To Kill a Mockingbird is, by many accounts, the greatest American novel of all time and an original classic. As the popularity grew and was loved by all, the film was in high demand. Directed by Robert Mulligan, the film was released in 1962, two years after the book's publication but set in the 1930s. Living in the 1930's was a depressing time, the economy collapsed and was at an all-time low, the Great Depression filled every soul, discrimination was killed, segregation was commonplace, and Jim Crow laws were enacted to separate. In this novel, Harper Lee adopts the scout Louise Finch, who is six years old when the novel begins to tell the story of her father Atticus, a lawyer who deals with the systemic racist case of Tom Robinson, an African American falsely accused of raping a white woman. , a case he knows he can't win. In the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, Scout explores her lonely neighbor Boo Radley and learns valuable lessons including; such as seeing situations from the perspective of others, the existence of prejudice, and the sinful act of harming innocent people. The film version of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird was edited to fit a limited time period; and so the result of this was that some key events and characters were altered, omitted, and some were added. The main plot is bland, meanwhile important to both the film and the novel, it remains recognizable but lacks what makes it a famous book while maintaining its impeccable setting. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Despite the numerous differences found between the two versions, the film maintained the same approach. When producing a film it is essential to stay in the same environment considering the inability to copy every detail. It's very rare to see a cinematic story as precise and in-depth as the original text, but usually the setting is never changed. The story first begins in the southern United States of America. Specifically, the heart of discrimination, the state of Alabama. There, in the small fictional county of Maycomb, Alabama, segregation lived and Jim Crow laws were still influenced by the Civil War. To Kill a Mockingbird took place from 1933 to 1935, influencing previous events and defining the city's way of life. The highest peak of racism occurred around the 1930s and sadly declined only very little until the 21st century. All events occur in the fictional Maycomb, a town that seemed to move slowly and unaware of other events elsewhere. As Atticus himself said, “A day lasted twenty-four hours but seemed longer. There was no rush, because there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the borders of Maycomb County. Not many moved there and very few left, so the same families have been around for generations and the reputation lingers on. Maycomb was a stagnant and boring town, it included racism and discrimination against other cultures, religion and race. Because of segregation, African Americans lived on the outskirts of white Maycomb and in their own church and cemetery. Making this town non-equivalent made Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a different race, a big deal. As a predominantly white town, it was strange and irritating to some that Atticus did not base Tom on the color of his skin, but on his arguments and belief in his innocence. Others who were more disturbed were Bob Ewell, who even instructed him to kill Scout and Jem,accusing her father of being a “n-word lover.” Although the county was overall poor, some were richer than others and some paid with food. Soon after, in the 1950s and 1960s, the civil rights movement would influence new ideas to change racism in the years to come. Both the novel and the film described this setting perfectly, the novel gave a literal description while the film described it visually and orally. The film could have had more visual aids to explain poverty and segregation, but it didn't change it drastically. What made the novel so beloved were the lessons learned, the meanings understood, and the important morals derived from the pivotal events. Without these events, the story was bland and devoid of personality. The lost events begin on the first day of school when his teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, tries to give Walter Cummingham Jr. a quarter for lunch, telling him to pay her back the next day. Scout tries to explain that he is unable to repay her and does not consider that Miss Caroline is unknown to the social and cultural order of Maycomb. The novel continues as Scout is scolded for her advanced reading ability and then tells her father, the one who encouraged her. Mrs. Caroline had the power to do the right thing by teaching Scout to read more books, but instead she chooses to do the wrong thing. Scout then learns to consider the point of view of others, regardless of the situation faced, but this lesson is not experienced by the viewers who create Maycomb's depth. One missing event was when during the night Mrs. Maudie's house caught fire without concern for its contents. After her house burns down, she is courageous and strong, teaching the children by example not to be materialistic. There is also an act of kindness when Boo places the blanket on Scout during the fire. Confused, the tree hole is discovered by Jem instead of his