The Sweet Thereafter Summary :: essays research papers

The movie and the novel 'The Sweet Thereafter'; had a few minor differences. Two of the differences that I would like to point out are the two that I consider being the two most important. The first topic of discussion in this paper is the picture on the front of the book and the meaning of it. The second topic I would like to bring up is the relationship between Mitchell and Zoe. The changes between the two are important, however, the main plot does not change between the movie and the novel. The first comparison I would like to make is the picture on the front of the book. The picture shows how the story affects Mitchell's life. After reading the book, watching the movie, and listening in class I realized how they reflect each other. The family on the front of the book is Stevens family. This picture was when Zoe, his daughter, was young. The mother and daughter appear to be very close. The reality within the picture is that Mitchell is not quit as close as they appear. Mitchell did not want to be that close to his family simply because he feared being to close and then losing them. The picture reminds me of the trip that the family took to North Carolina. This image comes from the end of their vacation. In the picture he seems like he is trying not to get to close to his family. One reason for this is the scare he went through with his daughter, Zoe. The scare the family went through was when Zoe got bit by a spider. When she started to swell up, her mother drove while Mitchell had to keep Zoe calm. To add to the scare Mitchell was going to have to do an emergency tracheotomy if her throat was to swell shut. They did, however, make it to the hospital on time. After getting back home that evening the mattress that Zoe slept on was burned. From that night and for the rest of the vacation Zoe slept with her parents. All during the scare with Zoe, Mitchell felt like he was two different people, a father and a doctor. The father role that he was playing was to keep his daughter calm. The doctor role of the situation was holding onto the knife ready to cut into his daughters throat at anytime, ready to save her life.