Film vs book

Film vs Book The Giver

Part 1

One event that was different in the movie The Giver the book was the ceremony for the release of the old. In the movie it is shown as being a ceremony that the entire community sees. However in the book there is a part when Jonas is volunteering at the house of old. There an old lady named Larissa tells him about the release ceremony for a resident named Roberto. Jonas didn't know what the ceremony was like. So Larissa gives him details that make the movie ceremony so much different from the book. One detail that Larissa gave on page 31 she says “They told his whole life before they released him.” Another detail she gives is “We chanted the anthem.”(32). This is important because release is such a serious matter in that community that the movie didn't even show that part because I believed that if the book wasn't going to show the anthem then I thought the movie would but they never have. I figured that an anthem would be great for the book to give the readers more knowledge about the community.


Part 2

They casted Brenton Thwaites to play the role of Jonas in The Giver. I don't like this decision because not only is the character itself different but in the book Jonas is described as being 12. Well, in the movie Jonas looks 16. Also the personalities of the two versions were very different. On page 1 it says “Frightened was the way he felt a year ago…” Another trait is when the chief elder says “We are all aware that Jonas has been a top student throughout his school days. This is important because we never see the plane that made him afraid and Jonas in the movie never seems afraid and anxious all the time. Also because the movie started so soon before the ceremony we never really see how the character is in school. So there is a huge difference between the two versions of the character. The character I think should've played Jonas is David Mazouz. He will be able to act out all of the attributes and look younger than Brenton. He currently plays Bruce Wayne in Gotham and when he plays that character he sometimes shows traits Jonas possesses.

Part 3

I say the book impacted my view on the story most. Although the movie gave me actual visuals of some events. The book still gave more details. On page 68 Jonas reads the rules and the first one says “Go immediately at the end of school hours each day to the Annex room behind the House of Old…” The house of old in the movie is in some field far away from the community. Another example is in page 69 it says “What if he did dream…” In the book dreaming comes as a natural thing everyone has. However in the book it comes as something no one possesses and is stopped by the injections. In my opinion the book is a lot better than the movie. It has more details and more plot development.