What is a notable difference in portrayal of a major character between book and film?

• A. Rooster Cogburn is portrayed with a different balance of brutality and humor in the film.
• B. The film depicts Cogburn as cowardly.
• C. Rooster Cogburn is completely removed from the film.
• D. Cogburn is portrayed as more merciful in the film with no humor.

Answer: (A)

Films often reshape how tough heroes come across by shifting the mix of brutality and humor. Rooster Cogburn is a prime example: in the novel he is a hard-edged, ruthless lawman whose violence sits alongside a dry, endearing wit. The film adaptations push that same character into a different balance, leaning more on humor and roguish charm while preserving the grit. That shift changes the mood and feel of the character, making him seem more like a larger-than-life figure rather than a grim embodiment of brutality. So describing the film as having a different balance of brutality and humor captures the key tonal difference.

The other ideas don’t fit as well: he isn’t portrayed as cowardly in the film, nor is he removed from the story, and the film does not remove humor or depict him as uniformly merciful with no humor.