"The Lottery" Adaptation

PLOT

I would not change a lot with the plot; however, I would switch up a few things. I would create more suspense in the film, which would help build up the climax. I would have a baby cry in the silence of the gathering in order to foreshadow bad things to come. I would keep the climax the same by having Mrs. Hutchinson draw the wood chip with the black dot on it. I would add a resolution to the film where it would jump to the future and view the changes in the village. The village will have discontinued the lottery and moved on in a more modern world. The old man in the town would have died; these changes are significant in that the village will no longer be blindly following traditions.

POINT OF VIEW

The short story is told from the third person omniscient point of view. I would have the film be told from this point of view as well. With the third person omniscient the narrator is able to portray the film in an unbiased manner. This in turn will give the audience a better depiction of what the village stands for as a whole. The use of the third person omniscient point of view is significant in that the village has to act and think as a whole. Individuality is non-existant. I would keep the point of view the same as the short story in the film because it helps to emphasize the climax and contributes to the greater meaning of the work.

CHARACTERIZATION

Throughout the short story, some of the families suggest the idea of ridding the village of the lottery; whereas, others are strictly for the lottery because it is a long standing tradition. I would continue the unsettling desires and conflicting ideas of the villagers. There needs to be some sort of dislike toward the lottery and a slight desire to rid the village of the practice in order to completely eliminate the tradition of the lottery by the end of the film. I would portray the oldest village man as a man set in his ways, similar to the short story; however, the man will die in the end of the film. The death of the old man will be significant in that it will foreshadow a new age for the village. A new time full of new ideas and practices and the death of old ideas and old practices.

SETTING

The setting of the film would be a similar setting of a small village. The town gathering space would be elaborate with decorations and pictures of the lottery traditions of the walls surrounding the gathering space. The pictures will provide a source of suspense for the viewer and a foreshadowing of bad things to come. I would change the time of the lottery to dusk from midday. Changing the time of the lottery to later will set the scene for a greater climax toward the end. Also, the village is not happy, bright, or peaceful; therefore, I want the setting to reflect the sort of darkness that can be indirectly seen in all of the characters.

THEME

I would also keep the same theme in the work when adapting it into a film. The theme is blindly following old traditions. If one were to significantly change the them, then it would not be the same story; therefore, I would portray the same thing, but rather add more to it. The theme will be reinforced by the idea that not one of the villagers will stand up and fight against this odd and brutal tradition. The theme will also have a theme of selfishness. The story touches on this theme when the children cheer as they see they have pulled blank wood chips. The film will display a greater significance of this theme by having the other women scoff at Mrs. Hutchinson as she arrives late. Individuality is a key in the short story and will be in the film in order to portray a broken society that is in need of reform.

The Shawshank Redemption (film)

PLOT

Although the short story and film were extraordinarily similar, there were still some differences. For example, in the film, the old librarian ends up committing suicide upon receiving his freedom; he wrote "Brooks was here" on the wall before killing himself, which did not happen in the short story. This part in the film better emphasizes the idea that after being locked up for such a long time in prison (like Brooks) a man becomes institutionalized. Also unlike the short story, Tommy, a convict in for burglary, was shot and killed by the Chief Guard in the film; in the story, Tommy was moved to a different prison. This is significant in that the film shows more of the cruelty and relentlessness of the prison. Shawshank is full of greedy guards and a greedy warden, who will do anything to save themselves from thier illegal activities.


POINT OF VIEW

The film is told from the same point of view as the short story. Red tells the story mainly about Andy and his life at Shawshank through his own perspective. Red's point of view represents the point of view of the other convicts in Shawshank and their opinions in regards to the newcomers and Andy. Because the viewer understands the story from Red's point of view, they are able to know the thoughts and feelings of a convict and relate to him. The film did a good job portraying the story through the perspective of a character, other than the main character. Although the story was told by Red, it makes him more mysterious because his sole focus is Andy.

CHARACTERIZATION

The film did a good job with matching the characters from the story; they are very similar. In the film, the viewer can see that Red goes through a change throughout the course of the movie that isn't quite as present in the short story. This is particularly prevalent in the scene where Red is finally approved for parole after years of forms being "REJECTED." Red finally learns what he's done wrong. The warden and guards in the story seem more brutal because the viewer can see and hear the beatings taking place. Also, in the film there is one warden throughout the course of the story, but in the short story there are three wardens that come and go during Red's time in Shawshank. Not to mention, the one warden in the film ends up committing suicide in the end, which does not occur in the movie; this is significant in that it shows that Andy Dufresne truly got the best of the warden. Andy not only freed himself, but he freed Shawshank of the reign of Warden Norton.

