Adrien Tang 10

January 7, 2011 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Compare and Contrast

In different circumstances many things can be situated into different versions. This can often be seen when a book is made into a movie. The book is often too detailed and contains many side-stories that aren t of much importance to the bigger picture. So as a result, the scriptwriter will usually edit out some insignificant elements when creating the movie. This is exactly what occurred in the book/movie of To Kill a Mockingbird. To begin, there are still many similarities between the book and movie. For example, Tom Robinson was still deemed guilty then died in an attempt to escape from prison. The story would have crumbled to pieces if the cinematographers had decided let him live. Another important similarity between the book and movie is the keen eye the children often had for Arthur Radley, with his history and the gifts he had repeatedly left them with. This interest was important to the storyline because it was the main foundation of the children's imagination. The last similarity I d like to point out before moving on to the alteration of the novel is how the African community of Maycomb still highly respected Atticus. The respect he got was not left undeserving; he obtained his respect by showing his courage. He was licked before [he began], but [he began] anyway and [he saw] it through no matter what. Now, in contrast with the book and movie versions of To Kill A Mockingbird there are many differences. One huge difference that was almost impossible to miss was the absence of two important characters and one not so much. These nonexistent characters included are Alexandra,, Jack and Lula. Alexandra was the needle that would always pierce Scout all throughout her story. She always wanted Scout to act more like a lady and she also portrayed the stereotype on a southern woman. She was also supposed to become like a mother to Scout. That transformation occurred in the book when she was trying to soothe Scout, telling her Jem wasn t dead. Next is Uncle Jack, the one who was there to argue that stereotype and reflect on the positive about southern people. Along with Atticus, he showed that not all southerners conformed to

the older thought process. He was the one who was patient with Scout, understood her and taught her the important lessons. He was also able to empathize with Atticus with the situation he was in. Lastly, Lula, the girl who was pestering the children at the African American Church was also removed. She was placed in the story to show the other forms of racism that also took place in the south. She was probably the only example in the story of black on white racism. Furthermore, there was also one difference during the trial. For example, although Mayella Ewell pretended to be very upset by Atticus' questioning, she did not accuse him of mocking her. This was somewhat significant because it was one of Mayella's tactics for trying to get pity from the jury. A larger distinction in the movie concerns Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose did make a trivial appearance in the movie, but her role was severed quite a bit from what it was formerly in the book. She was an old lady who was addicted to morphine and she played a considerable role in Jem's life. She continuously hassled the two children, offended Atticus, and just made life a living hell for them. When Jem lost his temper, he took it out on Mrs. Dubose's flower garden. His punishment was to read to Mrs. Dubose to help her break her addiction. When she died, Atticus gave Jem a lesson in what it is to have courage. That entire segment was erased from the film. Lastly, another part, which was left out was the scene with Adolphus Raymond, a white man who married a black woman and had mixed children. He showed an acceptance towards the blacks which even Atticus himself had not shown. His love for his wife and children had nothing to do with the color of their skin, but in order to pacify the racist town of Macomb he acted like an eternal drunk who didn t realize what he was doing. This sort of response towards the African Americans was shown nowhere else in the book, and it was used to portray that not all Maycomb people resort to racist beliefs; in fact some enjoy their company. When Harper Lee's novel was put to film, it lost many important parts of the story. Important characters, events, and concepts were lost in the movie. However, different versions of a creation will always have their differences. This is true in the book and movie versions of To Kill A Mockingbird.