To Kill A Mocking Bird: A Comparison of The Novel and The Film

705 Words3 Pages
To Kill A Mocking Bird
A Comparison of The Novel and The Film

There are many differences between the movie and the book. First the positive points: This film attaches faces to Scout, Jem, Miss Maudie, and Dill, since no description of their faces is given in the book. Also, the film has some genuinely hilarious moments, particularly the scene where Scout is dressed as a ham and walking through the forest. Another good point is that the acting was superb and a treat to watch. Gregory Peck, who played Atticus, was captivating. The film is cast very well. The novel does not give physical descriptions of Scout, Jem, Miss Maudie, and Dill, but the film characters were believable. The actors look like what we would expect them to look like.…show more content…
These negative points certainly subtract from the plot.

On the subject of scenes left out, the list is quite big for such an important story. The scene in which it snows, and Miss Maudie's house catches on fire, did not happen, proof is seen when we see that at the end of the film, Miss Maudie has the same house as in the beginning. Also, Dill does not cry in the courtroom scene. There is no Christmas family reunion, where Scout meets her snotty cousin and develops character, Aunt Alexandra never moves in, Ms Dubose is seen for about 30 seconds, which is disappointing because she helped develop Jem's character. In the scene where the mob confronts Atticus, there is no Mr. Underwood covering Atticus with his rifle. We never get to see Scout's famous mess up at the pageant, and Cecil Jacob's never jumps out of the bushes to scare Scout. These scenes are all very important to plot and character development, and it makes the viewer wonder why the editors left all that out and included the minor scene where Atticus shoots a mad dog. Additionally, the order of scenes is switched around, and the time frame is compacted into about one year, compared to the books 3 years.

If I could make any changes, I'd colourize the film, add the scenes in which Calpurnia takes the children to church, the pageant (admittedly, its really only so I can laugh at the ham costume again), as well as the Aunt Alexandra fiasco. I'd also give Boo his line, and make the
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