Compare And Contrast To Kill A Mockingbird

The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, has been critically praised as a landmark work and important piece of American literature dealing with such fundamental issues of society. The 1962 movie adaption has received similar proclamations of genius storytelling. But when compared side by side, does the movie truly stand up to the literary masterpiece and accurately present the themes and lesson intended by the author? After examining the restrictions on character and plot development by formatting, the difference in voice from the movie to the novel, and the shared themes, it can be concluded that although the movie succeeds in passing along the same messages that the book does, it fails in fully living up to the amount of detail and technique in plot and details that the novel provides, making it not entirely sufficient as a transcription of the original To Kill A Mockingbird into film. The varied pace and notation of the passage of time used by Lee in the novel is lacking the movie, leaving it to feel rushed in some places, as
It provides an objective and innocent view of the blunt racism and bitterness that runs amuck in the Southern society of Maycomb. Scout’s naive thought process of to what is right and wrong in the world she see is what teaches the reader that the flaws of adults become clear to the most basic logic of a child. The novel’s 1st person perspective from her is truly an inside view into the world without much of the bias collected as one grows up. As the movie is told in 3rd person, with an occasional narration from the grown up Scout, it lacks that clear view, and is telling not showing the Finch’s story, losing the specificity in her experience and the strong connection Lee forged between the audience and Scout. This is detrimental to how relatable and emotionally affecting To Kill A Mockingbird