To Kill a Mockingbird - Compare and Contrast to Movie

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a fictional novel which explores the events in the small town of Maycomb through the eyes of Scout Finch, a 10 year old girl. Published and released in 1960, the novel became a favorite of modern American literature. Like most famous novels, it was adapted into a film. The film “To Kill a Mockingbird”, starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham, was released in 1962, two years after the novel. Generally, a novel and its film follow the same sequence of events; however, depending on the wishes of the director, certain scenes may be left out. This occurs in the film adaption of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The movie shares a similar storyline to the novel, but changes many themes removing key ideas that the author wanted to reveal through the plot. To adapt the novel, many parts of the film pose as an illustrated version of the original. The theme of racism which is central to the story is acted similarly. Since the movie is based off the novel, the general storyline must be similar. Scenes like the actions of Boo Radley, the attack of Bob Ewell on the children, and the trial of Tom Robinson all appear in both stories. Both versions show segregation between the two races. However, the movie does not include all the content from the original story, modifying and leaving out certain themes. Since the movie has less time to tell the story, it often excludes scenes and characters, thus, leaving out key roles that these characters bring. In the novel, Aunt Alexandra, plays a major role in teaching Scout how to be lady like. She comes to help Atticus and points out that “...it would be best for [Scout] to have some feminine influence… before [she] becomes interested in clothes and boys” (Lee, 170). We see her bringing Scout to tea parties and dressing her up to develop a feminine character in her. The role of Aunt Alexandra

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