To Kill A Mockingbird Movie Vs Book

Even though To Kill a Mockingbird is to great works of literature, a movie and a book, they differ greatly in their theme, characters, and scenes. In To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee and the “To Kill a Mockingbird” movie by Robert Mulligan and Horton Foote, there are many important differences that influence the significance of some portions’ meanings. The main three differences are the absence of some major characters, major theme change, and the absence of important scenes.

Between To Kill a Mockingbird and the “To Kill a Mockingbird” movie, there is an absence of a few main characters, like Mr. Dolphus Raymond and Aunt Alexandra. Part of the major theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is femininity. Aunt Alexandra moves in with Atticus,

Jem, and Scout to help them have a “mother figure”. She tries to make Scout more ladylike in a sense of changing her clothing, her attitude, how she acts, and how she talks. Even though she makes Scout more ladylike, she spends most of her time living with the Finches nagging at the family, sharing her opinions about the townspeople and their social status, and tries to protect her family name. With Aunt Alexandra gone, the viewer could have a difficult time understanding a major theme that played a large role in the book. Another key figure that is missing in the movie is Mr. Dolphus Raymond. He is a very important character because he was the key figure for racial injustice development, another main theme in the book. In the town, he liked to give people a reason for thinking things about him. “Dill released the straws and grinned. ‘Scout, it’s nothing but Coca-Cola.’ Mr. Raymond sat up against the tree-trunk. He had been lying on the grass. ‘You little folks won’t tell on me now will you?’ It’d ruin my reputation if you did” (Lee, 267). The people of Maycomb thought all Mr. Dolphus Raymond drank was whiskey in a brown paper bag, and as it turns out, it is just Coca-Cola. Later on he says, “I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason” (Lee, 268). Later on in the same discussion, Raymond is speaking to Scout and Dill in further explanation why he wants to “give people a reason”. “It ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks. Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see the could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live” (Lee, 268). These two quotes demonstrate how Mr. Dolphus Raymond is going against the social norms because he does not want to be ostracized by the people of Maycomb. Mr. Raymond and Aunt Alexandra are very meaningful figures in To Kill a Mockingbird but don’t get the chance to be portrayed in the movie. The removal of certain characters eliminate the viewer’s understanding of how these key characters have a major impact on the story line.
There is a major change in theme between the “To Kill a Mockingbird” movie and the book.

In the book, Lee creates the theme of racism, innocence, and of course, the mockingbird. Now, these are just a few of the major themes in the book, but as for the movie, it really tones it down. The movie doesn’t really have a clear theme set forwards. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Lee stresses the idea of racism by making the Tom Robinson trial a huge part of the book. Lee shows how prejudice the people of Maycomb are. In her book, she has the kids experience the “black and white” sides of the town by having Scout and Jem go to Calpurnia’s church. On the flip side, Lee has Scout and Jem live with a white father, who is defending a black man, and them have to hear all of the things the white people in Maycomb have to say about their father. Innocence is symbolized through Scout and Jem throughout the beginning and very end of the book. Harper Lee demonstrates innocence in many different ways. One of the ways is when Scout and Dill plan to get married. They are both too young and innocent to understand what marriage or why people marry, so they just pretend as a way of acting grown up. Lastly, the mockingbird is part of the major theme in the book. At Christmas time, when Jem and Scout recieve airguns, Atticus explains that he prefers for them to shoot at tin cans, but if they must shoot at living things, they must never kill a mockingbird. Ms. Maudie later then explains why Atticus is

correct- “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us” (Lee, 119). Throughout the book, the mockingbird comes to represent true goodness, purity, innocence, and should always be protected. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the directors did not stress any of these themes clearly. There was a brief talking of the mockingbird and innocence in the movie. The idea of racism and prejudiceness is less obvious in the film than in the book, although it is apparent. Lee has Scout and Jem notice and take on a larger portion of the Tom Robinson trial. They notice more of what is going between Atticus and Tom and the people of Maycomb.
In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there are a few important scenes which have gone missing from the novel to the movie.

An important scene that goes missing is when Jem takes Scout’s baton and destroys Mrs. Dubose’s yard due to a comment made by Mrs. Dubose. “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (Lee, 135) Mrs. Dubose makes this comment which causes Jem to get “scarlet” in the face and very disturbed. “He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off of every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves. He bent my baton against his knee, and snapped it in two and threw it down” (Lee, 137). This quote shows how Jem is beginning to stray from symbolizing an innocent child, as portrayed at the beginning of the book, to a man with courage. Harper Lee shows the maturity of Jem because he stands up for his father and his family because Mrs. Dubose insults Atticus for defending Tom Robinson, a black man. In the book, Harper Lee has Jem wanting to be more and more like his father by showing him standing up for what he believes in and not holding back. Lee also doesn’t have Jem hold back what he says and has Jem speak his mind. This key scene is absent from the movie where as in the movie, Jem is portrayed as an innocent and harmless child the whole time where he doesn’t really stand up for what he believes in or defends

Atticus.