t the true meaning of the novel. Unfortunately it is too easy for the films audience to overlook this one, vitally important line. It is through the novels internal monologues that we get a feeling for Bens struggle with himself. It is this struggle that keeps Ben ordinary, as opposed to the heroic figure he plays in the movie. Ben has had to sacrifice his own life, and (questionably) the lives of many others in his fight for truth and justice. He often wonders whether or not he has made the right decision, as would the reader. The novel much more effectively shows this side of Ben through his own journal entries, his own thoughts. If the reader is to follow in Bens footsteps (as the novel suggests) then the reader needs to be able to relate to Bens character. Ben needs to be seen as an ordinary guy who doubts his own purpose and decisions- a man who is only revealed through that one line in the film.Another aspect of the novel that usually fails to carry over into a film is that of descriptive imagery and symbolism. Brink wonderfully used images such as light and dark (among other images such as blindness, liquid and game-playing to name a few) to give the reader further insight into the situation, and in doing so more effectively allows the reader to put his or herself in the main characters situation.Light and darkness is probably the most prominent symbol in the book, resulting in a well-developed motif. The image works on a number of levels. In one aspect, the reader repeatedly is shown images of blinding light, and other images about the harsh glare as Ben learns to see the light (so to speak) of what is going on around him. He has been in the dark for so long that although he is able to shed light on the political corruption around him, the light is harsh, and often he hurts his eyes. However, the light seems to be a much better alternative than the dark, for the dark is representative of the government. At one poin...
