To Kill A Mockingbird Book Vs Movie Analysis

Classic books which become very famous are often made into films in order to appeal to more possible fans. Typically, though, movie adaptations of books tend to stray from the original plots and storylines. This can be because of copyright, or more commonly because movies cannot capture quite as much specific detail as the diction written in pieces of literature. Such as the book and movie adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there is much evidence leaning towards whether the movie’s plot stayed true to the text. Overall, the narrative elements of setting, characterization, and mood portrayed in the film closely match those portrayed in the original text.

To begin, the descriptive text created a detailed visual of the Radley house

Through her actions and words, Mayella was brought to life. To begin, in the book, Mayella possessed the traits of being mortified, traumatized, and frightened to her core. As the author mentions, “Mayella stared at him and burst into tears. She covered her mouth with her hands and sobbed. Judge Taylor let her cry for a while, then he said, ‘That’s enough now. Don’t be ‘fraid of anybody here, as long as you tell the truth’” (Lee 240). It was evident that Mayella was very scared, or she would not have started crying for a period of time. There could have been many reasons for her to be scared as well. It was hinted at that her father had constantly gotten himself drunk and beaten her when he did so. It was not said directly but could be inferred as a definite possible reasoning for her being so frightened. Meanwhile, in the movie, Mayella was depicted tearing up constantly and was hesitant with letting her father touch her -- more evidence to the claim that her father beat her. She was continually hunched over with her hands remaining in her lap. To add, she had a persistently worried expression on her face and lashed out at times. To sum up, the actress clearly portrayed a young lady who had been traumatized or hurt in some way and was trying her best to hide the real reason behind it. Acting the way she did in both the movie and the book is, in fact, one of many ways any traumatized person would act when confronted with the reason for their traumatization. More specifically, Mayella was confronted by Atticus with the question of whether her father beat her, and she was forced to lie in fear of him beating her