To Kill A Mockingbird Movie Analysis

The intriguing novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is written by the prestigious author Harper Lee. Lee has utilised the lifestyle and attitudes towards ‘African-Americans" in the 1930's to create a novel which presents the reader with Lee's attitudes and values. The dominant reading of the novel is focused on the issues of racial prejudice, but there are also a number of other alternative and oppositional readings. Examples of this are the Marxist and feminist readings which can be applied to the text.

The ambition of oneself to pursue justice and righteousness may result in prosecution. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, and movie "A Time to Kill" by Joel Schumacher, each demonstrate one’s open-mindedness and forward thinking leads to penalization through protagonists Atticus Finch and Jake Brigance. Both egalitarians take the position as an attorney for an African American and are prosecuted in the process.

Mockingbirds will only sing their hearts, not cause any damage or give their lives to pleasing others. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird great examples are shown of different types of mockingbirds. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley are great examples of representing a mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a coming of age story of two young children, Scout and Jem Finch, who learn how to live in the prejudiced society of the fictional town, Maycomb, Alabama. Many characters are involved in helping Scout and Jem learn important lessons and mature, whether it is by mouth or through actions. They learn how to be more gentleman and ladylike, they learn that people are sometimes cruel and ignorant, but most importantly, they learn to look at people with more than one perspective. Harper Lee uses the characters Atticus, Dolphus Raymond, and Boo Radley, to show the idea that one cannot fully understand another person until he or she walks in that person's shoes.

Growing up is a difficult task, especially when the town around you doesn’t offer to help you understand what’s going on around you. Using many examples of the loss of childhood innocence, Harper Lee shows us that a corrupted society leads to growing up faster and one’s childhood is stripped away. Through Jem, the eldest of the Finch children, and Scout, the youngest, the readers see how a trial in 1930 Alabama takes a toll of young minds. In Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she implies that growing up leads to loss of innocence, especially in troubling times.

“It's right hard to say," she said. "Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks' talk at home it'd be out of place, wouldn't it? Now what if I talked white-folks' talk at church, and with my neighbors? They'd think I was puttin' on airs to beat Moses, "But Cal, you know better," I said. “It's not necessary to tell all you know. It's not ladylike—in the second place, folks don't like to have somebody around knowing more than they do. It aggravates 'em. You're not gonna change

“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered”...

Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird details the life of young Scout Finch and brother Jem Finch, who is growing up in a time of racial uniqueness. Jem and Scout Finch are what most would call a typical family growing up in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. They encounter many different obstacles during their childhood missions with many characters making the novel an interesting read. Throughout the book, Lee is showing Jem and Scout grow up and become mature young adults. This novel, written by Harper Lee, demonstrates the themes of growing up, Innocence and most importantly, racism.

Although the movie and book, To Kill a Mockingbird, are based off of the same storyline, they have some very key differences. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic novel about the childhood of two children, Jean Louise and Jem, who live with their father, Atticus Finch. This captivating story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression and was written in 1960. This novel teaches readers a great deal about society and life during the Great Depression. The differences found between Harper Lee’s book and Robert Mulligan’s movie are countless and have a great impact on the theme and plot.

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb County, Alabama from 1935 to 1938. The novel is about two young kids growing up in a segregated town in Alabama, where they learn the importance of being considerate of others. The main character is Scout Finch. Scout is six years old and lives with her older brother Jem, and her widowed father Atticus. In the summer they play games with their friend Dill around the Radley house.

If a book is retold in film format then it seems to follow logically that it now deviates from the original book, yet the same story is still being told and with To Kill a Mockingbird we see that through scene additions (or subtractions), details, and technique the film manages to preserve core points of the story for the audience. Translating the elements of the book that are solely for literature can prove tricky for screenwriters and though some manage to pull it off artistic liberty is a danger to still be wary of. At times it is used too freely and the story turns into another one entirely, but sometimes it isn’t used enough and no matter how close the movie follows the book it lacks the adaptation from book to screen that is interpretation. However there are those movies that make the cut in doing a fine job of retelling a story without altering what really matters and the film for To Kill a Mockingbird does just that. So while it may take some liberties in its efforts to set the mood within a time limit it does not stray from the greater themes and characters at hand that make the story what it is. With new elements to consider comes the manipulation of scenes, the smudging of details, and the play of technique that all work towards the film maker’s vision for presenting To Kill a Mockingbird’s innermost themes in a way the differences between the formats can work for and not against the story.

As children, we often copy our parent's values and beliefs. In the novel ”To Kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee the author demonstrates that parents pass down their ideals and values to their children through their actions . This leads to their children inheriting their character traits. In the novel, Atticus and Bob Ewell demonstrate their kind and abusive parenting style through their actions that influence the values and beliefs of their children.

There were several differences between the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" and the movie that I noticed. In the movie, during Tom Robinson's explanation of the events with Mayella, he never says, "She says she never kissed a grown man before an' she might as well kiss a nigger. She says what her papa do to her don't count." Although this is a rather vulgar line from the book, I felt that it was important to the character development of the Ewells. In the movie, we infer that the Ewell family is disliked and of poor character, but we do not see the extent of this. After reading this line in the book, I had a better understanding of the Ewell family and their poor morals.

Every movie has their own villain, but “To Kill a Mockingbird” creates a new perspective. As the movie begins, Bob Ewell is revealed to be a ruthless and drunken man. In the first scene Bob appears in, the camera catches certain aspects of his evil motives. The director plays no music in order for the watcher to carefully hear the antagonizing words of Bob Ewell. He clearly shows the watcher that Bob is the adversary of the movie. The positioning of the camera consists of close, crooked angles to represent his “crooked” views. Bob Ewell’s voice sounds rough and unclear, emphasizing his spiteful intentions.

The story, in the eyes of two innocent children Scout and her brother Jem, of the discrimination and hypocrisy throughout the town. Maycomb County, Alabama, faces an African American’s injustice while the children learn valuable lessons from their father, Atticus and their housemaid Calpurnia, during the Great Depression. All the while, we are learning from it. To Kill a Mockingbird teaches us the lessons of morale, justice and equality.