The novel and film of The Scarlet LetterFilms of this era are criticized for substituting violence and special effects for "substance". Many think that creating a film script is a juvenile form of writing, a shrub to the oak tree of a novel. Reading both the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and watching the film produced by Roland Joffe, one notices the enormous effort put into both cases. This essay will explore the many differences and similarities between the book and the film. The film is “loosely adapted” from the novel. The word "gratuitous" to describe the adaptation is well used: there are major differences in terms of timeline, characters, visual imagery and symbolism, plot, storytelling, and tone. Nearly an hour of information that the reader received only as context recorded on tape. The film began when Hester arrived in the New World, not through the dreary prison gate she passed through on her way to the novel's scaffold. Many characters were added to the film, several of which were central to the plot. Mituba, Hester's mute slave, Brewster, the lewd and unruly rule breaker, Goody Gotwick, the spokesperson for the "godly women" of the community, and Minister Cheever, the powerful church leader who attempted to serving as arbiter of community morality have failed to do so. exist in the novel. Mistress Hibbins' relationship with Governor Bellingham was of a citizen-to-ruler nature. In the book, their relationship prevented her persecution, while in the film, no family ties protected Mistress Hibbins from the cruel witch trials characteristic of the 1600s. Her character went from being a minor in the book to one supporting role in the film. She was the only character, besides Hester, to behave according to...... middle of paper ...... and Dimmesdale moves to the Carolinas to start a new life, while in Hawthorne's novel, Pearl lives a full life, with her mother working for the community and her father dying on the scaffold. There is no definitive answer as to which ending is "better", one may be more fulfilling, another may be more informative, another may touch a child, another a parent. We may prefer the film to the novel or vice versa, but we cannot ignore the great care taken in the making of both. Using the novel as a basis for work, the filmmaker created his own masterpiece, modifying and adding elements as needed. Whether to gain popularity or for his own personal satisfaction, the filmmaker's version also retained certain themes and characters. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both communicate their meaning effectively to the audience..