Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned

In my opinion, a book is always a better choice for entertainment then a movie. Usually, when a book is adapted into a movie; the movie always seems to omit scenes and details mentioned in the book. This is the same with Walter Mosley’s Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned; a novel that tells a story surrounding a man named Socrates Fortlow. However, while the movie version of Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned follows the same concept as the book there are substantial differences in terms of events, details, and chronological order. The first major difference between the movie and the book is how quickly the movie reveals some of the flaws of the main character Socrates Fortlow. In fact the movie starts with Socrates appearing extremely anxious and worried as he lie tossing and turning in his bed; sweat glistening on his forehead, and flashbacks of the rape and double murder he committed playing in his head. By contrast, the book gets off to a much slower start and begins with Socrates wondering why Billy, the chicken that woke him up every day for the past eight years, hadn’t made a sound that morning. Socrates goes to the backyard to check on Billy and sees a young boy climbing off the fence across the alley with a box in his hand. Socrates hollers, “what you doin’ there, boy” (Mosley 13)? The young boy responds by saying, “What bizness is it to you, old man” (Mosley 13)? Suspicious of the young man the two continue to talk and then Socrates suddenly grabs the young boy by the neck, opens the box and finds Billy lying dead inside. Angry and upset Socrates forces the boy inside the house and has him pluck and cook the chicken for dinner. Once inside, the young boy tells Socrates his name is Darryl. Darryl cooks the chicken and when the meal is finished they eat and Darryl returns home. In the book, the reader does not find out about Socrates’ crime until much later. In the book, we learn that Darryl has killed a young retarded boy in Baldwin