Compare And Contrast A River Runs Through It

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The book version and film adaptation of A River Runs through It have a great deal of similarities, but also obvious differences. For the reader to understand and admire the undeniable beauty of both the film and book they must be considering plot and themes.
Norman Maclean's coming of age novella A River Runs Through It is a heartwarming semi-biography about Maclean’s upbringing in Montana during the early 20th century (between 1905- 1930). The reader learns that a compassionate, but also strict Presbyterian minister headed the Maclean household. Rev. Maclean’s ministerial background caused his son's childhood to be based on traditional religious values (also called family values), with a heavy emphasis on morality, personal responsibility/duty, …show more content…

Maclean’s affection and his “[perception of] fly fishing as symbolic of the rhythms of life that all [people] need to discover” caused him to give more hours of teaching on fly fishing than on “all other spiritual matters”(Washington Post). This may lead the readers to conclude that in the Maclean family ‘there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing”, and believe that aided the forging of a unbreakable bond between Rev. Mclean and his two sons (Paul and Norman); even when Rev. Mclean’s authoritarian personality alienated his sons, their common love for fly fishing brought always them together again. Knowing this the reader can believe that in the Maclean family fly-fishing was an important activity that symbolized “ an integrated and healthy spirituality pervading of the [human] life” (Chicago …show more content…

For example Norman and Jesse are married way before Norman meets Neal (Jesse’s brother). In the movie Norman meets Neal while is he still courting Jesse. This brings forth another difference Norman doesn’t date Jesse in the book. When Jesse is first introduced, she is already married to Norman. A viewer of the movie who has read the book might also notice that when Norman is never offered a job to teach at Chicago University in the novel. Another big difference between the movie and the novel is the role that Norman’s mother plays, she is a very lively, dynamic character in the book, but in the film she is depicted to a flat character. Paul and Norman have equal fly-fishing skills, but in the movie Norman is just a mere amateur compared to Paul. Rev. Maclean expresses displeasure with Paul's decision to change the spelling of the family name in both version of the story. Someone who might have read the book may believe that the movie didn’t do the book justice when showing Paul’s struggle with his alcohol and gambling addictions. Norman offers to help Paul out with is personal struggles when he is driving Paul and his girlfriend home after a long night of drinking. The offer to help in the novel is done when Paul and Norman go fishing. Some other differences are Rev. Maclean’s personally is almost completely lost in the movie and his most important line “you can love completely without complete understanding” (a

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