In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout unknowingly saves Atticus from a group of men outside the jailhouse. The 1962 film faithfully adapts the novel by conveying the same implication that Scout unknowingly made the men feel bad about themselves and placed herself as an equal among the men. The unspoken elements of lighting, camera angles and framing helped achieve this concept.
The scene in the film begins with Scout, played by Mary Badham, running up to Atticus, played Gregory Peck, through the group of men with Jem and Dill following behind. The camera is at Badham’s point of view which shows the men from their torsos and leads up to showing Peck with a low angle and high-key lighting while he is standing up. The camera being at Badham’s point of view brings across two concepts, Scout is a child and the men are intimidating. Badham’s eye-level is the men’s torsos which shows how small she is among them and how they tower over her creating the idea of a threat. However, Atticus is being presented with high-key lighting that demonstrates that he is not a threat to her. Instead he is her focus and the low angle shows that he is above them, higher class than the men and older than the children.
Once Atticus starts telling Jem to take Scout and Dill home there is a continuous close up on Peck’s face during the conversation. The camera also follows Jem, played by Philip Alford, during the conversation though in his shots it also includes Badham and Dill, played by John Megna, to show the subjects as the children in general instead of solely one. During the conversation, Peck’s and Alford’s facial expressions show the worry that Atticus and Jem have and it steps up the concept that men are the reason behind the worry. At the beginning of ...
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...ates that he does not want to be seen and the shadow over his eyes make him appear as if guilty. A person would feel guilty if they do or did something that is not right. On the other hand, Badham has high-key lighting throughout the scene, including before she started talking, with no shadows on her face. The full light on her shows that she has nothing to hide and in a way displays her innocence.
In conclusion, the 1962 film, To Kill a Mockingbird, successfully adapted the novel’s impression that “it took an eight-year-old child to bring ‘em to their (the men) senses” (Lee 179). This impression was brought on by the analysis of elements such as lighting and the camera’s framing and angles.
Works Cited
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Perennial Classics, 2002. Print.
To Kill a Mockingbird. Dir. Robert Mulligan. 1962. Universal Pictures. 2006. DVD.
one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it is a sin to
Atticus, the father of Jem and Scout, was right when he said, ¨you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.¨ Scout realizes that Boo Radley is not who everyone rumors him out to be. Scout learns that you need to spend time with a person to find out who he truly is. She learns this after walking Boo Radley home after the disturbing experience the Finch kids had been in. Scout finally understood what life looked like from Boo Radley's perspective when she is standing with him on his front porch. Also, when Scout talks to Atticus at the end of the book he shows her how she has turned into a wonderful young lady. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee develops the theme that believing rumors will lead you to false assumptions unless you have walked in that person's shoes through imagery, characterization, and point of view.
While watching Atticus during the trial, Scout learned a lot about her father. She learned that he was more than just an ordinary man to the Negroes. He was defending Tom Robinson, which meant a lot to them, because not many white people in the county would do a thing like that. Very few, if any, white men would defend a black man in a trial in a segregated county during the 1930’s. Because of what Atticus did more people, both white and black, gained respect for him. Scout saw that to the neighborhood people, Atticus was a very wise man, and a very good man, also. While Scout was watching from he balcony, she saw her father do something she had never seen. He told Bob Ewell to write his name on a sheet of paper. Scout saw that Bob was left handed, so he couldn’t have beaten up Mayella, because her black eye was on the right side of her face.
Atticus continuously tells her that this is wrong and that she needs to learn to control her anger, “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat? Try fighting with your head for a change” (Lee 101). The day after this discussion with Atticus, Scout is approached by a fellow student who had previously made a mean comment about her father. “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away.it was the first time I ever walked away from a fight” (Lee 102).
Atticus teaches Jem and Scout to act courageously by modelling that type of behaviour. By defending Tom Robinson Atticus puts himself in the middle of the conflict. Tom Robinson and Atticus Finch are both despised by most of the town given that Tom is believed to have raped Mayella Ewell and Atticus is hated for defending his client. “The boy might go to the chair, but he’s not going till the truth’s told. And you know what the truth is.”(Lee,152). This shows that Atticus is devoted to truth and justice, and that he will do all he...
To Kill A Mockingbird is a heroic tale of leadership and courage during racial times. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, To, Jem and Scout are unfortunately exposed to a really racist and prejudiced society and town. Which ends up causing them to lose a case and really confuse Jem and Scout when they are young. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, it uses characterization to help show a theme of loss of innocence when people are exposed to surprising and unfair situations.