SETTING

The setting between the film and short story are also very similar. The film helps to establish what the scenes looked like and how the action played out in each one. I pictured many of the scenes different in my mind while reading the short story in contrast to the pictures in the film, so the film helped to give me new insight. The film did a really good job at sticking with the short story and including all of the same settings (although there were only a few). One of the memorable settings in the movie is Zihautenejo. This city in Mexico is important in that it is symbolic of hope and freedom. As Red is reading the letter from Andy that he found in a Buxton hayfield, Andy mentions if Red remembers the name of the city. Red's reply: "Zihautenejo."

THEME

The themes in the short story hold true for the themes in the film: Isolation and Hope. One of the big turning points in the film is when Andy is sentenced to two months of isolation. I feel that this changed him in a way that gave him the courage to make his jailbreak. A month into Andy's time in solitary, the warden pokes in to say a few words to Andy, "I'm sure you've already heard. Poor Tommy, only a month left to serve out his sentence. It really killed Hadley to shoot him, but the boy tried to escape. He had to, but it certainly broke his heart to do it." Hope is prevalent throughout the film, but mostly towards the end. As Andy speaks of his dreams following his life in prison, hope is an important theme. Red discovers hope as he is making his way to find Andy in Zihautanejo. I believe that the short story portrayed the idea of hope a little better due to the powerful last few lines at the conclusion of the story; however, the film did a better job displaying the theme of isolation because the viewer was able to see how solitary really did change a man.

"Popular Mechanics"

I thought this story was kind of ironic. The person that the couple loves most is being fought over (kind of violently). I feel that in the end the man and the woman are no longer fighting over the child. They are fighting each other. Each one wants what the other can't have, which ends up hurting the one they love most. The couple in this story is immature because they fail to resolve their issues with poise; in fact, they are quite the opposite. The man and woman let their anger and feelings get the best of them. In this way, I also believe the story to be satirical. A couple rips their baby apart because they both want to take him/her with them. The story reminds me a little of A Modest Proposal. They aren't quite eating babies; however, they are ripping one apart.

"You're Ugly, Too"

I found this story to be more humorous in an odd sort of way. No wonder Zoe is single; she doesn't really know how to carry on a normal conversation. And not to mention she almost shoved the guy she was talking the off the 20th floor of an apartment building. I feel like this story in way made fun of "the old cat lady." Zoe is destined to live alone because all of her conversational stories end in either death or extreme heartache, which is a major turnoff for pretty much anyone. Zoe is a mysterious character in that the reader doesn't understand why she does the things that she does and doesn't expect any of her actions either. Evan seems to be the perfect daughter/sister in a sense; whereas, Zoe is kind of the failure. This story had an odd sense of humor.

"The Drunkard" #5

The boy's drunkenness in this story is told through the perspective of the boy himself, the father, the ladies on the porch steps, and the mother. The boy finds himself in an unclear and foreign frame of mind; he does not feel well and is imbalanced, just as any drunk person. The father is completely embarrassed as he drags his son home. The ladies on the porch find the boy to be quite amusing. After all what could be more funny than a drunk boy yelling at his father and the ladies as if he were an adult? The mother takes a different approach. She praises her son for being drunk because he was finally successfully in putting the brakes on his father. I find this story to be quite ironic in that the father is so embarassed of his son's actions, yet when the father gets drunk he most likely acts in the same way.

"The Lottery" #5

There are many different attitudes in regards to the lottery throughout this story. Mr. Summers always mentions getting a new box, but never does so; this means that he is looking to improve the lottery or upgrade it, but he never has the time or will to do so. Old Man Warner is completely in favor of the lottery. He is a man of great tradition and believes the lottery to be a necessary thing for the village. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are not fully on board with the lottery and truly wouldn't mind if the village discontinued the practice. Mrs. Hutchinson changes her view of the lottery throughout the story. At the beginning, Mrs. Hutchinson views the lottery as something that just is; however, when she's the one that is to be stoned to death, she claims that it is unfair and clearly has a problem with the lottery. The villagers in general view the lottery of a tradition that must be carried out. I don't think that any of them (except Old Man Warner) would really object if the village decided to do away with the lottery.