NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
When Harper Lee published To Kill A Mockingbird in 1960, she did not yet know that it was going to be made into a movie. The movie, filmed under the same title around that time, differs from the book at some points. The main themes of the book and the movie are different. While the novel mainly deals with racism, patriotism, and the mob attitude of society, the movie partially ignores these, if not totally.
The movie concentrates more on the scenes dealing with Tom Robinsons case. The issue of racism is handled differently in the movie than the book. The book concentrates on racism in the South during the Great Depression. One of the ways Harper Lee does this is by introducing Dolphus Raymond.
Dolphus Raymond, a white man, is married to a black woman and has children with her. Neither the white nor the black societies accept them because they are not part of either society, they believe. This shows that a community back then in the South was often divided into two parts, divided by race. The invisible division is also shown when the county starts to gossip about Atticus, calling him a nigger lover. In addition, Harper Lee shows racism by presenting the blacks as inferiors. When Jem and Scout go to the Black Church with Calpurnia in the book, they are quite surprised by the blacks illiteracy and their poorness.
The fact that blacks do the dirty, manual work in the novel is another proof of their inferiority. Zero, a black character, is the county's trash man. In the movie, however, this segregation in society and jobs is not as well portrayed, mainly because these important parts are omitted. Simple things in the novel are blamed on the blacks, but the movie leaves this out. It was the black presence that made Mr.
Radley take Boo out of the jail. An additional proof of racism in the book is Atticus remark, namely when he says that Tom Robinsons case is a lost case from the beginning simply because he is black sued by a white man. The court scene of the movie does not give off the same impression and racism does not become a main theme in the movie. The only character that seems to be racist in the movie is Bob Ewell, who gets insulted by the fact that Atticus believes a black mans words over his. He, however, is not representing racism in the South, but is shown as an individual with racist beliefs. An individual cannot present the racism in the South because he is not the only white, in fact, not all the whites act like him.
In addition, the author and the movie director seem to have different opinions on patriotism. Harper Lees Atticus is portrayed as a patriot fighting for the right of a weak, innocent man, sacrificing his image in the family and in the county. His relatives make racist remarks and do not wish him to represent Tom Robinson. Fighting against his own family and relatives, Atticus does take the case, ignoring his own family's racist history.
This causes a greater admiration by his own children, Jem and Scout. On the other hand, the movie leaves out the relatives through which Atticus patriotism is less emphasized. The mob attitude of a community is also shown differently in the movie from the book. The group of women gossiping about the current events is also omitted in the movie. Although the novel makes it clear that Atticus is fighting against almost the entirety of Maycomb County, the movie makes it seem like he is only fighting against a small group of people. Only the Ewell's and the jury seem to think different than Atticus does.
The sense of community that was shown by the novel, such as conversations, media, and finding a common scapegoat is not present in the movie. The representation of the white mob is ignored. Characters like Dolphus Raymond, who suffer under the mob attitude, were rare in the movie. In fact, not even Atticus was portrayed as a victim of the mob for having different views. There does not seem to be a white mob in the movie that made things so decisive in the book except for the jailhouse scene, where a lynch mob showed up for Tom Robinson.
But again, this could be seen as people being against Tom Robinson. The scene of Link Deas was missing, where he would be saying that Tom Robinson never was problematic. This deletion emphasized on hatred to Tom Robinson and not to the black people. The trial is shown fully in the movie. The court scene is not only the climax of the movie, but at the same time, this is like the main theme of the movie. The director wants the audience to concentrate on the court.
However, because the white mob was missing, it was not shown as a trial of a black man against a white man, but as Tom Robinson against Bob Ewell. Tom Robinson did not represent the weakness of a black man; neither did he represent victims of racism. The novel says that Tom Robinson was killed with 17 shots, a greater number compared to one accidental shot in the movie. The power of the whites is less represented. While the book makes it clear that it is embarrassing for the juries to let a black man win against a white man, or that Mayella Ewell kissed a black man, the movie simply deals with the case with only small amounts of racism existing in the white community. The director adds scenes about the case of Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell.
The judge comes to Atticus house, Atticus and Bob Ewell meet at the courthouse about the case in the beginning of the movie before the trial, and Atticus visits Toms house twice about the case. Through these deletions and changes, the movie told a different story. The story in the movie was more about two individuals hating each other and the Jury gave an unfair verdict. The book was about racism, patriotism, and few more other things, but showed very thoroughly with advices. The book was not too explosive for a movie, but it contained things that only through reading the audience will understand what the author is trying to say. The description of the church that is used for a bar for white men during the weeks cannot be shown in scenes and the narrator cannot tell everything.
Movies dont contain too much of narration. The narration can lose audiences attention because movies are to watch and listen and not just listen. The last scene of the novel, when Scout talks about the metaphor of Boo, the Grey Ghost, Atticus tells her that most people are nice once you see them. It is another evidence of mob attack that people are against others before they get to know them. The movie leaves this part out.
The endings of the movie and the book are different; when the book ends with a metaphor to show the mentality of whites in the South during the Depression, the movie ends with Scout talking about how one should be in someone elses shoes to know how he feels. The ending of the movie makes the audience pity the people in bad situations because we learn how they feel, but in addition to that, the book tells us farther more things: Know the person before you judge him. This ending makes the audience understand the unfairness that Blacks suffered under after the book talking about racism. The movie on the other hand tried to make the audience be in Toms situation and pity him. Overall, the movie did not show the same themes as the book. The movie was at the right length to keep the audiences attention.
But due to its length the director shortened the plot by taking out evidences of racism, patriotism, and the mob attitude. Instead of these themes of the novel, the movie mainly deals with the court case, ignoring the representation of racism, patriotism, and the mob attitude, however. This leaves gaps in the plot of the movie and presents a story quite different from the novel.
Free research essays on topics related to: dolphus raymond, jem and scout, makes the audience, tom robinson, makes it clear
Research essay sample on Makes It Clear Jem And Scout
