NCHS AP English Language

Hannah Robinson and Alyssa Berger - comparison between movie and book

Books made into movies are many times known to neglect important information from the book in the movie. Moby Dick falls into the majority with this catergorization. Moby Dick the book portrays many things that the books does not depict. There are four specific instances from the last third of the book that are left out in the last third of the movie. One extreme difference between the book and the movie is that Pip is only falls off board the whaling boat once. In the book Pip is jumps out of the boat once because he gets frightened when a whales back grazes the bottom of the boat; Pip, in the book, then jumps out another time after getting frightened. The search for Pip in the book is described also much longer than the time portrayed for it during the movie. Pip while at ocean also almost gets attacked by sharks and this is not mentioned in the book; this particular scene could be depicted for possible added suspense in the movie.
One other major difference between the book and the movie was the absence of Ahab's talk to the whale heads hanging on opposite sides of the boat. This scene is considered one of the more important ones within the book; and the absence of it is a major loss of content for the movie.
One last difference between the movie and the books was the loss of the bond between Fedallah and Ahab. The book really emphasizes the relationship between Fedallah and Ahab; even compares the two together as one shadow. In the book, one can tell that Fedallah and Ahab are related on a highly spirtual level, in a way a numinous level.
There were many differences between Moby Dick the book and Moby Dick the movie, however some while micrsopic changes and others were considerable absences.

Hannah Robinson
Alyssa Berger

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 6:14 PM