Steinbeck includes in his book.

The lack of foreshadowing regarding the color red transforms the sign’s meaning. A woman running down a hillside in a crimson dress appears in the film’s opening scene, Weed. In the book, George recounts what happened as he says, “Well, he noticed this girl… So he stretched out to touch her red dress and she let out a squawk.”

”She’d been runnin’, an’ that red dress flapped like it was tryin’ to fly away.” (Steinbeck 43) The description of the dress by George in the book lets the reader know that there is more to just a pretty dress, but the book does not give much more information.

In Of Mice and Men film, however, during Curley’s wife funeral Lennie is seen placing his hand on her hair which is covering her face. this is a big contrast from what Steinbeck wrote in the book: ”Curley’s wife never looked at him. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she held a folded handkerchief in one hand.”(Steinbeck 107).

From the way, Steinbeck described Curley’s wife it is safe to say that she was not attractive in any way. Lennie touching her hair could be seen as him being attracted to her, but it is more likely that he was just curious about the softness of her hair. This event is not in the book Of Mice and Men, but it is a key element in the film that changes the viewers opinion on Curley’s wife.

When George shoots Lennie at the end of Of Mice and Men, it is done out of mercy. In the book, Steinbeck writes: ”And then he did what he had wanted to do so badly–for himself and for Lennie–what he had thought about so often”. (Steinbeck 107) From this quote, it is clear that George shooting Lennie was something that he had thought about before and it was not a rash decision.

In the film, however, George’s decision to shoot Lennie is much more impulsive. George shoots Lennie after Curley has beaten him unconscious and it seems like George does not even hesitate before pulling the trigger. This change from the book to the film makes George seem like less of a sympathetic character because his decision to kill his friend seems very callous.

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Of Mice And Men: 10 Differences Between The Book And The Film

• Lennie's size is downplayed in the Of Mice and Men film, relying more on Malkovich's performance to convey his isolation and loneliness.
• The Of Mice and Men film focuses on Lennie's intellectual disability rather than his mental illness, forgoing hallucinations like Aunt Clara and the rabbit featured in the book.
• The character of Curley's wife is portrayed as more sympathetic in the film, making her death appear more tragic and less deserving.

One of the great American classics, Of Mice and Men , was turned into a 1992 feature film starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinese, but there are several Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book. John Steinbeck is one of the greatest American writers to have set pen to paper. His novels shine a light on the realities of the American experience and stands as some of the classics of literature, with books such as The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and, of course, Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men , in particular, has proven to be a fruitful text for cinematic interpretation.

The Of Mice and Men story sees two field migrant workers, the intelligent but uneducated George Milton (Sinese) and the overly-strong but intellectually disabled Lennie Small (Malkovich), who dream of one day owning their own piece of land and settling down. When they begin working on Curley's (Casey Siemaszko) farm, tragedy after tragedy strikes, leading to a horribly sad ending that has a lot to say about the "American Dream." As with all film adaptations, the Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book are numerous, and director Gary Sinese made key changes to Steinbeck's beloved characters.

Related: Cyrano & 9 Other Great Modern Adaptations Of Classic Literature

Lennie’s Size

One of the biggest Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book is that Lennie's massive size in the novella is downplayed in the must-watch John Malkovich movie . In Steinbeck’s original novel, much is made of Lennie’s size. Again and again, readers' attention is drawn to the fact that Lennie is significantly larger than the rest of the men on the ranch, highlighting the fact that he is deeply lonely and estranged. In the film, by contrast, Lennie is portrayed as basically the same size as everyone else. The film thus has to rely more on Malkovich’s performance to convey Lennie’s sense of being cast adrift from the life of the ranch and from the people that surround him.

Lennie’s Character

Sinese made notable changes to Lennie's character in the Of Mice and Men movie vs book debate. In the book, it is repeatedly made clear that, in addition to having some form of intellectual disability, Lennie suffers from some form of mental illness that affects his perception of the world. He frequently has hallucinations, such as one involving a rabbit and Aunt Clara. The underrated classic novel movie adaptation cuts out these hallucinations, focusing instead on the way that Lennie has an intellectual disability. Again, a great amount of this relies on Malkovich’s performance, and he manages to bring out the fundamental humanity of Lennie, allowing viewers to sympathize with and, to an extent, understand him.

