Steve Tesich And John Irving's 'The World According To Garp'

In 1978 the novel The World According to Garp by American author John Irving was published. In 1982 the novel was adapted for the big screen by director George Roy Hill. The screenplay was written by Steve Tesich and John Irving. Both the film and the novel are about Garp’s life. They explore his childhood, teenage years, and adult life; however, they each do this very differently. In the novel The World According to Garp the theme of lust is prevalent and plays an important role in the plot, in comparison, in the film adaptation, the theme of lust is scarce and does not have as much of an important role in Garp’s life. The choice to alter the element of lust had an impact on the mood of the film, altered the way characters were viewed and …show more content…
In the film, he is a noteworthy father and husband. His only mistake is a one-time affair with the babysitter when he drives her home. In the film, she makes the sexual advances on him. The scene with the babysitter is so brief that it can’t translate the internal struggle Garp faces with his desires. In the novel, he was torn apart between remaining faithful to his wife or sleeping with the babysitter. In addition, he did not just slip up once, he was constantly falling victim to his imprudent desires. He wanted to contain his lust so badly he even tried to hide the condoms from himself. He ultimately fell victim to his desires and as a result his marriage was tense and he became paranoid that his kids would meet men like …show more content…
She’s been married to Garp for so long some of his quirks have begun to annoy her. She hates how her husband pulls into the driveway and the way he never fixes the car. While she’s annoyed by her husband a student of hers, Michael Milton, manages to catch her attention. He constantly expresses his desire to have an affair with her. She is intrigued and finds herself attracted to Milton. She gets involved with him. Garp finds out because Milton’s ex-girlfriend gives him a note telling him of the affair. He is devastated and feels like he is going insane. Garp feels hurt and treats Helen with rage when she comes home. He takes the kids out for a movie and tells her to end things with Milton for good. When she calls Michael to tell him it’s over, he insists on driving to her house. Once outside, Helen joins him in the car and complies to give him fellatio because he promised to leave if she did. While Helen is busy at work, Garp pulls into the driveway in his usual fashion and collides into Milton’s car. As a result, Milton loses part of his penis. More more horrifyingly, Walt dies