Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing †Is the Film More Absurd than the Novel? :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Marg aret Atwoods Surfacing Is the Film More farcical than the Novel?Surfacing, starring Joseph Bottoms, is not only an astute interpretation of Atwoods work, but it is also a marvellous film in itself. Yes, marvellous. Certainly, it does arbitrator to Atwoods portrayal of substanceless women, but if it has whatever clearly defined themes, they are lost on the audience. What more could an audience want but a film that is incoherent and that is filled with vivid imageries?A woman bound half-naked with a maggot-infested heron. A deadly fight breaking out because somebody pipes up, You play as well as you shoot? The fibber meddlesome for rock paintings. These fragments make up the backbone of this film and yes, they are shown in the proper sequence, unconnected Margaret Atwoods novel No more pieces of culture surfacing at unpredictable points in your mind, no further lack to decipher the narrators invented past, and best of all, no need to hurt over the narrators painful proc ess of finding her dependable self. In the film, the narrator is given a name, Kate. She is now more tangible, un exchangeable Atwoods narrator. Everyone knows that tangibility is what makes a piece of work great. At any rate, the film does a great job of stripping everything down to their essentials. wherefore make you plod through Atwoods depiction of the tensions that exist between the French and the English? Just remove all that political trumpery Why create suspense about the truth behind the narrators fathers drawings? Remove this as well, for it is a drive away of time Film viewing time is better spent on David and Annas preoccupation with sex, after all.Now, be forewarned Relationships in the film stick out taken a different route from that of Margaret Atwoods novel. Kate and her boyfriend Joe flip-flop many a word in the film, and they know one some other well. Joe is easygoing and he even romps with David. In Atwoods Surfacing, Joe is quite a different character. He is quiet and sullen, and he does not even like having the narrator look at him Being unmarried is looked down upon in this little town, but in the film, when Evans sees Kate and Joe together, disapproval is apparent, and Evans comments on how Kate is growed (sic) up and married. Of course, it whitethorn be suspicion on Evans part, but one cannot be sure. The virtually important denudation that the narrator makes in Atwoods Surfacing is the discovery of her authentic self the discovery that she needs not be a victim of her false self.