To Kill a Mockingbird

 

The differences and similarities between ‘To Kill a Mockingbird' novel and the movie.

 Lee’s novel and film talk about racial injustice. In the novel and the film, Harper Lee is concerned with the theme of racism and how individuals from different races create misunderstandings and stereotypes (Sergel & Lee, 1970). For example, in both the novel and the film, Scout's family does not support racism but they display sympathy to other races. Scout is the protagonist. Both the novel and the film are concerned with feminine behavior. Scout represents the gender role though she is unable to conform to the social role due to lack of exposure. Similarly, in the film, the protagonist is still struggling with gender identity (Sergel & Lee, 1970). For example, when she joins schools, she feels uncomfortable wearing dresses.  However, the novel and the film do not concentrate much on gender identity but they pay much attention to the issue of racism and prejudice. Atticus is defending Tom Robinson who is accused of rape crime. In the novel, Atticus defends the defendant and in the film, he wants to appeal the case although the defender is killed (Sergel & Lee, 1970). There is a similarity of the nature of relationship between Boo and the children. The children fear him and they are also curious about seeing how the Boo's house looks like. The novel and the film also present Atticus as a person who is respected by the community due to his intelligence, wisdom, confidence.

 Even though the film and the movie have the same theme, they differ in narration. For example, it is easier to narrate the story in the novel than in the film. In the book, Scout is narrating the story in her point of view simply because she is the main character and hence narrates about her experiences (Sergel & Lee, 1970). The audience can sense the first-person point of view from childhood. However, in the film, the narrator is not straightforward. The narration is presented as a third-person narrative and it concentrates much on the adult perspective (Sergel & Lee, 1970). In other words, Scout focus on the life of Atticus. In general, the books tell more than the film. Focusing on character, the film does not concentrate much on character development. For example, the readers can detect Calpurnia's character development as she warns the people about the mad dog. The novels also contain symbolism in that Atticus kills the dog as an indication of fighting racism.

 

 

Reference

Sergel, C., & Lee, H. (1970). Harper Lee's To kill a mockingbird. Woodstock, Ill: Dramatic Pub.

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