TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD MOVIE

The film is compelling and influential. The legendary movie is significant as it takes place in the times of depression, whereby racism was obvious and its debt was common. The main focus of the movie is about the American legal system which was created in the year 1962. The movie success was attributed by its capability to capture the atmosphere during that time as color in films was available. It involves a racial injustice as well as the destruction of innocence (Mulligan, 1962). The film emphasizes on decrying prejudice and tolerance as it addresses issues of class, companion, courage and gender roles in America. The success can also be attributed to the way it was able to catch and comprehend the mood and the site of Alabama and Monroeville where the story took in. It also observed Court House area and local folks.

Atticus Finch is a lawyer representing Tom Robinson an African American who was falsely charged of raping an American woman in Southern Mississippi. From the proof gathered it has been evidently recognized that Robinson was innocent of any crime rather it was the injured party father who was at fault for hitting his daughter after he says them kissing (Mulligan, 1962). Racial discrimination jets in when all the white jury notwithstanding the evidence convicted Robinson which made Finch lose the case. However, the film was to have less symbolic times if they would have considered acquitting Robinson. During this time there were five high profile cases that reflected on a great impracticality of Finch task. The all white American jury vindicated the accused of Emmett Till in 1955 despite possible involvement in the murder (Mulligan, 1962).

Themes

Co-existence of Good and Evil

The application of various themes in the film has led to its effectiveness. The movie portrays Scouts and Jem as children who have been dramatized as a result of their innocence. This exploits the moral nature of human beings in which children assumes that human beings are fine because they have by no means they have been subjected to evil. In an grown up viewpoint, they have at one point dealt with evil and had to include it into their lives in order to understand the world they live in (Mulligan, 1962). This scene in the movie portrays a transition phase from innocence to familiarize as it involves abhorrence, injustice, and ignorance to Robinson and Radley as they are not set for the wickedness they about to come upon whose results destroys them.

Jem is victimized as a result of his discovery of the evil behind racism during and after the trial that was filled with unfairness. In Scout case, she was able to maintain her basic faith in human beings despite Robinson conviction which greatly ruins Jem’s faith which makes him retreat into a state of disillusionment (Mulligan, 1962). Finch is a moral voice who is virtually unique in that he has experienced and he is able to understand evil without necessarily letting go of his faith in the capacity of a human being for goodness. Finch understands that despite being simple human beings are creatures of good and evil most of them have both qualities. According to Finch, the most significant thing is to recognize and value the good and recognize the bad character and traits by a way of caring for others with kindness and try to view life from their point of view. Finch instills a moral lesson to Scot and Jem as a way of showing them it is possible to live with a sense of right and wrong without necessarily giving up on hope or becoming skeptical. In the film we see Finch admiring Mrs. Dubose’s courage when deploring her racism (Mulligan, 1962).

Importance of Moral Education

Due to the injustice of the legal system moral questions arise from the viewpoint of the brood and the teaching of the children. The film shows Scout’s ethical teaching and how children are taught to move from purity to maturity (Mulligan, 1962). The subject of moral education is exploited in the film through the relationship Finch and his children as he is seen to devote himself as he tries to instill societal principles in Scout and Jem. The various views at school offer a counterpoint to Finch successful education of his offspring. Scout has had a frequent confrontation with teachers who are either morally hypocritical or are frustratingly unsympathetic. Finch ability to fit in his children’s shoes portrays his as a perfect teacher while Caroline inflexible commitment in educational techniques that makes her unsuccessful and unsafe (Mulligan, 1962).

Societal Inequality

Communal status has been investigated widely throughout the complex community ladder of Maycomb which has constantly baffled the children. The unfair judicial system ran through the whole community that saw many people beneath the social hierarchy (Mulligan, 1962). Country farmers are below the town people, the Cunninghams are also below the town people and the Ewells are below the Cunningham’s. The black communities in the social hierarchy of Maycomb despite its abundance of qualities that are admirable were reduced to the level of squatting before the Ewells that enabled Bob Ewells in lacking the importance of prosecuting the Robinson. Scout is not in a position to understand why Alexander Aunt prohibits her companion with Cunningham. The children confusion of the horrible layering of Maycomb social order has been used to show the rank standing and the ultimate chauvinism in human relations (Mulligan, 1962).

Motifs

Gothic Details

The film has used the motif of Gothic to saw the forces of good and evil that dominated the judicial system. The forces were greater than where the actual story took place. There has been an addition of drama and atmosphere by Lee through gothic details. It has involved the style of fictions that was in the 18th century that features supernatural elements (Mulligan, 1962). The abnormal snowfall, the flames that destroys Maudie’s residence, the superstitions the brood about Radley, the crazy dog that Finch kills and the night of Halloween where Ewell assaults the children are examples of a corrupt system as it was also unnatural. Maycomb creates tension in the film that foreshadows worrying events of the unfair assessment and its aftermath.

Small-Town Village Life

The small town values are manifested in the film. It is a contrast as Lee emphasizes good-natured, slow-paced life of the Maycomb that suppress others. The horror of the fire lessens by confronting the scene where people of Maycomb join together to save Maudie possession which shows forces of evil. If the fire affected a black member of the community the case would have been different. This can also be proven by the cowardice attack of Ewell to the defenseless Scout who dresses in as a giant ham in the school pageant that shows Ewell to be unredeemable evil. This shows unfairness in the small town (Mulligan, 1962).

Symbols

Mockingbirds

The title carries a symbolic weight for the film. It proves how the innocent are killed by evil whereby mockingbirds symbolize an ideal of virtuousness. To destroy a mockingbird signifies the damage of innocence such by Robinson a victim of the unfair judicial system, Jem, Dill, Radley and Raymond can be identified as mockingbirds (Mulligan, 1962). Their innocence has been destroyed through the act of evil that has been experienced from the high ranking social hierarchy. The film shows how of a sin it is to kill a mockingbird. The last name of Jem and Scouts which is Finch shows that they are mostly susceptible in the Maycomb chauvinistic world which destroys the delicate innocence of the children cruelly.

Boo Radley

The children shifting approach towards Radley shows an imperative development of child innocence towards the moral perspective of an adult. At the commencement of the film, Radley is simply a source of fallacy. Despite the mysterious dark house that he lives in he becomes real to Jem and Scout as he fixes Jem’s pant (Mulligan, 1962). At the end, Radley becomes a fully human to Scout as she has been able to develop an understanding and a sympathetic individual. Radley is an intelligent child who has been destroyed by his cruel father comes out as a symbol that good people still exists. Despite the suffering, Radley purifies his heart in order to interact with other children saving Scout and Jem from Ewell proving that he is an ultimate symbol of good that the legal system lacked (Mulligan, 1962).

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Mulligan, R. (1962). To Kill A Mockingbird. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056592/