It's A Wonderful Life Analysis

Life is is what you make of it, nothing more, nothing less. George Bailey feels like he hasn’t made the most of his life. However, he finds that he has touched so many of his peers when he goes into a world where he doesn’t exist. The short story version was written by Philip Van Doren Stern. He sent his story on the back of Christmas cards, however with the help of publishers it was on the back of newspapers. It was made into the present day holiday phenomenon known as It’s A Wonderful Life. The story, “ The Greatest Gift” and the movie, It’s A Wonderful Life share many similarities and differences in plot and theme.
Plot refers to the sequence of events in a story. The story and movie are similar in their conflict, climax, and resolutions. The …show more content…
It states in the story, “ The Greatest Gift”, “ I’m stuck here in this mud hole for a life, doing the same dull work day after day. Other men are leading exciting lives, but I- well, I’m- well, I’m just a small town bank clerk that even the army didn’t want.” George’s perspective on his life was clearly negative. The climax is when he begs the stranger to take him back to his original life. In the movie It’s A Wonderful Life it states, “Please, take me back Clarence. I will do anything.” The resolution is when George finds true happiness with his family and friends. It states in “ The Greatest Gift” “ Oh Mary, I thought I lost you. I love you!” The differences lie in the rising and falling actions. In the story the rising action begins with George being unhappy with his job at the bank and everything seems to be going wrong at his job. He feels like he has no purpose. He hasn’t done anything that he set out in life to do. Then, the stranger states, “ I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Then he is shown what life would be like without him and he realizes how wrong his initial thoughts were. The last straw is when he sees his wife