Essay On The Pursuit Of Happyness

The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner and Quincy Troupe entails the life story of Christopher Gardner. Like other books that movies are made from, The Pursuit of Happyness movie was very different than the book. In the movie, Gardner starts out in his late twenties; he lives with his wife, Linda, and his son Chris Gardner Jr., who was five-years-old at the beginning of the movie. The book starts out very differently; Gardner is just three-years-old and living in a foster home (Gardner and Troupe 15-16). By the end of the book, Gardner Jr. is barely four-years-old. The major difference between the book and the movie is that Gardner experiences physical, mental, and sexual abuse. The physical abuse began when Gardner’s mother married Freddie Triplett. Triplett would become Gardner’s step-father and a physically abusive drunk. Triplett would go on his rampages, not limiting his wrath from anyone is the family. Triplett’s go to defense was to grab his shotgun and yell for everyone to get out of his house until they did (Gardner and
By making him a relatable character, almost everyone could see parts of themselves in Gardner, whether it was his struggle, his drive, or the environment. If the movie would have included all of the abuse that Gardner experienced, his character would have been too narrow. This, in turn, would have made his character not as relatable as before. However, not letting any of the abuse deter Gardner from his dream of traveling the world or making a million dollars was what helped him survive. Another factor that pushed him to achieve success was his son, Chris Jr. He vowed to always be present in his children’s lives and to not abuse or harm them (Gardner and Troupe 38). Although Gardner may have changed his path, the end goal was always the same; this is why he was able to survive and become a productive