The Character Of Curley’s Wife

The character of Curley’s wife is another one of the biggest Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book. In the novel, Curley’s wife is depicted as being flirtatious and more than a little bit cruel, toying with Lennie's emotions and threatening to have Crooks (Joe Morton) lynched. The film makes an effort to change her into a more sympathetic character than she appears in the novel. She doesn’t dress nearly as flirtatiously, she frequently appears more bored than angry and, as a result, when she is killed, she becomes more of a victim than she appears in the novel, which attempts to make her seem more deserving of her death.

The Shooting Of Lennie

Lennie, who has been compared to the character Nick from Shameles s , is an entirely tragic figure and his heartbreaking death was one of the bigger Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book. The moment when George shoots Lennie is one of the most heartbreaking and shattering moments in both. In the novel, George tells Lennie a story, and it is clear that he suffers a great deal as he undertakes this traumatic action. In the film, on the other hand, he shoots Lennie with almost no hesitation, making him appear as much less of a sympathetic character than he does in the book.

The Aftermath Of The Shooting

Not only was Lennie's death slightly different in the case of Of Mice and Men movie vs. book, but so was the aftermath. After George shoots Lennie in the novel, he has a conversation with several other characters, which provides him with a means of coping with the consequences of the terrible action that he has just committed. In fact, one of the other characters comforts him by telling him that he had to do the shooting. In the film’s version of events, however, he set out alone on a train. This lends the whole sequence a bleaker appearance than in the novel, as audiences are left to endure George’s thoughts on his own.

An Important Conversation Is Cut From The Film

One of John Malkovich's best movies saw even more Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book as a thematically important conversation from the novella was cut for time. In a key sequence in the novel, several of the characters—including Curley’s wife—gather together in the barn to talk about all of the things that they want to accomplish in life, their various dreams, the things that they cling to help them deal with the bleak despair associated with the Great Depression. The film excises this scene altogether so that we do not get to see the ways in which these various characters have managed to come together even though they are all outcast from society.

The Romanticizing Of The Setting

By far one of the biggest differences cited in the Of Mice and Men movie vs book debate is the clear changes to the setting. As with so many Steinbeck novels, Of Mice and Men is a brutally realistic story, showing the rather gritty and unromantic everyday reality of life on a ranch during the period of the Great Depression, one of the bleakest periods in the history of the United States. In the film, on the other hand, viewers see instead a rather romanticized version of rural ranch life. It comes across as being a bit more nostalgic than anything else, a rather strange feeling since this is based on a novel by John Steinbeck.

The Prominence Of Carlson And Crooks

Gary Sinese ( CSI: New York ) added further Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book in his treatment of Carlson and Crooks. In the novel, Carlson has a relatively small part to play in the course of events, while the film expands his role, giving him more to do. On the other hand, in Steinbeck's book, Crooks is a part of several key events that happen, whereas in the film he is given substantially less to do. Of course, these changes make sense, as it often takes some shuffling of characters during the translation of a novel into the medium of film.

The Killing Of The Puppy

Another horrifying event that happens in the book is when Lennie accidentally kills a puppy that he has been given, and his treatment of the animal after its tragic death is another one of the Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book. The novel shows Lennie feeling a moment of remorse, weeping as the puppy lies on the ground before him, while in the film he simply paces around with the puppy in his arms, not showing any signs of tears. Either way, though, there is no doubt that this is one of the most traumatic and gut-wrenching scenes in Of Mice and Men, yet another reminder of the story’s essential bleakness.

The Frame Of The Film

One of the greatest Of Mice and Men differences between the film and book is the format and timing in which the story is told. In the novel, the story opens up during the middle of George and Lennie's journey, so that the reader is brought into the immediate time of the story and at the heart of the action. In turn, the movie takes a more retrospective approach. In the film, by contrast, in the beginning, viewers see George riding on a train, with the rest of the story told through flashbacks before the film returns at the end to show him riding on the train.

Of Mice and Men

What are the differences between the movie and the book.

whole novel

There are actually two film versions of this novella. One is from 1939 and the other from 1992. I'll assume you are referring to 1992.

Candy never came into the room when Lennie and Crooks were talking to each other.

Lennie's hallucination about Aunt Clara and the giant rabbit is removed.

George and Lennie escape from Weed on a train was added.

Curley has a scene where he practices boxing on a punching bag, this was added to the film.

What some differences from the movie and book of mice and men

There is a big difference between both movie and a book. In a movie, you can see a story or lesson in a short time in front of your eyes. On the other hand in a book, you need to read all the lessons or stories in front of your eyes.

