From the story of Harry Potter to the trilogy of Lord of the Rings, many books have been adapted for the big screen. Those who have read and watched a certain story are often interested in comparing the two contexts. One such book is Tuck Everlasting, which was recently adapted into a feature film based on a best-selling children’s story.
Tuck Everlasting is a children’s book written by Natalie Babbitt and published in 1975. It was later adapted into a movie in 2002, directed by Jay Russell and starring Jonathan Jackson, Victor Garber, William Hurt, Alexis Bledel, and Sissy Spacek (The Glencoe Literature Library 3). I have both read the book and seen it on the big screen. Based on my experience with both versions, I can say that they share some similarities but also have some differences.
One of the similarities between the book and movie versions of Tuck Everlasting is that most of the characters are portrayed similarly. In the book, the author vividly describes each character’s appearance, and in the movie adaptation, they are depicted as described in the book. This consistency is a pleasant surprise for both readers and viewers. However, there are some differences between them. For instance, in the book, Winnie is a 10-year-old girl while in the movie she is portrayed as a 15-year-old young lady.
The movie version of Tuck Everlasting also emphasizes Winnie’s romantic relationship with Jesse. Both versions depict Jesse as a 17-year-old young man who catches Winnie’s eye. However, due to her age difference with Jesse, Winnie feels unsure about how he could fall for her.
Winnie came from a well-bred, straitlaced family. She was lost in the woods while attempting to escape from her smothered lifestyle. In the woods, she encountered the Tuck family, who are known to be a band of immortals due to a spring from which they drank years ago. The story ultimately puts up a debate on the context of mortality and why it is necessary by using the Tuck family as an example.
In the movie, the two main characters fall in love with each other. Winnie is faced with a challenge of deciding whether or not to drink from the spring in order for them to be together forever. In both the movie and the book, Winnie decides not to drink. The film ends with Jesse visiting Winnie’s grave in modern times. We can feel and see Jesse’s sadness because his love is no longer with him, but he is also happy because Winnie was not trapped in time like he and the rest of the Tuck family.
Another element in the movie that can be compared with the book is the use of music. To make the movie more lively and expressive, the musicality should fit the storyline. In the movie, people kept hearing music from a music box which left a lasting impression on viewers.
There are times when Tuck Everlasting’s description in the book gets boring to read. The reader doesn’t even meet the main character until Chapter 3 which slows down its pacing. However, in the movie, viewers immediately see all descriptions of main characters so it moves along faster than in the book.
The scenery is beautiful in Tuck Everlasting’s movie due to its colors and cinematographic enhancements made by directors and other crew members.
In the book, there are some sad moments, especially in the way it ends. However, in the movie, those scenes become even more emotional and have made people cry. The emotions of sadness and happiness are emphasized more in the movie due to the music and how well the actors portrayed their roles. Despite these differences, both versions share a common theme and have a similar ending.
In the movie, the story is set in the early 20th century (1914), while in the book, it takes place in 1880. Additionally, the book portrays Winnie’s love for Jesse, but he only sees her as a friend due to their age difference. However, in the movie, both characters are depicted as being in love with each other. Another contrasting element between Tuck Everlasting’s film and book is Mae’s character. In the film version, Jesse and Miles rescue Mae from jail by staging an attack on Winnie (Archcraft 1) to divert attention from Mae’s escape; however, this scene does not occur in the book. In contrast to this portrayal of events is when a man wearing a yellow coat attacks Jesse to disprove his immortality. This event never happened in the novel; instead, a man suggests that Tuck family members perform deadly feats to prove their spring’s power to people but never actually attacks them. Lastly, while it was Jesse who returned to find Winnie’s gravestone by the spring in the movie version of Tuck Everlasting; it was Mae and Angus who found her grave at a cemetery at that point within its pages.
All in all, it can be said that although the book and the film have differences, both mediums have been able to convey the real theme of the story: true love and its true meaning. The statement “We should not be afraid of death; we should be afraid of an unlived life. We are not living anymore if living means we are changing all the time,” refers to the notion that people should not fear dying because it happens to us all. Instead, we should fear not doing things while we are alive. Since change is constant in this world, people must learn to cope with it and live a quality life.
Reference
Crista Archcraft created a web-based thematic unit on Tuck Everlasting in 2000. The resource was retrieved from EarthLink and accessed on October 8, 2007 at [http://home.earthlink.net/~eduscapes/units/tuck/].
The Glencoe Literature Library provides a study guide for Tuck Everlasting. This resource can be accessed at [www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/pdf/tuck_everlasting.pdf]. The GLL is a valuable tool for those seeking to enhance their understanding of the novel.