sister, and the objects are found in a different order in the film. This didn't add any special meaning to the film but it was absolutely confusing. They also witness Mr. Nathan filling the hole in the tree where they would find the items in the film. They didn't even show a clip of the kids playing "the Radley family" pretending to be an isolated child who "eats" squirrels, an abusive father and a crazy family. Atticus, defending himself, reprimanded the children from playing by explaining that Boo was innocent and should not be hurt and should be regarded as a mockingbird just like Tom. The mockingbird was supposed to sing for the pleasure of others, harmless and not be killed. Apart from the small appearance of the morning exchanges with Mrs. Dubose, the viewers do not see the scenes understanding her vulgarity with everyone nor when Jem does her a service. The courtroom scenes are condensed in the film and do not explore the aftermath of the trial or portray the conversations Atticus has with his children in an attempt to help them understand. The opportunity the children have while attending Calpurnia, their black cook's church, is lost. There they understand the impoverished side of African Americans and what little they have compared to them. In this situation, in the church, Reverend Sykes tries to raise the little money that must help the Robinsons. They learn about African American education such as the inability to read hymn books. From this experience, the children learned more about Calpurnia's origins, poverty, and uneducation. You can also see that some do not accept white people in their own church because of what they have done to them. Lula stopped, but said, "You have nothing to do with the whites here - they have their church, we our'n. It's our church, right,Miss Cal?'. Viewers never experience Dill's permanence caused by his running away from home to join Finch. The events in the film were basic but not as interesting as the original novel. Many events were different or omitted, ranging from significant to useless influence on the story and characters. These missed events have taught lessons, given experiences and given new ideanology. Ultimately, I believe that excluding certain scenes from the film defeats the purpose of the book, which is to educate the reader on critical messages regarding power and prejudice. Finally, many important characters who shaped Maycomb, Scout, and society were greeted including confusion between the characters. These people gave extra meaning to the novel and the lessons. First, we see Atticus portrayed as the main character of Scout. The focus is on him and the test rather than on Scout's growth, her learning and maturity improving over time. Furthermore, Jem finds all the articles in the tree and accompanies Atticus to tell Helen Robinson about her husband's death rather than Scout. This makes Scout's role less important and makes the story less of a coming of age story and more of a serious drama. The first character I noticed was missing was Aunt Alexandra. It was supposed to provide a maternal influence and prepare the scout for reality and life as an old woman. Aunt Alexandra tries to stay with the Finches to feminize Scout in her mannerisms, appearance, and thoughts. But there wasn't even a mention of his name or the rest of the Finch family as Uncle Jack. One character with only one morning exchange and no follow-up was the judicious Mrs. Dubose. When Jem cuts down all of Mrs. Dubose's flowers due to his anger at her family, Jem is forced to read to her every day for a while. The real meaning behind this was that she was a morphine addict and wanted to kick the habit before she died. as a matter of staff pride. Reading helped take her mind off the addiction until the alarm went off. Slowly, the periods became longer and longer, slowly reducing the morphine. Atticus tells the boys the lessons he hoped they learned from her. «I wanted to show you what real courage is, instead of giving you the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're defeated before you start, but you start anyway and make it no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs Dubose won all her ninety-eight pounds. In his view, she died in debt to nothing and no one. He was the bravest person I ever knew.' Jem realizes, by going to Mrs. Dubose's house every day, that there is more to her than just being a mean old lady. Another omitted character was outside the courthouse when Atticus was talking to Mr. Dolphus Raymond and realized that he was not drinking alcohol in the brown paper bag, but was drinking cola. They learn that he would prefer to be stereotyped as an alcoholic married to a black woman, later explaining his actions to the public. The last character changed is Mayella Ewell. Thought to be apologetic, Mayella is depicted as heartless due to her moves against Tom Robinson and abuse from her father, Bob Ewell. In the novel she was believed to be an innocent child, in the film we see the cruelty of her act against Tom. When Atticus and Jem deliver the bad news of Tom's death, they are greeted by his father. In the novel Tom's father is never mentioned but no significant difference is made. We lost more characters than added. By excluding the characters and altering them, a mediocre representation of ed lessons is provided, 90(20), 70-73.