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Home | Literature | Book Summary | Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men: Differences between The Book and The Movie Compare And Contrast

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Can one small difference have a great impact on the way something is perceivedin the way something is told change the whole story? There are many similarities between the John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, and the movie by Gary Sinise. However, there are also some small but important differences between these two. This inaccuracy of representation led to a change of some overlaying themes in the story, in turn changing the way the characters and story were viewed. A few of the differences between the film and the book include the opening scene of the movie being completely different from that of the book, the absence of the scene with Lennie’s hallucinations and finallythe scene where Lennie was hallucinating his Aunt Clara and finally, the scene whereith George shototing Lennie being much shorter and much less emotional.

The first difference between the book and movie is the setting of the first scene. In the book, the story is started by describing the landscape of the Salinas Valley, where Lennie and George spent the night by the river, and also by explaining how they resembled. We learned a lot about both main characters, such as the fact that Lennie had some sort of mental disability and the reason why they left their old job. However, the movie starts off with the scene in which Lennie had misbehaved by grabbing a woman’s dress, thus forcing them to flee their old occupation and make their way to the Salinas Valley they were escaping the farm they previously worked at. This inaccurate introductory scene leads to an earlier exposure to the personalities of both characters, however it is harder for the viewer to understand as it is not as clear of an introduction as of the one in the book by John Steinbeck.the viewer being a little more confused, and it takes longer for them to realise what the main characters are like.

Later on , near the end of the book, Lennie was by himself hiding in the brush where he and George had agreed on meeting at if something bad were to happen and waiting for George when he started hallucinating. The first image that he saw was his Aunt Clara. She reprimanded him for all the trouble he had caused George, and told Lennie how much of a burden he was to him. His second vision was of a giant rabbit. The rabbit kept taunting Lennie, telling him that George would leave him. In the movie, this scene did not exist. The lack of this scene meant that we never got to see deeper into Lennie’s character; about how he felt no guilt for killing Curley’s wife and was instead worried about George punishing him, which consists of George scolding him, threatening to leave him, and then end up telling him once again about their dream of owning a ranch. The fact that Lennie expected the same punishment shows how childlike he was., and tThis, plus the fact that he was’s hallucinating, gave us hints about what type of mental illness he suffered fromhad.

Finally at the end of the story, we reach the scene where George shotots Lennie. The scene was very long and emotional in the book, showing George’s hesitation to kill his friend and showeds that he did it to save Lennie from a worse fate, one that Curley was waiting to deliver to him., but However, in the movie the scene was short and pretty sudden, without the same emotions that were shown in the book. Failing to show these emotions in the movie made George seem detached and cold, unlike in the book where he hesitated and felt awful for having to kill his own friend. After shooting Lennie, George made his way towards the rest of the men and Slim comforts him. In the movie, this part did not exist. Instead, there was a short scene with George and Lennie working at their dream farm.cold and didn’t show how close he was to Lennie.

The differences between the book and the movie Of Mice and Men did in fact alter the overlaying themes in the story, as seen in the introductory scene, and at the end of the story before and during the part George shot Lennie. This showed that, just like in the game Telephone, even the smallest change on how something is told or portrayed can make a big difference in the way another would perceive it.

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Of Mice and Men (1992 film) on IMDb
• CliffsNotes: Of Mice and Men Summary and Analysis
• Of Mice and Men (1992 film) official trailer on YouTube
• Of Mice and Men (Black Pack) by John Steinbeck on Amazon

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'Of mice and men' - A comparison of the opening scenes of the film and the beginning of the book.

ENGLISH MEDIA COURSEWORK

‘OF MICE AND MEN’

COMPARISON OF OPENINGS

OF BOOK AND FILM

EDWARD SEMPRINI

Media Course work: Media ‘Of mice and men’

A comparison of the opening scenes of the film and the beginning of the book

‘Of mice and men’ is set in southern California at the time of the great depression (late 1920 and early 30’s), the basis of the story is about 2 men George and Lenny, who are two workers who travel from place to place finding work on ranches, so they can earn there 50 bucks a month. George is the leader out of the two he looks after Lenny, sorts out where they go and what they do and eat. Lenny is a very big and strong man, but he is very dumb and could not look after himself, he his at heart a nice, harmless man but likes colourful, nice feeling things, so he is just like a small child. Lenny gets them into trouble a lot, he likes to touch nice things and when he does people get the wrong idea and like at the start of the book and film gets accused of rape, and at the end causes a death of a woman.

Like most writers or directors, John Steinbeck and Gary Sinise try to grab the readers or viewer’s attention. Even though the novel and film are based on the same story, they use different techniques and ways to try and get the audiences attention.

