Ruth And Idgie's Relationship example essay topic

"I may be sitting at the Rose Terrace Nursing Home, but in my mind I'm over at the Whistle Stop Cafe having a plate of Fried Green Tomatoes" (Flagg). Both the novel and the movie received a number of great reviews and honors. However, the two vary greatly in content. The novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, brings the reader a much more detailed and very different story compared to the movie.

For example, the character Vesta Adcock as portrayed in the novel is a citizen of Whistle Stop. Flagg sees Vesta as having church meetings and socials at her home and also as being the president of the drama club. .".. Mrs. Vesta Adcock, this little bird-breasted woman... who's from Whistle Stop, came in wearing her fox furs and her diamond dinner rings" (Flagg 27). However, in the movie, Mrs. Adcock's character changes completely. She does not play a woman from Whistle Stop, but Ed Couch's aunt.

The film shows her as a grouchy old woman residing in the Rose Hills Nursing Home Also, in the novel Flagg describes Buddy Threadgoode's lover as Eva, the town harlot and proprietor of "The Wagon Wheel River and Fishing Club". .".. she had slept with a lot of men... , but [Buddy] didn't care. Eva was as easy with her body as she was with every thing else... The first time she took [Buddy] to bed, she made him feel like a man" (Flagg 94). Although the movie shows Buddy in love with the most admired woman in Whistle Stop, Ruth Jamison, the film shows Buddy walking with Ruth by the river. His eyes light up when he sees her and he cares about her greatly. In fact, he was trying to retrieve Ruth's hat when the train killed him.

Ninny Threadgoode says in the movie, .".. his heart belonged to Ruth Jamison". In addition, in the novel, Evelyn, who feels her life has become an endless battlefield, mainly because of her severe self-conscience ness, invented a person she used to give her courage in times she felt belittled. When someone would make her feel worthless Evelyn would think about Towanda and all the super hero battles she would fight if she really were Towanda. "Evelyn had even made up a secret code name for herself... a name feared around the world: TOWANDA THE AVENGER!" (Flagg 238). On the other hand in the movie, the unrefined and untamed Idgie Threadgoode thinks up Towanda. Evelyn uses the name when she too needs courage or also if she does not want someone to know her real name.

In the first conversation she has with Frank Bennett she utilizes her alias. When she walks up to him and he greets her, "Well hello there miss, and who might you be?" Idgie replies, "Towanda to you... ". Not only do the novel and screenplay differ, but the screenplay also leaves out characters. In the novel, Flagg characterizes all of Big George's family, including his wife Oznell, his sons Artis, Jasper, and Willie Boy.

The author writes about these characters in a considerable portion of the book. "The oldest son, whom [Oznell] named Jasper, was the color of a creamy cup of coffee, and the other one, named Artis, was black as coal" (Flagg 75). The movie never mentions the wife and sons, although Flagg writes a lot in the novel. In addition, the film leaves Artis Peavey, who has a major role in the novel, out completely. Flagg writes many chapters about Artis and his life in Whistle Stop.

She also writes about his trip to Chicago and his marriage to Electr e Greene. "Miss Electra Greene... became the charming bride of Mr. Artis O. Peavey... ". (Flagg 229).

The author also writes about his life in Birmingham and the time when he had to go to Kilbey Prison. "Artis O. Peavey had been sent to Kilbey Prison, better known as the Murder Farm, for pulling a knife on those two dogcatchers... ". (Flagg 280). Also Flagg devotes a whole chapter to talk about the time towards the end of his life and his death.

Despite the details given in the novel about Artis Peavey, the movie never mentions him. Additionally, Flagg inserts a weekly paper as a form of narration. "The Weems Weekly", a paper written once a week by Dot Weems proves to be a major part of the book. More like a gossip column, this small town paper talks about what the townspeople have encountered in that week, and what has gone wrong in their lives. She also adds tidbits of information from her life. She often pokes fun at her husband who she refers to as "her other half".

For example, in The Weems Weekly: Whistle Stop, Alabama's Bulletin for June 12, 1929, Dot writes about the cafe's opening: The Whistle Stop Cafe opened up last week, right next door to me at the post office, and owners Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison said business has been good... My other half, Wilbur, and I ate there the other night, and it was so good he says he might not ever eat at home again. Ha. Ha.

I wish this were true. I spend all my time cooking for the big lug, and still can't keep him filled up. By the way, Idgie says that one of her hens laid an egg with a ten-dollar bill init. (Flagg 3-4) As the previous quotations show, this short, little hometown paper adds a lot of details about the characters and their lives.

