When Legends Die Essay, Research Paper
Response to WLD Movie and Novel
When the Legends die was very similar in the novel and in the motion picture. There were some differences, but most remained the same.
The entire plot was same. The settings were similar in each. The characters were the same in both the movie and the book. Everything remained the same except for a couple.
There were several differences between the book and the movie. One of the differences was Tom s childhood. In the movie, it was only shown from his time at school instead of from the forest. Also, Tom s basket weaving was never mentioned in the movie, it skipped to his sheepherding and taming horses. Red was also shown with a much nicer personality in the motion picture. Another big difference was that roundness was never mentioned in the movie and no emphasis on any of his Indian crafts. Meo is also much younger looking in the movie, and Red much older. Red also dies before Meo dies in the movie. There were many different physical characteristics in both such as the hump on Meo, which wasn t shown in the film. Also, there were more sexually oriented scenes in the film. Another one was the Mary Redmond situation. He seemed to get closer to her in the movie and then just leave her. I don t recall this happening in the novel. The fight between Red and Thomas was different. The big difference was in the ending. In the novel, Tom returns to the wilderness after he talks with the Mother of Nature and she guides him. In the movie, he just goes to some men and asks about going back. This difference really surprised me because I found that to be extremely meaningful in the novel.
I would say that the changes made in the movie from the novel were made for the same reasons that any movie made from a book has changes. One reason is the audience. People read certain books depending on what they like, so books are made more so certain people can understand them. Movies are like this, but there aren t as many so maybe the movie was made to please larger audiences.
None of the changes really had a major impact except for the change of the ending of the movie. It seemed like the movie ended too soon or just with the wrong ending. The other changes were just minor and really kept the same story and feeling that the book gave.