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The Greatest Gift Short Story Analysis

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Many people have different opinions on life - some consider it a great gift meanwhile others consider it a suffering. George agreed with the latter option in the beginning of “The Greatest Gift” and It’s a Wonderful Life but learned throughout it that he was wrong and his life is worth living. Philip Van Doren Stern, the writer of the self-published short story: “The Greatest Gift”, went through a lot to get his piece published. He wrote a 4,100-word story - within the span of four years - and was then unable to find a publisher. Philip subsequently decided to send 200-twenty-one page booklets to his friends as a Christmas card, catching the attention of RKO Pictures producer David Hempstead. Many tried to adapt the short story into a film but eventually, RKO sold the rights of “The Greatest Gift” to Frank Capra 's production company which modified it into It 's a Wonderful Life. The story, “The Greatest Gift” and the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life share many similarities and differences in plot and theme. Plot refers to the sequence of events in a story. The story and movie are similar in their conflict, climax, and resolutions. The conflict in these two stories are the same: George (the protagonist in the book and movie) is not satisfied with his life. The climaxes of the pieces - again both similar - are George begs for life back from the unknown man and as a result receives it. Both stories share a similar resolution of George realizes he has a wonderful life, the way

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