To Kill A Mockingbird Book vs. Movie Essay Example

In 1962, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird was made into a beloved but ultimately disappointing film adaptation. Although the movie is based on the book and contains the same themes, it is missing many of the core elements and most loved specifics from the book. From the events, character, and character development, there are many important parts of the novel that are simply left out of the book, and although the movie is a good film it does not compare to the original book which many consider one of the greatest examples of modern literature. Although there are many great portrayals of elements of the book, such as the portrayal of Atticus Finch who went on to multiple awards for his role, some portrayals of characters are completely different from the novel or are simply omitted entirely. Although both the movie and the book depict the same story, the book does so in a way that cannot be surpassed by the film adaptation.

In the film, many scenes are taken out because of the time limit, but in doing so some of the things that make the book so fantastic are taken away. When it comes to the writing style of Harper Lee who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, she doesn’t waste a word and every scene is put into the book for a reason and serves a purpose. When these are taken out because of time restrictions, the book loses some of the scenes that build important themes in the book. One of the prime examples of this is the conflict and scenes between Jem and Mrs. Dubose. In the book, Mrs. Dubose is a cranky old woman who the children dread. After a course of events, Jem has to read to her every day for a month, and over the course of this time, the children learn from Atticus that she is a morphine addict. All the while the children had disliked her she had been fighting battles they did not know about. This brings forth the theme of thinking from someone else’s point of view, a very important message in the book while in the movie Mrs. Dubose is only mentioned once and even then her appearance doesnt serve a larger purpose. This is yet another example of how Harper Lee never wastes a scene but in the movie her articulate and purposeful planning that sets the book apart isn’t included as much.

Secondly, in the movie, many of the characters are not acutely portrayed. The most significant example of this lies in Ms. Maudie’s character. In the book, she is very close to the children and Scout sees her as a friend. She is seen time and time again showing the children respect when no one else in the neighborhood does. An example of this is during the missionary circle when the other ladies of the church were laughing at Scout. She recalls, “I hadn’t meant to be funny, but the ladies laughed. My cheeks grew hot as I realized my mistake, but Miss Maudie looked gravely down at me. She never laughed at me unless I meant to be funny.” In this situation, Miss Maudie is the only woman in the circle who isn’t laughing at her. This scene is omitted from the movie, but not only this scene, but almost every scene depicting the relationship between Miss Maudie and the children. In the film, Miss Maudie is just another woman in the neighborhood. She neither has a unique relationship with the children nor does she serve a larger purpose. 

Another reason the film was somewhat disappointing is that To Kill a Mockingbird is recognized as a coming-of-age story, but in the movie, there is not enough visible character development to be classified in the same way. Given that the book is narrated by Scout, it is understandable that in the movie we don’t see her change as much because the watchers are not literally inside her head, but this excuse can not be used for Jem. In the novel, Jem grows from a boy into a young man. His opinions and worldview change significantly as he is met with various challenges throughout the book. In the movie, his character arch is dissatisfying and almost nonexistent. Although he does change slightly throughout the movie and he remains a dynamic character, his change is not nearly as dramatic and is not one of the main points of the story.

From the perspective of the director and writers, the production of this movie must have been a daunting task. High expectations were placed on this film given how loved the book was; for any director, these expectations were impossible to reach. A major reason it must have been so difficult to create an accurate portrayal of the book was time limits. With some copies of the book spanning up to 342 pages, it would be impossible for anyone to fit all of the aspects of a book into a film less than three hours long. But, where a lot of books can have some scenes cut and not be affected too much when being made into a film, To Kill a Mockingbird is a different story. Every scene is important in some way, so with each scene, the filmmakers cut the less it matched the astounding novel. Even though the film matched the main events as the book, one of the aspects that made the book so incredible, the purposeful plotting and writing of Harper Lee, was lost.

Overall, the movie follows the same plot as the book and has the same title, but is vastly different when it comes to specifics. The character development, relationships, and fine points are all different from the novel the film, is based on. Most of these changes took place because of time restraints, so from the perspective of the director these cuts had to be made, but it is still disappointing. The book is an accurate representation of the novel to some extent but does not match the literary genius of the original book.