Tuck Everlasting Book vs. Movie – A Tale of Two Relationships

Welcome to the first post of my new blog series: Books to Film I Love. I’m starting off this series with the book that ignited my love for books that are made into movies: Tuck Everlasting. I was eleven years old when I stumbled upon the novel in my local library. Skimming the library and choosing random books I had never heard of was what I enjoyed reading.

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After all, I had grown out of The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley Book Series (I can still remember exactly where they sat at my library) and my extensive Nancy Drew collection I had mostly read through. Reading on my parent’s back porch was my favorite hobby, especially during the summer. It was there that I would discover the magic that lived inside the Tuck Everlasting pages.

Tuck Everlasting caught my young eyes. It was small for starters (139 pages), so an easy, fast read. But the back description is was pulled me in:

“A kidnapping, a murder, a jailbreak. If this were Winne Foster’s story only, it would be like any other great adventure: you would come to the end, with all resolved, and that would be that. But this is also the story of the Tuck family and therefore, though it has a beginning and a middle, it can never end.”

natalie babbitt – Tuck everlasting, 1975

I was intrigued, to say the least. Once I began reading, my eleven-year-old eyes and heart were glued to the pages. I was basically Winnie’s age, after all. I felt a strong connection to her character, which left me second-guessing her choices. Although, I totally get it, Winnie.

Tuck Everlasting Synopsis (& Spoilers)

If you’re unfamiliar with Tuck Everlasting, the story follows a 10-year-old girl named Winnie and her summer adventure of meeting and befriending a family named Tuck. The Tuck family, who due to drinking magical spring water, are immortal.

When they meet Winnie they have been immortal for 87 years. They trust her with their secret, especially “seventeen-year-old” Jesse. The Tucks are accused of kidnapping Winnie but Winnie loves and trusts the Tucks. She wants to be with them.

The Man in The Yellow Suit (no, this isn’t Curious George with the Man in The Yellow Hat) is determined to expose the Tuck’s secret. In an attempt to protect Winnie and her family, Mae (Mrs. Tuck) hits the Man in the Yellow Suit in the head and accidentally kills him. Mae is sentenced to be hanged which will ultimately expose the family’s secret.

With Winnie’s help, the Tucks rescue Mae from jail and leave town. Jesse offers Winne a bottle of the magical spring water and tells her that when she turns seventeen she should drink it. Two weeks after the Tuck’s departure, Winnie sees a dog trying to attack a toad. Winnie pours the bottle of spring water over the toad to protect it. Forever.

Many years later Angus and Mae (Mr. and Mrs. Tuck) are safe to return. Angus finds Winnie’s gravestone to see she passed only two years prior and had lived a full life as a wife and mother. Angus says to himself “good girl.”

Mae and Angus decide they never need to return to the town, and on their way out they witness a pickup truck nearly run over a toad. The toad wouldn’t move from the road and Tuck says to Mae “durn fool thing must think it’s going to live forever.” The book ends with a touch of humor, which was exactly what my eleven-year-old broken heart needed.

 

Tuck Everlasting: The Movie

When I found out a Tuck Everlasting movie was being made, I NEEDED to see it. So, in October of 2002, my Dad took me to the theater (thanks, Dad). It was then that I completely fell in love with reading books that are made into movies.

I kept finding myself nudging my dad to tell him “that happened differently in the book” or “they forgot to mention another part of the book.”

I have no idea if my constant comments had any impact on my dad (maybe I was a total annoyance to him — he’ll never say) but all those comments I had while watching the movie certainly had an impact on me. I realized how much more powerful a book was to my imagination than a movie.

From then on I was obsessed with reading books that would also be movies or had already been made into movies. I loved reading and then watching to find the differences. I even took a class for my English undergrad degree called Books To Film where we analyzed books and movies of the same title and discussed why the differences were made.

It was one of my favorite classes, to say the least.

Tuck Everlasting Book VS Movie

There are many small differences between the book to the movie, but the most impactful one in my opinion was the relationship between Winnie and Jesse.

In the book, Winnie is 10 years old and Jesse is 17. Their relationship is more of a friendship, understandably. However, in the movie, Winnie is 15 while Jesse is still 17. The two undoubtedly love one another, and if you ever read the movie plotline you aren’t surprised. It reads:

“A young woman meets and falls in love with a young man who is part of a family of immortals.”

IMDB

To really pull on your heartstrings, another major difference is that it is Jesse who returns to find Winnie’s gravestone. With no lighthearted joke about a toad to follow, you’re left understanding Winnie’s choice, but absolutely grieving for Jesse.

It’s a significant change from book to movie that absolutely makes sense given the relationship the two held in the movie.

Tuck Everlasting: Final Thoughts

Although it is a kid’s novel, I think the story is perfect for anyone who wants a touch of magic. Tuck Everlasting is not only a quick read, especially for kids who are just starting with novels, it’s a story that is sure to stay with you.

For twenty years now, this story has stayed with me. This is the one that made me fall deeply in love with reading. Although as I mentioned above, I was a casual reader before picking up this story, I had never felt the true magic that books hold between the pages before this one, and for that I am grateful. Forever.

 

all original images homewithtwo.com