        In the novel John Steinbeck uses a lot of description of his settings and this is how he tries to keep the audience’s imagination going. For example in the first two pages of the novel, he uses a strong descriptive and a strong style of language to try and give an effect of a natural, calm and peaceful atmosphere, also when describing the willow pool he tries and puts as much detail in as possible, as this area of land is one of the most important places in the story as this is where Steinbeck starts the story and ends it in a similar place. It’s quite amazing how Steinbeck manages to turn a violent and threatening scene into a calm, relaxing place and an almost peaceful time.

I think that the first set of settings is set in a spring/summer theme as they are talking about there dream which is seen as the American dream of this time, so this also relates to life in the late boom and depression of the 1920’s.

The beginning is used to try and introduce the two main characters portraying Lenny as the leader and it seems that he is like a father to Lenny who is portrayed as a small child who cannot control what he is doing.

This is a preview of the whole essay

George also knows he has to take the role as the father or older brother and has to keep rules and tells him what to do, e.g. when they are drinking from the lake Lenny keeps his head in the water and is just guzzling the water down, then George says;

“For god sake don’t drink so much”, and also he checks if the water is safe by making sure that its is running although George is of little intelligence him self he knows how to stay alive and live well.

        Gary Sinise tries to grab the audience’s attention quite differently at the beginning of the film as he uses a dramatic sequence of George and Lenny sitting in the luggage holder of a train, and you see him thinking back to what happened at Weed.

When this is happening the light fades over Georges face from the cracks in the compartments wooden walls, this effect of the light streaming across his face gives an imaginary sense of prison bars.

During Georges flashbacks you see them running fast and out of breath down a field full of long grass, and it keeps flashing back on Georges face in the train giving you a sense of distress instead of the calming effect of the novel. It then flashes to a pretty woman in a red dress that has a rip going down the bottom of it, the air flows through her dress and hair as she is running down a field. This scene really is exciting and full of tension to the viewer, which contrasts totally to the calm and peaceful opening of the book.

Next you she a bunch of workers in a field, and they hear the girl’s screams. The workers on horse follow carrying shotguns. This contrasts to the life of today against nearly a century ago, as nowadays Lenny would have been arrested and put to a fair trial but back then they would have just killed Lenny on the spot. This scene puts people on the edges of their seats giving a sense of suspense; this is how a good director is able to keep the audiences attention to the film. The scene of the willow pool is quite like the scene in the book it gives a more relaxed effect from the previous suspense scenes, as they hide neck deep under the overflowing bush weed, and luckily the workers lose them.

When we see George and Lenny getting there work cards it proves the fact that this is in the 1930’s as there were a lot of job shortages and you had to go to a job office and see if any jobs were available, most people would take any job there was, because of the depression. This then gives us a slight historical background of the time they are in.

George in the book is firstly described as “small and quick, dark of face with restless eyes and sharp, strong features”. George being described as having restless eyes gives an impression that he is quite alert and a quick thinker of what to do in troubled times. Lenny on the other hand is described quite differently: “Huge man, shapeless face with large, pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws”. “…the way a bear drags his paws” Lenny is being described as an animal which shows that he is a slow and clumsy both physical and mentally.

The characters in the film are unlike the ones in the book as they are not physically opposite. Lenny is only slightly taller than George, but the behaviours of these two characters do mirror that it is similar to the book as Lenny acts like a child and George is the smart, dominant one. This is often shown in the close ups of their faces and in their speech and movement.

The clothes they wear are described in the book as workers clothes so rugged and tattered, so the movie is also based on this part as the clothes in the movie are like this.

        In my opinion I think casting John Malkovich was perfect to be Lenny as he was able to portray the child like brain of Lenny. He seemed to fit the right description of Lenny. The voice used by John Malkovich was very effective in giving the viewer a childlike impression of Lenny.

Gary Sinise although he was director he himself played George and he obviously knew how he wanted George to be played and he did with an amazing attitude, he gave out the attitude and cunningness of George as is written in the book.

In conclusion, the beginning of the book and the beginning of the film are based on the same storyline. The way the scenes are described and presented are really quite different. Gary Sinise is able to create a sense of action and suspense followed by the calm of the willow pool, whilst Steinbeck creates a very rich and calm descriptive opening scene, which contrasts with the violence of what is actually happening.

Edward Semprini             Form 5                Media: Of mice and men                         /

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• Page Count 3
• Subject English

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