TKAM Juxtapose Blog

Writing Prompt: What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version?

There are lots of differences between the To Kill a Mockingbird book and movie, but some are more important than others. A minor differences would be the fact that Dill stayed with Aunt Stephanie, instead of Aunt Rachel. This is minor because the aunt really has no importance on the book so changing the name of the aunt doesn't have a big effect in the movie. A major difference would be the fact that Jem found all of the items in the tree, instead of Scout finding the items. This is major because in the book, Scout was the first one to something in the tree, and she was the one to tell Jem what was going on. Also, it was a way for Boo to interact with the children, and in Jem finding all of the items, he's not interacting with them because Jem keeps the items to himself.

I think one of the most important differences between the film and the book is the lack of times the children had an interaction with Boo. The times the kids tried to make Boo come out in the movie were close together and the movie didn't include all of the different interactions with Boo. One thing that was missing in the movie was the laugh Scout heard when she bumped into the Radley's house while in the tire. I feel this was an important moment because it's when Scout was sure there was someone is the Radley's house watching the children. It was also the moment the readers got the idea that Boo was in that house, and he was interested in the kids.

          Another incident with Boo that never happened was when he put the blanket over Scout's shoulder's because it was cold and they were outside watching as their neighbors house burned down. I feel this was important because it was yet another time Boo connected with Scout, and showed that he was actually there, watching and looking out for the kids.

          One other important difference is that the movie didn't include Aunt Alexandra at all. This is important because it means that Scout, Jem, and Atticus never went to her house, and Francis never insulted Scout and calling her dad a "nigger lover". This also meant that Aunt Alexandra never came to stay with the Finch's and the whole scene with Alexandra's coffee group never happened.