Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and compares Lew Wallace's novel "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ," and the movie "Ben-Hur," directed by William Wyler, which was based on the novel. The writer describes in detail how the book and the movie, being different entertainment mediums, depict Judah Ben Hur's journey differently, but the effect of his life-changing experience is the same on both reader and viewer. The writer explains how Ben-Hur is transformed and how the symbolism of the visuals in the movie affects the viewer. The paper concludes that the moral of the story of Ben Hur resonates in the minds of every reader and moviegoer that has experienced it.

From the Paper:

"The relationship between Messala and Judah may be the most important in the development of the story. The audience notices an obvious dissimilarity between the book and movie in the portrayal of Judah and Messala with the two different backgrounds and the two being friends from their youth. In the novel the boys are teens, while in the movie the two are adults. Therefore we expect the two to make different choices due to their age and maturity level. The choices made by Messala in the movie makes his betrayal that much more painful because it also shows that the two have really been friends for most of their lives, where as in the book, they are just teenagers and can have their friendship labeled as young."

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