Influince

    Stefan Zweig's story "Twenty-four Hours In A Life Of A Woman" has similar elements to Wes Anderson's "The Budapest Hotel." The setting of both stories is a French hotel where wealthy Europeans come for vacation. Both stories have similar characters, but the focus is different. In the short story, it focuses on the guests of the hotel. In the movie, the story focuses on the employees and owners of the hotel. The plot in both stories uses a story within a story. In the short story, the guests are shocked because a young wife and mother run away with a man she just met. The older English woman is not shocked, and she shares with the narrator about twenty-four hours in her life where she behaved like the woman who ran away. In the Budapest Hotel, we get a flashback that explains how Zero became the owner of the hotel and about the tragic events of Gustave's life.

    Both stories had themes about judgment. People in the short story were shocked at the young woman's behavior and they judged her. The English lady and the narrator thought the mean people should not have been so hard on her. They wondered if we all might not do something shocking one day. In the movie, the wealthy people judged Gustave because they did not think he deserved to be in a rich ladies will. This judgment follows him until he dies. Zero felt sorry for him and kept the hotel alive in his memory.