The Differences Between the Book and the Movie The Secret Life of Bees

In the short story and the movie; "The Secret life of Walter Mitty" the protagonists are very resembling of each other in terms of personalities and the way they envision themselves, but yet there are many elements that differentiate the two. Walter Mitty is a husband whose life revolves around attending to his wife's needs in the short story, whereas, in the movie he is single and has a crush on a fellow co-worker. The antagonist in the narrative, Mrs. Mitty portrays actions of being controlling towards her husband, however, in the film his boss, Ted Hendricks simply doesn't like Walter and tries to embarrass him every chance he gets.

In the short story, Walters daydreams take place while he run some errands for his wife, unlike in the film where he daydreams during his mission to find the "negative" for Life magazine. The narrative seems to take place in the Waterbury, Connecticut suburbs during the 1920s-30s, rather than in the movie where it takes place in modern day New York City. The obvious difference that really sets the two charters apart is that in the short story he does not get to put his imagination to action, on the other hand in the film he actually gets to go on an adventure and live out he wild imagination. In spite of all of this the two Walters share the same brain and lead two different lives.

Although the Secret Life of Bees novel and movie are very similar, there are still many obvious minor differences. The story itself tells about a fourteen year old white girl, Lily Owens, whose life has been defined around the unclear memory of the day her mother was killed.

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Firstly, It feels like the role of the Black Mary is given more attention in the book com- pared to its role in the movie. In the book, the Black Mary is symbolized as the ideal mother. The Black Mary is also a symbol in the movie but it's role is not given much attention compared to the book's version. In the book, Lily, Rosaleen and the Boatwright Sisters celebrated Mary day after May's death. They celebrated Mary Day by pouring the Black Madonna with honey, eating honey cake together. It's a rather big part of the book because that scene shows the au- dience about their togetherness and support for each other but for some reason, the movie ver- sion removed that part.

Another big difference is the relationship of Lily and Zach. In the movie, Lily and Zach goes to watch a movie together, but that did not happen in the book. In the book, Lily meets some of Zach's friends in front of the theatre where they all see a few men guarding the en- trance door. This scene then brings us to where Zach and his friends and the men guarding the entrance fighting which eventually leads them to going to prison.

A scene in the ending of the movie shows Lily running forwards T-Ray's truck with a burning question she needs answered, but that question was totally different from the one in the book. In the book, she asks whether she really did shoot her mother while the movie version's question is to know why she came back when she ran away.

Eventhough there are a few minor differences, there are still many major components of the story that remain the same. For instance, the characters. Everyone in the story still has their own personalities, which really tells the meaning of the story. Lily is still curious and determined, August is still passionate and warm-hearted, June is still protective and stubborn and May is still bubbly and sensitive, in both the movie and the book. They all still live in that pink house, wor- shipping the same Black Madonna, working at the same honey house and going through the same pain.

In conclusion, although there are major components either being removed or changed, the meaning and message of the story still remains the same.

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