In both the short story and the teleplay One's A Heifer there is a similar plot which consists of a young boy setting out on a journey on his own, in search of two calves which are missing from his aunt and uncle's farm. In his search he comes upon the home of Arthur Vickers. He believes Vickers has stolen his calves and is hiding them in a stall, in the back of the barn. He proceeds to spend the night with Vickers, a night full of strange actions and unusual happenings. In the morning, in a mad dash to see inside the stall and to find his calves he puts up a fight with Vicker's, releases hi

The last major area of comparison between the original short story and the adaptation teleplay is theme. The themes in both versions have only one similarity which was presented in a parallel fashion in both versions. This similarity is the devastating effects of isolation on Vicker's character. The changes between the two, begin to show when Wheeler makes the main theme of her teleplay about a boy remaining a child. A boy making right a careless mistake. Wheeler also alters the boy's image from the archetype of every boy to a specific boy, named Peter McDermott. This makes the theme based solely on that character, making it impossible to have a universal theme. Wheeler's main character, now named Peter McDermott is on a trip to find the calves that were lost from his farm. They were lost simply because Peter forgot to close the gate one night and they escaped. When Peter returns from his journey, his uncle tells him to bed down his horse for the night and then says "And don't forget to close the gate this time." It is obvious that the only theme in Wheeler's version is a boy trying to correct a mistake that he has made. There is no universal theme in which the reader is able to see themselves in, nor are they able to relate to the events of the story. The story is about that boy, correcting his mistake, in order to save himself from getting in trouble with his aunt and uncle. This point is further proven when the boy is riding in search of the cows and he hears a voice over of his uncle saying "We can't afford to lose those calves." This only proves that no theme exists that can be related to by the reader because it's fairly certain that the majority of the viewers of this teleplay have never been forced to go out onto the prairies to find two calves. In contrast, Ross' original version of this story is far superior in the area of theme. In the short story, the boy does not have a name, which although seemingly a meaningless change is quite significant. This makes the boy "every boy" as far as archetypes. In doing so, Ross has a created a character which many can relate to as themselves at a younger age. Also, Ross' main theme in the story was the coming of age of the boy, the journey from innocence to experience. This journey is illustrated in the fact that the boy is looking for the lost calves because his uncle is too sick to do so. The boy says, "My uncle was laid up that winter with sciatica, so when the blizzard stopped and still two of the yearlings hadn't come home with the other cattle, Aunt Ellen said I'd better saddle Tim and start out looking for them." In going on this trek he is proving to his aunt and uncle that he is a man and can do the work that is usually done by his uncle. This voyage is easily identified with by the reader because everyone has a first experience at being an adult and proving their maturity. It is obvious that Sinclair Ross' original version of One's a Heifer is truly superior to the adaptation directed by Anne Wheeler. The theme represents something that can be related to by the reader, which makes the story more interesting to read as well as being more memorable.

Not only is Ross' plot exceptional, but also his characterization is superior compared to the work of Anne Wheeler. In both, the characterization of the boy remains the same, as a young, innocent boy trying to understand what is happening to him while at Vickers' place, but also trying to discover the mystery of the stall for himself. The character of Vickers was changed immensely for the worse in Wheeler's teleplay. In this adaptation Vickers is portrayed as a broken hearted man, who the reader is invited to hav

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Approximate Word count = 2476
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)