The Sandlot Comparison

In both the movie The Sandlot and the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, there is a rumored, evil and mysterious entity that terrifies its victims through the stories that have been spoken or told and changed over time. In the book and the movie, both Mr. Radley’s house and The Beasts domain are depicted as unknown, eerie places of solitude, known only by the people or things that live there. The nine friends that play baseball at the sandlot and Scout and Jem’s house both lie next to their mysterious neighbors, making anything that happens their problem and giving the kids from both stories fresh adventure ideas. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the Radley’s and their house are depicted in writing as a lonelier, more mysterious place, Harper Lee describes the Radley’s in writing as, “The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb” (Lee 11). In The Sandlot, all of

the boys have a sleepover in one of their tree houses. The purpose for staying a night in the tree house was to explain and acquaint Smalls to The Beast, living just over the fence outside and below the tree house. Sitting on a ledge, Squints gets the gang quiet then flicks on his flashlight, pointing it up into his face. Squints then starts his story on how Mr. Mertle got the dog as a small pup, then fed and raised him to become The Beast, for the purpose of keeping thieves out of Mr. Mertle’s junk yard. Squints finishes his story, closing it with the lines, “And when Mr.

Mertle asked how long he had to keep the dog chained up like a slave, the police chief said, "For-ev-er. For-ev-er. For-ev-er."” (Squints). Both quotes display that each person or people or dog live in a cold solitude, for everyone around Mr. Radley or The Beast is scared or worried as to what might happen to themselves if they go near either of the two. The settings of the two places displays a grim, mysterious outlook of solitude, averting anyone from its path. Everyone in the book stays away from The Radley's house and all of the kids in the movie try to stay away from The Beasts yard. Throughout the course of most of the stories, the main characters are terrified to set foot anywhere near the mysterious places, but only because of words. The main characters have no actual intelligence as to what really lies inside the house or on the other side of the fence, so they rely on and believe the stories that have been told and the rumors about the stories that have grown over

time.