"In the Heat of the Night"

Q:1

There are many differences between the book and the movie, “In the Heat of the Night” by John Ball; some are minor differences whereas others are huge differences. For example some, some of the difference include the change of the character's names, jobs and characteristics. Another notable difference is the family tree relationship between the characters. For minor differences the novel states that the name of the town is called Wells, South Carolina, but the movie takes place in a town called Sparta, Mississippi. In the book a guy name Maestro Mantoli, who is a composer that plans to organize a music festival for the town of Wells was murdered in the middle, however in the movie, they call the victim, Philip Colbert--an engineer and industrialist who hopes to found a large factory in town. Second character that is different from the book is the victim’s closest friend, Mr. George Endicott, he was the first person who didn’t care about Virgil Tibbs, the main character being a black man, and he talked to Tibbs in the same way as he talks to the white people. In the book he was much kinder than in the movie, he didn’t question Tibbs about his investigation and he didn’t slap Tibbs in the face when he asked questions about the murder. In the novel Endicott even suggested Tibbs to the mayor of the town as the perfect person for the investigation. The other difference is that almost at the end of the book, Delores Purdy and her brother came to the police station because Delores said that she was pregnant and the person who was responsible is Sam wood, one of the police officer and that her brother wanted to sue him for raping his sister. Virgil Tibbs, a homicide expert who is trying to solve the case has the biggest and the most important differences between the movie and the book. His characteristic is totally different, in the book Tibbs would always think first before saying anything or he would say it quietly because he is scared that he might get beat up. Whenever Bill Gillespie, the chief of the police station yells at him, he just walks away quietly. This is different from the movie, in the movie Tibbs says what he wants to say, what he needs to say, and also ask what he needs to know for the murder case even if the people will get mad. During one of the scenes from the movie Gillespie asked him what they call him back in California, and he said back to him strongly that they call him Mr.Tibbs, which means that back there, they have respect for him. In my opinion, the changes in the movie fouled the original impact the author wanted his audience to have when they read the book.

Q:8

I can’t believe this. I guess it was a mistake to come back down south, but how could I refuse to visit Mama when she’s so sick? Doesn’t a man have a right to visit his dying mother? I guess I was stupid to think that wearing a nice suit and having money would give me some kind of protection. Maybe it’s just the opposite. These crackers have probably never seen an educated black man wearing a suit, carrying money and looking them straight in the eyes. That’s not the way we’re supposed to be. We’re supposed to bow our heads and avert our eyes and pretend to be all humble and ignorant. That’s what they like. But how can I do that? Hell, I’m the best homicide detective in the City of Pasadena, out of the best, anyway. I’m better educated than these white southern, and I probably make more money too. How many murderers have they put in prison, I wonder. I don’t think I could play the “good humble nigger” who “knows his place” even if my life depended on it. The problem is, maybe my life does depend on it. How am I going to get out of this? I guess the best thing to do is to play it along- wait for the right time and tell him who I am, and hope they will think twice before doing something stupid.