Books and movies of books all have many similarities and differences. To Kill a Mockingbird is no different when it comes to the book and the movie. In this essay I will be explaining the similarities and differences between the two. There are many similarities between the book and the movie of To Kill a Mockingbird. First of all, Tom Robinson died escaping from prison in the movie and the book. I think Tom’s death was a very important part of the story. Another thing that was the same with the book and movie was how the children were fascinated with Arthur Radley (Boo), and how Boo was fascinated with the children.
Boo would leave the children gifts such as dolls, a watch, and gum in the tree in his yard. This fascination between the children and Boo was why the children had such an imagination. The children thought Boo was a creeper who came out at night to eat cats and squirrels. Another similarity is that the African American community of Maycomb showed Atticus a lot of respect. The fact that they showed Atticus respect was important to the children. The sad story of Tom Robinson taught the children the wrongs of racism.
Plus one of the themes of the story is racism, and without that the story would not be the same. A huge difference between the book and the movie was that Aunt Alexandra was not in the movie. Scout did not like Aunt Alexandra because Aunt wanted Scout to act more lady-like. Toward the end Aunt became more of a mother to Scout and reassured her that Jem was not dead. Even though the movie went on without her, she should have been in it. The fact that Mrs. Dubose was not in the movie but in the book was another difference. Mrs. Dubose was important to Jem’s life.
Jem did not like her because she always harassed Scout and Jem and insulted their father. When Jem lost his temper, he tore up Mrs. Dubose’s flower garden. His punishment was to read to Mrs. Dubose to help her break her addiction. Eventually she died and Atticus gave Jem a lesson in what it means to have courage. This whole thing was cut out of the movie. Atticus’s quote on courage was one of the most important things in the book. Through reading the book and watching the movie I have found many differences and many similarities. I told you a few of each so that you could have your own opinion.
My opinion is that the book was better, but I found myself lost in certain times. For instance, it took me a long time to figure out that Tom Robinson was an African American. But that was probably because I was daydreaming while reading. So if you are like me then you would be better off watching the movie because then you would understand things quicker and they would make sense to you. As for me, being a daydreamer and all, I still prefer the book because that’s where you get the whole story and not just the majority of the story.