Of Mice and Men Part 4

When a book becomes adapted into a film, changes are bound to happen. There’s no perfect adaption of any one media to another. The same can be said for the movie version of the book Of Mice and Men. While the changes in this adaption aren’t as wild as some other adaptions out there, they are still there. First of all, the movie begins not at the clearing where the book begins, but back in Weed, when Lennie and George have to evade the law. This begins the story at a more exciting point, but robs it of its bookending nature. It also seems to be a way to pad out the movie a little bit, which is why it seems so strange that we never hear the full story about Lennie and George’s Place.

In addition, the scene in Crook’s room cuts out Curley’s Wife and Candy. This gives us a more time to develop Lennie and Crook’s characters, moving character development for Candy and Curley’s Wife to other scenes. The film also makes Curley’s Wife a more sympathetic character than in the books. This makes her eventual death seem more tragic than satisfying. Finally, the film ends a lot sooner than the book. George shoots Lennie a lot sooner than in the book, and the book’s last few pages aren’t even in here, with the movie pretty much just ending once Lennie kicks the bucket.