Harper Lee has been credited most often as the most successful, insightful, and entertaining literary scholar (Ernst, 2015). This is especially so with his 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Shepherd, 2016). It instantly won him the Pulitzer Prize and made him most known in the literary world. He loosely links his characters and story to his 1936 observations on family, neighborhood, and events. He was merely ten years old during this time. Racial inequality, loss of innocence, and gender roles are among his text’s themes. In 1962, Robert Mulligan directed an American drama film “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It is still considered one of the best ever made and received filmed. It earned a lot of support among Americans and those from outside countries just like the text its plot, themes, and styles were based on (D’Addario, 2016). For instance, it won three Academy Awards including those of best actor, and best picture among others. Furthermore, the film is still competitive in art competitions in America and beyond. It best achieves its goal to reflect the themes and style evident in the text “To Kill a Mockingbird” (Ernst, 2015). Therefore, this paper discusses how the film “To Kill a Mockingbird” effectively carries the themes in the text it is based on.
Body
The film begins with characters living in a fictional town called Maycomb in Alabama. The film thus achieves much in capturing and elaborating key features on the text’s context in picture and motion. The characters are seen attending their daily chores while transforming to fit the demands and changes in their, environment (Shepherd, 2016). For instance, Scout and Jem begin as innocent children who derive pleasure and joy playing games with each other (Shepherd, 2016). They spy on Radley and find more insights on society as time go by. Their father wishes that every person irrespective of their differences ought to be treated fairly. He is hurt much by the unfair treatment of black people by their white counterparts (D’Addario, 2016). Consequently, their society is made a highly segregating place.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Consequently, the film clearly pictures and elaborates on the racism problem in America. The audiences can see the dehumanizing impacts of racism especially on the blacks (Ernst, 2015). Gregory Peck’s revelations on racism gains credibility especially when considered that he faces and endures racial comments, deeds, and general malice as a lawyer (D’Addario, 2016). His children get to realize the racial problem through him. Consequently, he opens up their minds to reality. They have to learn, understand, and find ways they can easily evade racial problems. Speck’s reluctance to show his children how hard he was finding to comprehend the racial environment shows his intent to never interfere with the children’s wellbeing. However, the rampant occurrence of the vice did warrant their perception and understanding of their father’s tribulations.
Poverty makes the problem of racism widely felt in the film. Consequently, the film shows how the poor black Americans encounter malice and hatred. For instance, the justice system demands too much pay (Shepherd, 2016). The children witness their father taking farm produce from Mr. Cunningham as payments for a legal work. Furthermore, Atticus’ children encounter harassments in school when he agreed to defend a black man in court. Consequently, the film gives pre-eminence to the revelation of the emphasized problem of racism in the text “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Lee brings out the problem as highly destructive of the black person’s identity and progress. It completely ruins their plans to lead a healthy and meaningful life (D’Addario, 2016). Atticus’ children find it to exist within and without school despite the fact that they were white. The black person’s fate was solely at the mercy of the whites.
Gender-related problems also persist throughout the film. Mayella and Tom are key in bringing out the gender biasness evident in the society. However, the film demonstrates how the society strongly despises and mistreats black people (Ernst, 2015). Tom is crippled and therefore he is not in a position to fight and injure Mayella. However, the law is supposed to take its course according to the judges. Atticus tries to defend Tom but the verdict seems already made. Consequently, his intentions to defend him seems effortless and without any meaningful impact on the aversion of his fate.
All sorts of negative attributes describe black people. They are rapists, murderers, and poverty-stricken individuals. They never occupy the most active part in society. Consequently, few of them are in the legal, economic, and political spheres. Instead, they are the ones who are facing baseless imprisonments (Shepherd, 2016). Mayella is thus presented a weakling who is a docile recipient of the male’s anger and malice. For instance, Mayella ought to have resisted any harm imposed on her by men. Furthermore, her decision to accuse Tom for raping and injuring her is highly indicative of her confused self. She does not want to accuse Bob Ewell because of his societal influence as a white man. Consequently, Tom becomes the victim of what he did not engage in (D’Addario, 2016).
Consequently, the film clearly mirrors Lee’s intention to reveal and quantify the racial problem in society. He shows how the weaker black race becomes the victims in almost all spheres of life. For instance, they are accused of being rapists and killers (Ernst, 2015). They are not treated as whites’ equals. Instead, they are social underdogs meant to bear all blame. The use of female characters as the accusers of innocent blacks shows how the whites knew what is required of them but opted to doing the opposite. They knew they have to respect women but mistreated them while the black people bored the whole blame. Consequently, the society’s life has been completely messed up by the white person’s dominance and influence.
Ultimately, the young and innocent children get to know and comprehend the challenges facing their society (Shepherd, 2016). They get to know of the prevailing problems hindering the cohesiveness and progressiveness of their whole society. This marks their loss of innocence. They get to know why they cannot continue playing happily together. Furthermore, they understand that killing a mockingbird is a bad thing to do. This is because the mockingbird has no harm to other creatures. The symbolic use of a mockingbird is essential in the film. It represents how black people like Tom Robinson suffer the white man’s evils despite them being innocent and naïve of the white man’s intentions.
Therefore, the film is a critical reflection of Lee’s text. Lee returns to the mention of the mockingbird whenever he wants to give a moral lesson (Ernst, 2015). Consequently, the presence of the mockingbird is essential in his relay of social insights and strategies that can be utilized in realizing social harmony and progress. Almost every character is made to see and suffer the impacts of the social evils (D’Addario, 2016). For example, Tom is unaware of the fate awaiting him when Mayella invites him to her home. He innocently gets to her place and expects nothing to go wrong. However, when she accuses him for raping her, he gets to understand the reality and intensity of the racial problem (Shepherd, 2016). He represents many other black people who were innocently convicted and their life plans curtailed by the racial problem (D’Addario, 2016).
Just like Lee, the film provides the readers with a chance to critically judge every character’s deeds and thoughts (Ernst, 2015). Readers are thus able to make decisions on whether a certain character stupidly arrives at their decisions or wholly considers the weaknesses and strengths of every step they take (Shepherd, 2016). Consequently, the film is equally marked with the effective use of double-edged irony and sarcasm. The ill-promoted treatments of black people are highly rebuked in the film. Lee endeavors to teach society the need for a harmonious and fair treatment of all persons. The focus on the white man’s supremacy ought to come to an immediate stop. Society cannot progress when these ills are allowed to persisting society.
Conclusion
Lee is a well-known literary scholar. His text “To Kill a Mockingbird” has earned him a lot of prizes and fame. Themes such as loss of innocence, racism, and gender roles are inherent in this text. The film “To Kill a Mockingbird” is based on the text (D’Addario, 2016). It provides a more graphic and elaborates description and communication of the ills hampering social equality and progress. Therefore, the film clearly reveals and discusses the themes in Lee’s text (Ernst, 2015). Irony and sarcasm provides the best strategies through which the literary works can effectively mock the rigid white dominated society (Shepherd, 2016). Consequently, they become the most effective tools to demand and bring change to the oppressive society.
References
Ernst, J. (2015). Women in Litigation Literature: The Exoneration of Mayella Ewell in to Kill a Mockingbird. Akron Law Review, 47 (4), 1019-1053.
D’Addario, D. (2016). Harper Lee. Time, 187 (8), 15
Shepherd, A. (2016). Scout’s Honor. New Republic, 247 (5), 11-13.