In other issues of the paper, Dot tells about deaths, marriages, and town events. Although this proves to be a very important part of the novel, the screenplay takes it out. Another major change from the novel made in the movie is Ruth and Idgie's relationship. The novel portrays them as lovers. Before Idgie and Ruth start their relationship, Ruth moves away to Valdosta to marry Frank Bennett. When Idgie finds out about this, her heart breaks and she rages out at Ruth.

Although in the midst of all the fighting, Ruth asks Idgie, "Why are you acting like such a baby?" to which Idgie replies, "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO!" (Flagg 90). Idgie also says and does many things throughout the novel that imply her love for Ruth. Idgie says to Ruth at a picnic they went on, .".. I'd die for you... Don't you think somebody could die for love?" (Flagg 86).

Moreover, they live together in the back of the cafe and raise Buddy Jr. together. Idgie is a parent figure to Buddy. She gives him discipline, advice, and loves him as if he were her own child. "Nothing bad's gonna happen to my boy.

I won't have it", Idgie says (Flagg 267). This relationship is apparent to the town. In fact, in one edition of the weekly paper Dot is reporting on a birthday party for Buddy Jr. .".. Ruth and Idgie had a birthday party for their little boy". The movie version, however, is very different.

Although Ruth is thought to be the best thing that ever happened to Idgie, they do not have any relationship other than a close friendship. Ruth states in the movie, .".. [Idgie] is the best friend I ever had... ". Likewise, Idgie's relationship with Grady Kilgore also changes in the movie.

In the movie, Grady, a single man, tries constantly to get Idgie to go with him on a date. Although Idgie refuses every time, his efforts never cease. Grady asks Idgie at the river club, "Idgie, will you dance with me?" When Idgie refuses, he tries again. "Miss Idgie Threadgoode, will you dance with me? !" Although Idgie never gives in, Grady loves her until the end of the movie. On the other hand, in the novel, Grady is happily married to Gladys Kilgore and never says anything to Idgie implying he has a crush on her.

Both the movie and the novel use two forms of narration although, the two narratives are very different from another. The novel uses the weekly news bulletin to tell part of the story, and the rest of the story is told by an omnipotent narrator. The main part of the movie uses direct narration as a way of telling the story. The second type used in the movie is present tense narration. Furthermore, not only does the movie leave out characters, but it also eliminates events that happened. The screenplay leaves out the story about Big George's daughter, Naughty Bird.

Naughty Bird catches pneumonia and refuses to eat. George and Oznell try everything to get her to eat something, but she insists on seeing a nearby circus elephant named "Miz Fancy" before eating a bite. Idgie hears this, and the next day all the townspeople come out on the porch to see an elephant walking down the road toward Naughty Bird's house. "Miss Fancy, all decked out in her purple feather plume, was happily strolling by the cafe, her snout waving in the air thoroughly enjoying the scenery. She headed over the tracks to [Naughty Bird's house]" (Flagg 154).

Flagg goes on to tell how Naughty Bird fed the elephant and spent an hour with her in the front yard, and how she went inside and ate "three buttermilk biscuits with honey" (Flagg 155). The biggest difference between the novel and the movie is the outcome for Ninny Threadgoode. The movie shows an ending with Ninny leaving the nursing home and going home to a run down Whistle Stop with no residents. Ninny says "Everyone just scattered to the wind". She does not find her house, although her new friend comforts her.

In the movie, Ninny says", Hey Evelyn, somebody stole my house. It was right here when I left". Evelyn, who has fallen in love with Ninny, takes Ninny to her house and makes a home for her there. However, in the novel, Ninny Threadgoode goes back to her home in Whistle Stop, a growing city. There has been a lot of changes in the town, and all of Ninny's memories have become rundown issuers.

Despite the changes she returns to her house. Shortly after she returns, she dies a peaceful death in her sleep. "She wasn't sick... she died in her sleep" (Flagg 378). Indeed, the movie and the novel hold many differences.

Characters have changed, been eliminated, events have been left out, and relationships differed. Despite the changes, the film still managed to live up to the standards the book set. "Fried Green Tomatoes is a enjoyable move... ", says James Berardinelli quoted from the internet. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1987, this novel has tons of material which changed in the screenplay. However, both works offer dynamic characters, an interesting plot, and charming dialogue.