To Kill A Mockingbird: Movie vs. Novel
Over the past month, I have been reading the novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird", written by Harper Lee, and, I will say, this was no small literature assignment. Not only have I paid the book my full attention and thought, but I have even gone passed the novel's features, for I, as well as many others attending my class, have put the novel into analysis, and utilized the findings in poems, character comparisons, and connections to current world events. This has given me a great deal of understanding about the novel, making it rather simple to compare it to similar works, or in this case, the "To Kill A Mockingbird" film, released in 1962. In this blog, I will note the immensely emphatic differences between the acclaimed movie and the novel I was able to find, and how these differences impact the movie's plot and/or quality.
The biggest contrast I had found was one that comprised of a substantial number of smaller contrasts, and that is, the lack of minor characters in the movie. I was able to draw this observation from the following few absent characters:
1. Mrs Dubose- Mrs. Dubose may have had minimal page space, her impact in "To Kill a Mockingbird" was all but minor. Mrs. Dubose was a representation of Maycomb County's many thoughts on the Finch Family. From heckling Atticus about his newest client's race to degrading Scout's attire in a complacent manner, Mrs. Dubose stated not only her beliefs, but the beliefs that almost all of Maycomb held, making her impact that of note.
But in lieu of this, Mrs. Dubose was next to absent in the film. We are only shown her heckling the Finch children as they walk down to Atticus, an event that may have happened in the book, but one that was far from one that represented her impact in the novel.
2. Dolphus Raymond- Another character that had a substantial affect on Maycomb's image and eventually the novel was a man by the name of Dolphus Raymond. Raymond was a rich, white man whom was soon to be wed, but his white fiancé had committed suicide, thus causing him to leave her for an African American woman. Maycomb's White Community shunned Raymond, as he had biracial children with this woman, which was seen as "sinful" and "immoral". Scout, Jem, and Dill later encounter Raymond in trial when Dill starts to feel sick from Atticus's Interrogation. It is later revealed that Raymond disguises Coca Cola as beer, for an alleged alcohol addiction would be easier for Maycomb Folk to understand why he made his choices.
Raymond was a living, breathing example of the oppression/discrimination many faced in Maycomb due to race and/or racial associations. His lie also highlighted Maycomb's concern with race, as opposed to other issues many of us deem as much more concerning, such as alcoholism. However, he is nowhere to be found in the film, which validates the observation made earlier.
3. Mr. Link Deas- Link Deas had also felt the need to combat racism in Maycomb, but unlike Raymond, he had taken a much more active role in standing up for African Americans in the community. During the trial, a voice could be heard showing support for Tom Robinson's case. This
is then confirmed to be Deas. He also had provided Tom Robinson's wife, Helen, with employment when Tom had passed.
Link Deas was a representation of the scarcity of concern for racism in the community, for it is of note that almost every action or statement he had performed/made was met with ridicule. But despite this, he wasn't to make even a slight cameo in the movie, which is one of my final examples as to the absence of minor characters.
In light of these findings, it is safe to say that I believe that the novel had been able to convey the primary message slightly more sufficiently. This is due to the novel's utilization of minor characters, which gave the readers multiple examples of Maycomb Folks, and due to these character's complex storylines and ridicule, (or lack there of in few scenarios), from the general Maycomb population, the readers are more inclined to draw their own, individual conclusions about Maycomb and Racial bias/ prejudice. The film may have been able to get it's message across, but the lack of minor characters doesn't give the audience to come to rather complex, comprehensive conclusions about the city.
The biggest contrast I had found was one that comprised of a substantial number of smaller contrasts, and that is, the lack of minor characters in the movie. I was able to draw this observation from the following few absent characters:
1. Mrs Dubose- Mrs. Dubose may have had minimal page space, her impact in "To Kill a Mockingbird" was all but minor. Mrs. Dubose was a representation of Maycomb County's many thoughts on the Finch Family. From heckling Atticus about his newest client's race to degrading Scout's attire in a complacent manner, Mrs. Dubose stated not only her beliefs, but the beliefs that almost all of Maycomb held, making her impact that of note.
But in lieu of this, Mrs. Dubose was next to absent in the film. We are only shown her heckling the Finch children as they walk down to Atticus, an event that may have happened in the book, but one that was far from one that represented her impact in the novel.
2. Dolphus Raymond- Another character that had a substantial affect on Maycomb's image and eventually the novel was a man by the name of Dolphus Raymond. Raymond was a rich, white man whom was soon to be wed, but his white fiancé had committed suicide, thus causing him to leave her for an African American woman. Maycomb's White Community shunned Raymond, as he had biracial children with this woman, which was seen as "sinful" and "immoral". Scout, Jem, and Dill later encounter Raymond in trial when Dill starts to feel sick from Atticus's Interrogation. It is later revealed that Raymond disguises Coca Cola as beer, for an alleged alcohol addiction would be easier for Maycomb Folk to understand why he made his choices.
Raymond was a living, breathing example of the oppression/discrimination many faced in Maycomb due to race and/or racial associations. His lie also highlighted Maycomb's concern with race, as opposed to other issues many of us deem as much more concerning, such as alcoholism. However, he is nowhere to be found in the film, which validates the observation made earlier.
3. Mr. Link Deas- Link Deas had also felt the need to combat racism in Maycomb, but unlike Raymond, he had taken a much more active role in standing up for African Americans in the community. During the trial, a voice could be heard showing support for Tom Robinson's case. This
is then confirmed to be Deas. He also had provided Tom Robinson's wife, Helen, with employment when Tom had passed.
Link Deas was a representation of the scarcity of concern for racism in the community, for it is of note that almost every action or statement he had performed/made was met with ridicule. But despite this, he wasn't to make even a slight cameo in the movie, which is one of my final examples as to the absence of minor characters.
In light of these findings, it is safe to say that I believe that the novel had been able to convey the primary message slightly more sufficiently. This is due to the novel's utilization of minor characters, which gave the readers multiple examples of Maycomb Folks, and due to these character's complex storylines and ridicule, (or lack there of in few scenarios), from the general Maycomb population, the readers are more inclined to draw their own, individual conclusions about Maycomb and Racial bias/ prejudice. The film may have been able to get it's message across, but the lack of minor characters doesn't give the audience to come to rather complex, comprehensive conclusions about the city.
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