Of Mice and Men, from prose text to film

There are several differences between the original novel and Sinise’s film adaptation of Of Mice and Men, with some more obvious than others. The tweaks made in the film are made to create a similar tensions but to a watching audience. In the book, Steinbeck concentrates only on the barn scene, and we only a hear a raucous hubbub from the ring tournament outside, “Outside, the mens’ voices became louder and clearer.” However, in the film, there are regular flashes between the two scenes to emphasise the contrast in moods. Where as we have Candy approaching the body of Curley’s wife in caution and then shock, outside we witness the jubilant tournament atmosphere. There is a contrast in the dark barn symbolising the death of Curley’s wife and thus the death of the dream, and the sunny outside symbolising light and hope for the future. If Steinbeck employed flashes in the novel, it could become long-winded, and ruin the tension that is created by the shattering of the dream.

All throughout, the book “shows” and the film “tells.” When in the film George realises Curley’s wife is dead he produces a display of emotions, and in the book we are shown this, “And fully, when he stood up slowly and stiffly, his face was as hard and as tight as wood…” Both the novel and the film seek emotion and empathy in different ways. Steinbeck elects to highlight the shattering of the dream and its long term consequences, “‘You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we George?’” Sinise meanwhile is more subtle, and illustrates the failure ...

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The book seems to revolve more around Candy’s moving realisation that the ‘dream’ is over, “George watched Candy’s lips.” Steinbeck focuses on Candy’s responses and his plea for reassurance, as he feels more emotion is communicated in this old man who has had any hope of prosperity ripped apart. The film tends to focus more on George, and his forlorn expressions, possibly to create tension in preparation for the emotive death of Lennie. A death would most likely be the focal point of a film, and Sinise would recognise he has to ensure character development leading up to it. In the film there are several flashes between Candy discovering the body in the barn, and George’s excitement outside. When Candy approaches George, he is washing his face, and this is quite symbolic of a “snap back to reality.” The water splashing on his face signifies the end of his participation in the tournament, and the beginning of his painful realisation. As Candy breaks the heart-wrenching news to George, the camera flashes between close-ups of the two characters, as you would expect in a moment of tension.

Regarding the body of Curley’s wife, Steinbeck employs key description to prove the point that she was not the victim of a brutal murderer, but a cumbersome, confused young child in a powerful man’s body, “Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly.” This description emphasises the injustice of Lennie’s future death, and makes for a harrowing experience as the reader. Similar to the end, when Lennie is actually killed, Steinbeck employs description at integral moments to generate anxiety.

In conclusion, the film concentrates more on the emotions of the characters involved in the scene, where as the book tries to illustrate the gradual demise of the “dream” with Candy’s innocence and George’s despair.