Book vs Movie

Analysis of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

It is hard to believe that there is anyone on the planet that hasn't heard of the story "A Christmas
Carol". Although it isn't hard to believe that people do not realize that there are differences between
movies and novels. In this case, that fits right into that subject. Here are some of the differences
between the movie and the novel.

One minor difference in the movie was that the Ghost of Christmas yet to come has a hand of skin.
Not a hand without skin that was wrote in the book. I think that this makes a difference though
because it doesn't show a big impact on the story. I think Charles Dickens put the skinless hand in his
story to give his story a "chill-factor". I don't think that the director of the TNT version of A Christmas
Carol thought that it was a big deal or a big impact to the rest of the story. Another difference
between book and movie is that Scrooge doesn't go to church at the end of the story. I think it makes
a big difference though, because it shows how much Scrooge has changed since the three spirits
came to visit him. It shows a "before-and-after" effect which I think made a big impact on the story.
The last significant change between the book and the movie is that when Scrooge follows the Ghost
of Christmas yet to come, he ends up falling into his grave. This is significant because Scrooge gets to
meet the old Scrooge and gives him a slap in the face of reality of what's going to happen if things
don't change. Its ironic too because it's the new Scrooge that wakes up on the bed in the morning.

The first character that I am going to talk about is Belle. Her physical appearance after she ended Her
and Ebenezer's engagement was painful. She walked away looking like she had left her heart with
Ebenezer and was hoping that he would come after her. I think that the actress did a very good job
expressing the depression, pain, and heartbreak that she felt towards her and Ebenezer's break-up.
In the movie, she made her character come to life by making the audience feel what she was going
through. She expresses this by coastally looking back at Ebenezer and through her facial, and body
expressions.

The second character Im going to focus on is Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim in the book was described as a child,
who was disabled from birth. His family in the book and movie, was described and shown as being
very poor, due to Bob Cratchits (father) job. Scrooge also can contribute to his families poverty. The
actor showed that no matter how poor anyone was, that Christmas can be a good thing. Tiny Tim and
his family showed that you don't have to be rich to have a Merry Christmas, you just have to have
your family and friends to share the holiday with.

The third characters that I want to talk about is Ignorance and Want. Ignorance and Want's
appearance resembles to society of the present time. When Scrooge sees them, he is horrified and
the Ghost of Christmas present explains to Scrooge that the boy is Doom, and ignorance is what
dooms a society. When Scrooge sees want, he has the will to start helping everyone out. The young
actor and actress do a very good job representing the poor back in that day. They are dirty, having
ragged clothes on, and are covered with dirt. Those are the factors that make Scrooge realize he
needs to start helping out.

The final character is the Ghost of Yet to Come. The appearance in the movie compared to the book
was slightly different. In the book, the Ghost had a skeleton hand, where in the movie it was covered
with skin. Although that, the Ghost was completely accurate. The ghost was quite, and only pointed,
which also happened in the book. The actor that played the Ghost of Yet to Come did a very nice job
bringing the reality to the big screen.

Patrick Stewart brings Ebenezer Scrooge to life because he actually acts like he doesn't like
Christmas. During the movie, when Scrooge's nephew comes in to wish him a Merry Christmas and
invite Scrooge to a Christmas dinner, Scrooge says "Humbug" which means "fraud". Therefore,
Patrick Stewart is saying that Christmas is a fraud, which was perfected from the book to the movie.
During the movie, he also showed how much he could change at the end of the story. After being
visited by the spirits, Patrick Stewart changes role and starts to play the nice Scrooge that comes out
at the end of the story in the book; which is accurate to the movie.

Ebenezer hates Christmas for a few reasons. One, being that his dad brought him home on
Christmas, but then again sent him away. Secondly, Belle, Fezziwig's daughter, broke off their
engagement on Christmas when Scrooge started to bring out his greediness. Another thing was when
his business partner, Jacob Marley died on Christmas Day seven years ago. Therefore leaving the
counting house to himself. He also hates Christmas because every time that it comes around, that
something is going to happen. He never understands why people are happy on Christmas when they
have nothing to look forward to.

I liked the costumes particularly well because it fit the storyline. Without the costumes, the story
wouldn't have been right, and people would be in all different directions. The actors did a very good
job sticking to the original book wrote by Charles Dickens. I like it better because it goes along with
the story and doesn't have an different ending. I liked the scene in which Ebenezer and Belle break
up because it showed how accurately the actors took the role. Another scene I enjoyed is when the
new Scrooge came out of the bedroom. He started to help everyone out, and that made the storyline
have a great climax at the end.

Although reading the book, I have to admit that I enjoyed the movie just a little bit more. Nothing
could have been done to make it any better.