Contrast Of To Kill A Mockingbird Film And Book

One huge difference was the absence of Aunt Alexandra. Atticus' sister, Alexandra, was the thorn in Scout's side throughout the book. She always wanted Scout to act more like a lady. Towards the end, she became more like a mother in soothing Scout and trying to reassure her that Jem was not dead. I think Aunt Alexandra was a huge part of the story, and I think they should have kept her in the movie. Be that as it may, the movie moved along quite well without her. I also found there to be huge differences in the trial. For example, although Mayella Ewell, pretended to be very upset by Atticus' questioning, she did not accuse him of mocking her. I thought that this was somewhat significant because it was one of Mayella's tactics for trying to get pity from the jury. A more minor difference, was the combination of Miss Maudie and Miss Rachel. The two neighbors of the Finches were combined into one person for the movie. I do not think it mattered very much, because they served the same purpose in the end. They were there as comfort to Atticus and the children. A larger difference in the movie pertained to Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose did make a small appearance in the movie, but her role was cut down quite a bit from what it was originally in the book. Mrs. Dubose, a morphine addict, played a large role in Jem's life. She constantly harassed Scout and Jem, insulted their father, and just made life miserable for them. When Jem lost his temper, he took it out on Mrs. Dubose's flower garden. His punishment was to read to Mrs. Dubose to help her break her addiction. When she died, Atticus gave Jem a lesson in what it is to have courage. That entire segment was cut out of the movie. Atticus' quote on courage was one of the most important things in the book, and although the movie was fine without it, I feel that the Mrs. Dubose scenes would have added a lot to the movie.

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