Novel vs. Book Essay

This year we had the chance to read Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, and we also watched the film adaptation directed by Liev Schreiber. Being able to see the two settings helps out to compare the two, see the differences between the novel and the movie. It is very important to mention that the movie definitely changed the perspective of the story we initially read due to the adaptations that were done by Schreiber. Even though, we did not read the whole book in class, a few differences can be brought out from what we read and saw regarding to this novel and movie. Everything is Illuminated is a novel written by Jonathan Safran Foer. This book was published in 2002, and due to its success, Liev Schreiber decided to adapt and direct the film with the same name, which was released in 2005. The movie starred Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, and Boris Leskin. The movie and the book varied greatly with the differences, and especially the adaptations changed the end of the movie completely. The settings of the book and the movie are completely different. The book is a set of letters written by both Alex and Jonathan, while the movie is focused in the dialogue they have in their adventure through Trachimbrod trying to find Augustine. In the movie, they did not explore Trachimbrod as much as they did in the book. The same characters that are in the book appear in the movie but there are a couple of losses when it comes to the characters personalities. The very first difference that can be seen is that in the book Jonathan is a writer looking for the woman who saved his grandfather, while in the movie he is actually a collector with the same mission. It is understandable that this change was done because the viewers would not have read any of the thoughts of his thoughts, and they rather used some sort of symbolization about how every single thing he collects have a especial meaning to him. Another thing that has been lost in the film adaptation is the growth in Alex’s character. In the book, we read an Alex who transforms from this funny immature broken-English speaking Ukrainian to a more considerate and mature young man, who even stands up to his abusive dad. It is a great loss character because this growth is one of the most important things that are appreciated in the book. It is a shame that it was not part of the movie because it would have been nice to how he transform from a kid to young man. Alex is not the only one who grows a character though; Grandfather does too. When t comes to Grandfather, it is when we face the biggest changes between the book and the film. In the book, Grandfather is a man who abhors Jewish people and even gave up his Jewish best friend to the Nazis in order to save his family. He even feels bad after, for saving the life of whom now abuses his own children, causing them trouble and those â€Å"bruises†. In the movie, Grandfather is a Jewish man who escaped death by the hands of the Nazis and lived the rest of his liv e in Ukraine pretending not to be Jewish. Also, the death of Grandfather was totally unexpected. Right after they met Lista, he committed suicide. Things should have been different when it comes to his growth as a character too. In the movie, the essence of Grandfather being a good person and feeling sorry is lost. It is bothersome to see how the movie differed greatly from the book, especially because the movie ends in the concept of a united family, and Jonathan Safran Foer did not write that at all. He emphasized Alex’s growth and showed how he stood up against his dad, who abused him and Little Igor. Alex became the figure of power and the one his brother will look up to. The fact that the movie did not capture that it is a great flaw from their part. Both Jonathan Safran Foer and Liev Schreiber did a good job; each of them portrayed something different with their piece of work. The movie is greatly criticized by the differences from the book but Schreiber had the courage to change things up a little and see it turned out. Liev Schreiber and Jonathan Safran Foer, both emphasized history as the theme of the plot and it worked perfectly as almost the only similarity the novel and the film adaptation had.