Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And The Help

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Black Lives Matter is an international movement, campaigning against violence and racism towards black people. Although most today believe in this movement and what it stands for, it has not always been this way. Many years ago, this wouldn’t have been even a mere thought in someone’s head. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and the movie, The Help, show the negativity that brought this segregation and discrimination to attention. The novel and the film have many similarities and differences, which provides opportunities to make character connections, and to see how the segregation shown in the two, has changed into what it is today.
Lee’s novel and the film watched in class, have many similarities in how they portray communities and the individuals
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An obvious difference includes setting, the time and place. TKAM takes place in 1930’s Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, whereas the movie is during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in Jackson, Mississippi. This provided, The Help, during attempts to raise awareness, has much more hope than the novel. Most maids choose to stand up for what they believe is right, more whites are attempting to help, and there is an actual rights movement occurring during this time, all of which instills hope in not only the characters, but also those watching. To Kill a Mockingbird does not provide this same sense of hope, even though people like Atticus and Scout are indeed hopeful. The Depression kills many others’ sense of hope, making it seem like there is not going to be a positive outcome for many, many years. As an overall community, those of Maycomb, are just not as aware of the problem of segregation. The two works of art also differentiate in the complexity of the “villains.” Bob Ewell, the antagonist of the novel, is white trash, an abusive father, and rapist, who allows another man to be charged with rape he did not commit. Harper Lee does not state that directly, but it is intended to come across the reader’s mind. The entire case is based off this very complex relationship between Mr. Ewell and others, including his daughter, and a poor black man. The movie’s Hilly …show more content…
Both the movie and the novel are used to show us how times have changed in the last half century. Connections between aspects and morals of characters can be easily made. Differences and similarities are seen and used to help better understand the life lived during this time. The attention brought to racial segregation, that is discussed in depth in the book and the movie, will hopefully make more realize that black lives, along with all others, really do