2015-11-26

【Aiden in English】

        "Thank You M'am" is a short story demonstrating the wonderful change that undergoes a boy when he experiences true kindness. This short tale was made into a movie due to its popularity in the late 1950s, and the overall statement remains unchanged throughout the transformation from imagination and words to pictures and video. Although the short story was such a great one, nothing can be the same, and some facts and scenes had their differences between the two.

        "Thank You M'am" was about the change of a boy named Roger, and both the movie and the short story demonstrated this fact. Roger was a young boy that had no parents and wished for a pair of blue suede shoes, and he stole Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, an old lady, purse. Instead of running away with it though, he was captured by Ms. Luella Bates Washington Jones who brought Roger all the way to her house. Then, Ms. Luella Bates, Washington Jones said something very odd to a person that tried to steal her purse, and she told Roger to wash his face. He was let free, and the door was wide open. At this point, bells in my head, as a reader and viewer, rang as Roger did not run. This scene was important in both the movie and the book, and the two all made sure that the audience knew what was going on. The internal conflict, or the problem mentally, in Roger, was enormous, and instead of taking the easy way out of the mess, he went over to a sink and washed his face. This was one of the many scenes that books and movies shared in common, and it was wise to because of the importance of this scene. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was extremely nice to Roger, even though he did intend to steal her purse, and Roger seemed to have been affected at that particular moment. Many other similar moments appeared along with the short story, but the next, really crucial scene was when Roger has left alone in a room with Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones’ purse. At the start of the short story, Roger was really desperate for those shoes, and by all means, an old lady wasn’t going to stop him. Although things did not go quite according to his plan, Roger still had a chance to redeem himself, snatch the purse and run. Yet for some reason, the author wrote that Roger did not wish for Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones to distrust him. He was right apparently, as it was soon unveiled that Roger was even fed a meal. These scenes were both true for the short story and the movie, and this really demonstrated the bonding of Roger and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. The greatest fact that the movie and short story I believe was included was its theme of the stories. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones wanted to teach Roger a lesson, but when the usual parents or sensible adults would have given the boy a beat down for trying to steal their possessions, she treated Roger with kindness like a loving mother to a child. Although at the start of the story, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones was a bit meaner, she grew warmer to Roger, even giving him money to buy his blue suede shoes at the end of the story in both versions. The overall theme I think the stories shared was to treat others kindly, and they will treat you with kindness as well. Roger changed throughout the book, from the moment he tried and failed, to steal Ms. Luella Bates Washington Jones’ purse, to the moment he was given money at the farewell between the two characters at the end.

        Although the overall short story of "Thank You M'am" remained the same, and the same theme was passed on to the reader, the movie and the short story have their differences. In the short story, Roger was brought into a house with other people residing in different rooms. However, the movie did not have other people in the house. In fact, the house of Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones seemed to be quite small and did not have all too many rooms people could be in. Another difference that appeared in the movie but was not included in the short story was when Roger dropped the towel while he was washing his face. This may have seemed like a simple scene, but when taken a step deeper, a level further, it showed Roger having changed from when the short story began. Instead of letting the towel be tossed into the sink, Roger picked it up and neatly folded it into quadrants. Then, he delicately placed the towel on the side of the basin, careful with each step along the process. Roger did not seem to be one of the neater and nicer types of people before his encounter with Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, and that scene in the movie showed the eventual change in Roger. At the end of the story, Roger was starting to become a fine, young lad, and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones realized it and gave him the money to buy his so dear desired blue suede shoes. Yet in the final moments of the story in the movie, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones actually gave out twenty dollars, while in the short story, she only gave out ten. This meant that the time period was different since the economy was different.

        “Because shoes come by devilish means like that will burn your feet” is a quote Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones said to Roger in the story and the movie. Roger was not a kid that deserved the blue suede shoes that he wanted at the start, but after being changed by Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, Roger changed, and although they are different, the movie and the short story both can be inferred from that Roger has become a better person on the inside and generally as a person.

