To Kill a Mockingbird Compare and Contrast

The excellent novel of “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is a brilliant piece of American literature. Being an instant bestselling novel, it was also made into an award-winning film. Like most, the book and the film portrayed the same storyline and setting, but also produced significant differences as well. The themes in this story were deceptive appearances, racism and acceptance.

To begin with, there were many similarities between the two masterpieces. A good example would be the common fascination between Boo Radley and Scout and Jem. Both parties showed interest for each other. Radley gave the children numerous gifts, while the children constantly approached Boo Radley’s house, trying to get a glimpse of his appearance. In addition, both the book and the film gave the image that Boo himself was a crazed man during the beginning of the story. However as time passed, it was revealed that he is a genuinely kind and loving man. This theme plays a big part of the children’s imagination throughout the entire plot as well. Another significant similarity would be the amount of mutual relationship and respect that the African-American community had for Atticus for defending them in court. It showed that they appreciated Atticus’ help and were grateful for him. If it hadn’t been included in the story, the perception of the African-American community would’ve been very different. More similarities include Tom Robinson attempting to escape from prison and getting shot, Mr. Ewell killed by Boo Radley, Atticus shooting a dog infected with rabies, the close relationship that the children had will Dill, Scout beating up Walter Cunningham, and Mrs. Dubose complaining how Atticus defends the coloured community.

In contrast to the similarities, there were also many differences that appeared. One example would be the absence of Aunt Alexandra in the film. Due to the fact that Aunt Alexandra was not present, I was not able to see the feminine side of Scout. In the novel, Aunt Alexandra represented authority and therefore played a big role in expressing the behaviors and attitudes of the children. Another difference would be that Calpurnia, the maid, did not bring Jem and Scout to church. This is significant because through that scene, we are able to acknowledge the respect that the coloured community had for the children’s family. By taking that particular section out, the movie is missing an essential factor of the whole story line. ‘Moreover, Miss Maudie’s house did not go in flames like it did in the novel. Since this event had not happenened in the movie, we are not given an idea of what Boo Radley’s personality and character is like when he is supposedly placed a blanket around Scout. Also during the trial, Mayella did not accuse Atticus of mocking her like it should’ve been in the book. This leaves out an important aspect of determining what kind of people the Ewells are. Lastly, the novel indicated that Mrs Dubose had instructed Jem to read to her everyday before she died. However, the film had left this specific scene out. Due to this, we were not able to see in-depth what kind of women she was.

Although both the award-winning film and the novel covered common aspects, it also shared differences. Through bot literatures we were able to experience an alternating perspective of the original storyline and thus made it much more interesting.