The Warriors (novel)
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| The Warriors | |
| Author | Sol Yurick |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Grove/Atlantic Inc. |
| Publication date | 1965 (Original hardcover); 2003 (Paperback Reprint) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 181 pp (Paperback Reprint) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-8021-3992-2 (Paperback Reprint) |
The Warriors is a novel written by Sol Yurick in 1965. It became the inspiration for the cult classic movie The Warriors. Compared to the movie, the novel takes a closer look at the concepts of sexuality, reputation, family, and survival. Because the movie was produced in 1979, a full fourteen years after the book was printed, certain key traits were rewritten to reflect cultural evolution. The novel is loosely based on the Anabasis by Xenophon.
[edit] Plot summary
It is the night of July 4. Ismael Rivera, leader of the largest gang in New York, calls together a grand assembly of street gangs to the Bronx. His vision marks a grand truce designed to challenge 'The Man', society or otherwise called the Others. After a stirring speech, the assembly cannot help but transform into chaos as several jealous gangs begin fighting amongst one another. When the police react to the situation, a few gangs turn their peace-gift hand guns against each other, and Ismael is killed in the crossfire.
When Arnold disappears behind the vindictive rage of Ismael's gang members, it is up to Hector, the newly appointed Leader of the Coney Island Dominators, to lead the remaining seven delegates from the Bronx back to Coney Island, passing through enemy ridden gang turfs.
[edit] Differences Between the Film And Novel
- The film focuses on nine members of a Coney Island youth gang actually named the Warriors; their names are Ajax, Cleon, Cochise, Cowboy, Fox, Rembrandt, Snow, Swan and Vermin. They are racially mixed.
The novel focuses on seven members of a Coney Island street gang named the Dominators; their names are Arnold, Bimbo, Dewey, Hector, Hinton, The Junior and Lunkface. All are "black" (Afro-American).
- The Warriors never actually kill anybody, even in self-defense. The Dominators murder an innocent bystander just for looking at them.
- Rembrandt (Warriors) and Hinton (Dominators) share the role of the artist in their respective gangs, however have totally different personalities. Rembrandt is portrayed as being level-headed but weak when it comes to fighting, whereas Hinton is a lot braver and has a rep for going "psycho" every now and then. Hinton ends up being the focal point of the novel.
- In the film, the Warriors encounter a gang called the Orphans who try to prove they're tough by showing the Warriors newspaper articles of incidents and crimes done by their gang. In the novel, the Dominators encounter a gang and show them news articles of their doings in an attempt to avoid trouble from the gang. This shows that Walter Hill, who directed the film, possibly replaced the Dominators with the Orphans as well as the Dominators' role as the protagonists.
- In the film, the gang conclave (assembly) is called by Cyrus and the Gramercy (Manhattan) Riffs; in the novel, the conclave is called by Ismael Rivera whose gang's name is the Delancy Thrones.
- In the film, Cyrus is shot and killed by the Rogues, who then blame the Warriors (because Fox caught Luther in the act). In the novel, when Ismael's conclave is broken up by the police, all the gangs take it for a trap; their leaders pull guns and shoot Ismael.
- The Dominators are all aged from 14 to 16. The Warriors' ages are never specified (although most of the actors playing them were, at the time, in their twenties).
- Both the Warriors and the Dominators have themes to their gangs, however they are very different. The Warriors have a Native American theme, calling their leader and second in command Warlord and Warchief respectively, whereas the Dominators base their gang on a family, calling their leader and second in command Father and Uncle respectively. The rest of the Dominators are "brothers" to each other, with the third in command being "Big Brother".
- In the film, a girl called Mercy leaves the Orphans and follows the Warriors after their encounter. Mercy and Swan start up a romance. In the novel, a girl who was with a gang called the Boriquen Blazers decides to follow the Dominators after an encounter, however the Dominators end up gang-raping her and leaving her behind. In both of these situations, the girl initially tries to stir up the Warriors/Dominators by asking for a piece of their clothing. Mercy (the Orphans' girl) asks for a Warriors vest, and the Blazers' girl asks for a Dominators hat.
- Both the Warriors and the Dominators get split up into three separate parties at Union Square. One party heads toward a park; another jumps onto another train; the third enters a subway tunnel.
- The Dominators never encounter a rival gang that they have to fight, whereas the Warriors get into multiple violent situations.
- After the Warriors (in the film) fight and defeat a rival gang named the Baseball Furies, one of them (Ajax) attempts to rape a woman who turns out to be an undercover cop (Mercedes Ruehl). She handcuffs him to a bench and arrests him. The Baseball Furies do not even appear in the novel; instead, three of the Dominators: Hector, Lunkface, and Bimbo attempt to rape an aging, alcoholic nurse, who has all of them arrested.
- Six of the Warriors make it home; only four of the Dominators make it home.
- The film's ending promises the potentiality of happiness but the novel's ending shows the coming of age for the now broken Dominators.
- In the film, Cleon (Leader of the warriors) is jumped and beaten to death by the Gramercy Riffs while checking on the dead body of Cyrus after Luther (who really shot Cyrus) blames the murder on The Warriors after Fox (one of the Warriors) saw him do it. In the book, Arnold (Leader of the Dominators) is also jumped for checking out Ismael's dead body but makes it back and meets up with the four remaining members of the gang in the end.
