The Sweet Hereafter

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Character development keeps an audience interested. Being able to pull emotion out of the main character allows the audience to feel the pain or excitement that is being portrayed. In director Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter," Dolores Driscoll brings out the sadness that her character is feeling. You can sense the pain and distress that she bears. Yet, in the novel, The Sweet Hereafter, by Russell Banks', Dolores does not grow as a character. The audience never deciphers if Dolores understands the tragic events. The film explores Dolores' character, which adds depth, while the book illustrates Dolores on the surface and denies her any sort of personal growth.

In Russell Banks' novel, The Sweet Hereafter, a small town suffers a great tragedy when fourteen school kids drown after a bus accident on the way to school. The bus driver, Dolores Driscoll, considers the kids to be her own. Yet, when discussing the accident, she acts nonchalant. It seems as if she is relaying a story without displaying remorse for the accident. Dolores' priority is to describe the town, "my first stop that morning was at the top of Bartlett Hill Road, were it branches into Avalanche Road and McNeil,"(Banks 7) and the people in it, "Doreen was a Pomeroy from Lake Placid..."(11). She also strives to avoid the blame, "A dog-it was a dog I saw for certain. Or thought I saw"(1). But she even doubts her visions, denouncing the excuses that she keeps arguing. " Maybe because I felt so cut off from my own children; maybe out of some pure perversity. Who knows now? Fixing motives is life fixing blame-the further away from the act you get, the harder it is to single out one thing as having caused it"(10) She never iterates her sadness. The onl...

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...out and grab the viewers and keep them interested in the movie. However, as a character in the book, she solely acts as a narrator. The reader feels no sympathy for her and a lack of personal connection with her. Russell Banks and Atom Egoyan develop Dolores Driscoll's character very differently which lead to a great variance in the two stories. The use of visual stimulation and an ability to hear other perspectives of the character creates an intriguing story that captures the attention of the viewer. This visual element is what a story of this nature needs to be successful. In addition, character development is a necessity when conveying a story of this nature as to allow the viewer to empathize with each person. Atom Egoyan captures this need and develops Dolores into a character that touches the viewer whereas Banks allows Dolores' character to deflate.

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