Character development keeps an audience interested. Being able to pull emotion out of the main character allows the audience to feel the pain or excitement that is being portrayed. In director Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter," Dolores Driscoll brings out the sadness that her character is feeling. You can sense the pain and distress that she bears. Yet, in the novel, The Sweet Hereafter, by Russell Banks', Dolores does not grow as a character. The audience never deciphers if Dolores understands the tragic events. The film explores Dolores' character, which adds depth, while the book illustrates Dolores on the surface and denies her any sort of personal growth.

In Russell Banks' novel, The Sweet Hereafter, a small town suffers a great tragedy when fourteen school kids drown after a bus accident on the way to school. The bus driver, Dolores Driscoll, considers the kids to be her own...