【紅霞譯文】

        《謝謝您，夫人》是一部關於小男孩為善良所動發生奇妙轉變的短篇小說，上個世紀五十年代後期，這個家喻戶曉的故事被搬上電影銀幕，將書本上的想象藝術與語言描述通過圖像視頻的形式再現出來。小說本身寫得十分精彩，與改編後的電影在某些情節和場景存有一定的區別。

        《謝謝您，夫人》中那位發生變化的男孩叫羅傑，電影保持了小說人物原型。羅傑年輕不諳世事，況且打小失去父母，一直惦記擁有一雙藍色麂皮鞋，於是便想轍偷了老太婆露娜·貝茨·華盛頓·瓊斯太太的錢包。他未能及時逃之夭夭，相反卻被瓊斯太太逮個正着，結果事後被瓊斯太太帶回家去。瓊斯太太一反常態，並沒有責怪他偷東西，反倒要他把臉清洗乾淨，這時她的家門大開，羅傑完全可以自由出入。說到這裡，身為讀者和觀眾的我禁不住質疑羅傑幹嗎不溜，這一幕無論對電影還是小說都很重要，兩者都想藉此機會向觀眾讀者有個交待。羅傑內心糾結思想鬥爭激烈，但卻不想一走了之。他徑直來到盥洗池前洗臉，在很多電影和小說中常常出現這幅場景，伏線埋得十分巧妙，對後面的劇情發展極其重要。瓊斯太太明知他原本故意偷竊自己的錢包，仍然對羅傑非常友善，讓羅傑深受感動。其間，其它相關的故事情節先後登台出場，不過最關鍵的一幕當屬羅傑拿着偷來的錢包獨自呆在盥洗室。回到故事開頭，羅傑早已瞄準獵物，老人家對之無能為力，儘管事態發展出乎意料，但羅傑仍然有機會繼續付諸行動，可以拿着錢包開路。作者筆鋒停在羅傑不願在瓊斯太太面前失去信譽，其實他這樣做得對，為此後來還被款待了一頓飯。電影沿襲了小說原創，藉之表明羅傑和瓊斯太太之間開始建立良好關係，我認為瓊斯太太的用意在於教導羅傑，換上一般父母或敏感家長肯定難以容忍偷竊行為非得痛揍自己的孩子一頓不可，而瓊斯太太卻以慈母厚愛循循善誘，即使故事開頭她有點尖刻，可以後越來越和藹，甚至出錢給羅傑買藍麂皮鞋，充分體現愛的力量，人與人之間需要真誠相待；小說自始至終細膩地刻畫了羅傑從努力到失敗、從偷竊瓊斯太太錢包到分別前接受饋贈的轉變過程。

        《謝謝您，夫人》電影版以原作為藍本，對某些細節做了相應改動。小說中，羅傑與室友同在一個屋檐下分住不同房間；而在電影裡羅傑卻獨處生活，沒跟任何人一起合住。另外，書中瓊斯太太的寓所狹窄，不像電影所描繪的房間很多且能容納不少人。電影還增設了小說沒有的場景，羅傑洗臉時毛巾不慎落地，本來算不了什麼，但導演抓住這一點借題發揮，進一步表現羅傑的內在變化。他撿起毛巾不是隨手扔進池中，而是規整地疊成四方，然後小心翼翼地放回臉盆旁邊，並認真處理好每一件事情，在遇到瓊斯太太之前，羅傑似乎並不是一位講究整齊舉止得體的年輕人，從這一點上不難看出他已脫胎換骨。等到了故事結尾，羅傑已然變成一位優秀的小伙子，瓊斯太太同時意識到他的進步，決定出資幫他購買一雙夢寐以求的藍麂皮鞋，可電影上說是廿塊大洋，其實小說里只寫下十塊錢而已，看來從小說出版到電影發行，經濟形勢已發生天翻地覆的變化。

        “你以邪惡的手段弄到鞋子定會將腳燒壞”是瓊斯太太告誡羅傑的肺腑之言，羅傑不再是故事開頭那個通過不法手段以求達到個人目的小不點孩童，經瓊斯太太調教業已洗心革面，活脫脫變成一位內心向善外表高雅的體面人物。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2009: 感恩(Gratitude)

Thank You M'am （《謝謝您，夫人》）

Crosslinks(相關博文):

2015: Book Review─Head above Water(書評《浮出水面》)

2014: Book Review─Urban Outlaws(書評─淺議《城市水滸傳》)

7th Grade(初中二年級)