Roots analysis

            " people of this land have no respect, no culture, no religion, and they eat filthy swine.
            
             Kunta Kinte says this harsh quotation after he is stripped away from his family, his friends, his home, his town, and his life and taken to America to work as a slave. This quotation shows how Kunta compares the rich culture in his African hometown, to the American culture. The story of the life of Kunta and his descendants is told by Kunta's seventh generation descendant, Alex Haley, in a stunning book Roots. Roots traces Haley's ancestors back to Africa and beyond, covering a journey and a saga of more than two hundred years. Roots is made into a movie, and a mini series covering the story of the book. The director of movie tried to stay very close to the author's intent of the novel. This is shown in the movie through the similar characters, plot, major events, and overall message. .
             The characters of Roots show how the movie is very similar to the book. The characters in the movie are made to act more affectionately by the director. He wants to show how loving the characters are and how their family is caring and affectionate. The characters in the movie bring out more sympathy from the viewer, compared to the sadness expressed by the reader. The major characters in the book are all in the movie. These characters include Kunta, his daughter Kizzy, his wife Bell, his grandson, Chicken George. The movie also shows George's children and his grandchildren. All characters contributing a major part to the story are included. The characters excluded from the movie, are minor characters like some white folks, and some of George's grandchildren. Although the characters are similar, the names or the personality of few is changed to achieve a greater emotion from the viewer. There are a few situations in the book where the characters enjoy their life and forget about their worries, but in the movie the characters always play a helpless role, using low key lighting, and high angle shots, and the director constantly shows their discomfort of being slaves.