Change

Change is “an event that occurs when something passes form one state or phase to another.” The texts I will be talking about are the film ‘Amazing Grace’ and also a novel ‘Redeeming Love’ by Francine Rivers. ‘Redeeming Love’ by Francine Rivers is a very moving novel that is to entertain and to also challenge the reader to think about the issues discussed in this book. It is written for young adults and adults and is a life changing book. It is based on God’s unconditional love and has a life lesson in it to follow what God wants you to do. It’s a fluent novel and easy to read. It is built up to a climax and you can really feel the emotion in the story. The film ‘Amazing Grace’ has a lot of different changes. Some of these changes are: • The abolition of the slave trade. • John Newton going blind. • Wilberforce was in love with Barbra Spooner. • John Newton was a slave trade and then became an abolisher. • William Pitt became Prime Minister. • Charles Fox changes sides to support Wilberforce in the abolition. • Society’s opinions changed. • Wilberforce finds a religion. The movie ‘Amazing Grace’ and also the novel ‘Redeeming Love’ by Francine Rivers both explore change. The main character William Wilberforce in ‘Amazing Grace’ and Angel in ‘Redeeming Love’ both undergo a lot of the same changes. In both the texts change is seen as being very hard and painful. It takes both these characters a long time and patience but in the end change is good for both of them. At the start of the movie William Wilberforce went from being single-mindedly focused on his political career. He had no intention of being in a romantic relationship, but later in the film he falls in love with Barbra Spooner and later gets married. Angel from ‘Redeeming Love’ also goes through this change as at the start of the novel she works in a brothel and doesn’t understand what it is to have a relationship with someone. In the end she ends up getting married and has a great love for Michael Hosea. Both of these main characters also encounter a spiritual change. Wilberforce went through this change when he realised that he didn’t have to choose between believing and serving God and also be a politician. He could do both. Angel also has a spiritual change. At the start she is far from believing in God but as the movie goes on and she starts getting to know Michael more she starts to see God through him. In the end she is a strong Christian. One of the key changes in ‘Amazing Grace’ was the abolition of slavery, which showed that change can be hard and painful. This time was very emotionally draining for William Wilberforce. Its shows this in the film were he complains that ‘sleep is more exhausting than being awake.’ Because of all this emotional pressure on Wilberforce it takes its toll on his health. You can see this in the scene were his cousins look after him. You can see evidence that he is ill with dark rings under his eyes, a lot of sweat on his face and make up that made him look pale. Change is also explored as being hard and painful in ‘Redeeming Love.’ Angel, the main character goes through a massive change from the start of the book where she works in a brothel in California to at the end of the book she is married to a Christian man named Michael Hosea. Michael has a lot to do with the changes she made in her life. In the story she keeps running away from him but in the end she sees the unwavering love he has shown her and decides to come back to him. There is not only one change in Angel’s life, but many. These changes affect her emotionally, spiritually and physically. As you can see change can be explored in many ways in both ‘Redeeming Love’ and ‘Amazing Grace.’ For both these stories in the end change was for the better.