One of the many lessons Scout learns is how to put yourself in other people 's shoes. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (33). Atticus teaches this to Scout when he finds out
One of the most important role models in Scout's life, is her father, Atticus. Atticus is a small town lawyer who deals with a very tough case involving a black man and his rights. Although Atticus is a single father, he manages to teach his children right from wrong. He makes it a common practice to live his life as he would like his children to live theirs, and therefore displays the characteristics of an honest, respectable, and kind man. Atticus demonstrates his feelings for...
"I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want , if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." This is what Atticus Finch tells his children after they are given air-rifles for Christmas. Uniquely, the title of the classic novel by Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird, was taken from this passage. At first glance, one may wonder why Harper Lee decided to name her book after what seems to be a rather insignificant excerpt. After careful study, however, one begins to see that this is just another example of symbolism in the novel. Harper Lee uses symbolism rather extensively throughout this story, and much of it refers to the problems of racism in the South during the early twentieth century. Harper Lee's effective use of racial symbolism can be seen by studying various examples from the book. This includes the actions of the children, the racist whites, and the actions of Atticus Finch.
The illusion of innocence is deeply instilled in the outlook of children. Reality soon takes its grip as kids begin to grow and mature, and they lose their pure qualities that they have once possessed. Their father Atticus shelters Jem and Scout from the town’s disease, teaching them the act of sympathy and how to distinguish the good aspects over glaring at the imperfections of people. The loss of innocence portrayed in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is exposed as the lives of Jem, Scout, and Dill go through their racist and prejudice society, learning how the worlds dreamlike qualities is nothing more than just a childhood fable. The children’s judgment of people and society quickly sheds as Lee displays the harsh realities to Jem, Dill,
Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach, a contemporary novel, shares numerous characteristics with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written in the 1960's. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, McCorkle's novel documents the life of a young girl in a small southern town. The two narrators, Kate Burns and Scout Finch, endure difficult encounters. A study of these main characters reveals the parallels and differences of the two novels. Jill McCorkle duplicates character similarities and rape from Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to show the reader how young girls think and develop.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout is taught many times throughout the book by events happening around her. These lessons help her reach multiple epiphanies. Her father Atticus goes against the majority of the town by showing his children the true meaning of humbleness and bravery. Scout and Jem use this as they comprehend the conflict happening around them. An example of the leadership shown by Atticus is when he says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee). This statement helps Scouts innocent mind realize all the prejudices happening around her, in which she reaches an epiphany.
For this assignment, I decided to do my film review on To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan, R., & Pakula, A. (Directors). (1962). To Kill a Mockingbird[Motion picture on VHS]. United States of America.) I have a personal connection to this film because it is one of my most beloved novels by Harper Lee. I have never watched the film so it was a nice experience to see the characters I have loved for years come to life just before my eyes. The film particularly focuses on a white family living in the South of the United States in the 1930s. The two siblings, Jem and Scout Finch, undergo major changes while experiencing evil and injustice in their small town of Maycomb. Jem and Scout’s father is named Atticus and he is a well-respected man in the town as well as being a lawyer.
This is the culmination of the rampant inequality of the south. But Scout’s development during the trial and the events leading away from the trial are the final chapters of her development and sort of test what she has learned in the past chapters. “She was even lonelier than Boo Radley. When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her. She was as sad…: white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her…; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her. She couldn’t live like Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who preferred the company of Negroes. Nobody said, ‘That’s just their way,’ about the Ewells. Maycomb gave them…the back of its hand. Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her.” (Lee p.256) This is the most classic case of walking around in someone else’s shoes. Scout understands the predicaments of Mayella Ewell’s situation and the holes Mayella Ewell has dug herself into. Scout sympathizes with an enemy with different ideas. The next is when talk about Hitler is engaged in Scout’s school. After hearing the crimes Hitler commits against the Jews Scout sympathizes with them and comes up with this statement: “Looked to me like they’d shut Hitler in a pen instead of letting him shut them up.” (Lee p.329) Scout comes to this conclusion when she realizes the cruelty of Hitler at the time. After the attack of Mr. Ewell (and
Atticus, the father of Jem and Scout Finch, is a wise man who stands up against racism. When Atticus talks to Jack in the wintertime, he ingeniously lets Scout overhear his conversation. He tells Jack that he hopes that Scout and Jem will come to him for advice, rather than to listen to the racism of Maycomb. Atticus does this to speak to Scout in a third person circumstance. In doing this, he hopes that Scout will take what he says into consideration and act upon it. Atticus tells Uncle Jack that that he does not try to ascertain why people get mad about him defending a “negro”. Since the story takes place in the South in the 1960’s, there is still racism and separation between whites and blacks. Thankfully Atticus treats African-Americans