Compare Movie/ Novel - Essay Example

To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird Introduction ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has two versions. The first version is a movie filmed in 1962, starring Atticus (Gregory Peck) and Scout (Mary Badham), can be considered as much classic as the novel is. The film netted awards for the Best Actor, attained nominations for Academy Awards eight times, Best Screenplay Based on ideas from another medium, and also Best Art Direction (Black and White, Set Decoration). When watching the movie, I felt the level of adult awareness concerning the good and evil, right and the wrong in many of the actions that took place in the movie.

Ideally, the novel and its film version are meant to complement each other. On many levels, it is the same case with To Kill a Mockingbird. Nevertheless, the film is capable of accomplishing things that a novel is incapable of, and also the same case applies to the novel. Again, while a film has some limitations, the novel does not have any. This objective of this paper is to explore some differences that arise between the novel and the film To Kill a Mockingbird.Time to pass informationNormally, a movie has limited time to tell its story.

This makes it concentrate on the events of the story using fewer characters. The movie version of a novel often combines the characters in the novel and their actions. A good example in To Kill a Mockingbird arises where Miss Stephanie, who is the aunt to Dill, together with Cecil Jacobs, make Scout break the promise she had made Atticus concerning fighting. In the movie, Aunt Alexandria totally absent, and, therefore, the matter of Scout behaving like a lady does not play a key role in the film (Foote, Pakula, Mulligan, Peck, Badham, Alford, Lee, 1998).

Introduction of new charactersAnother difference is that sometimes a film introduces new characters with the aim of assisting in the development of the storyline. In the film, Jem and Scout hold a conversation concerning their dead mother (Lee, 1960). The movie brings their mother alive for the viewers to see while the book only uses one paragraph to talk about her. The movie also enables the viewers to meet the father and children of Tom Robinson. The father is not even mentioned in the novel while the children are only mentioned briefly.

Concentration of eventsSince the movie has limited time dedicated to telling the story, the events found in the novel are often dropped in the movie version of the novel. Though every key event in the novel version of To Kill a Mockingbird is found in the film version, the screenplay takes place takes place for almost over two years, but not three years, and most of the minor events are not included in the film. For instance, the children do not have a virtual contact with Mrs. Dubose, and again, the movie does not show the inside of the classroom ((Foote, Pakula, Mulligan, Peck, Badham, Alford, Lee, 1998).

This makes viewers unable to experience the episodes with Miss Gates, Miss Caroline, and some other minor characters that help in the creation of the layers and texture of Maycomb. In the film version, the scenes in the courtroom are condensed. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) delivers a shorter version of the closing arguments made by Atticus to the jury (Lee, 1960). The lines that he says are verbatim though numerous points from the speech are not included. Again, the film does not explore what happens after the trial or show the conversation that Atticus holds with his children in the efforts of helping them understand the situation.

ConclusionThe film is much better than the novel since it focuses only on the major events in the novel and also is reflective of the original culture of the audience. It also passes the intended information in an efficient way while still maintain the original thought. ReferencesFoote, H., Pakula, A. J., Mulligan, R., Peck, G., Badham, M., Alford, P., Lee, H., . Brentwood Productions, Inc. (1998). To kill a mockingbird. Universal City, CA: Universal.Lee, H. (1960). To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott.