To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay

Intensity is the exceptionally great concentration of power or force. Stories are what they are when they have well detailed character descriptions, variety of plots, and symbols. All of these things help make a story interesting and intense to the reader/viewer. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a 1960 academy award winning novel written by Harper Lee. "A Time to Kill" is a 1993 movie directed by Joel Schumacher. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is more intense than the movie "A Time to Kill" because it has a broader plot. It is also detailed in terms of characters by providing various perspectives on ideas, and events. It has important symbols that help build the characters and plot, which ultimately makes it intense. Therefore, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is more intense than the movie "A Time to Kill"

Intensity in "To Kill a Mockingbird" is attained because it has a broader plot than "A Time to Kill" where more than one conflict/problem exists. The first plot event that exists is between Boo Radley. Scout, Jem, and Dill become fascinated with their mysterious neighbour Boo Radley and have an escalating series of encounters with him. One encounter with Boo was when Scout and Jem were standing near the Radley house while Miss Maudie's house was burning down. As Atticus explains "Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you", (Lee 72) "To Kill a Mockingbird" has the school plot as well. One school related incident is when Scout goes to school for a play. As Scout explains

"So the Maycomb ladies said things would be different this year. The high-school auditorium would be open, there would be a pageant for the grown-ups; apple-bobbing, taffy-pulling, pinning the tail on the donkey for the children. Three would also be a prize of twenty-five cents for the best Halloween costume, created by the wearer." (Lee 252)

The last event presented in this broad plot is the plot of the Tom Robinson trial. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Miss Mayella Ewell. As Calpurnia explains "Old Mr. Bob Ewell accused him of rapin' his girl an' had him arrested an' put in jail--", (Lee 124) "A Time to Kill" only focuses on one event which is the courthouse trial of two white men raping a black girl named Tonya Hailey, daughter of Carl Lee Hailey. The movie does have other events like the KKK burning a cross and leaving it in front of Jake Brigance's house and the kidnapping of Ellen Roark, the assistant of Brigance. But all of these incidents relate back to the trial of Carl Lee Hailey where as the events of Boo Radley and Scout going to school are irrelevant to the plot of Tom Robinson's trial. When a novel has good plot, good character development can be formed through the conflicts in the plot.

Knowing background information on character helps the reader understand why a character is acting a certain way towards a situation thus making the story intense. "To Kill a Mockingbird" has detailed character descriptions of personality traits and emotions through the narrator's perspective. Atticus is described as being very wise, caring, understanding, cool, calm and collected. Atticus is so calm and caring even though Bob Ewell had spit on his face. As Atticus explains

"Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell's shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell from one extra beating, that's something I'll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I'd rather it be me than that houseful of children out there." (Lee 218).

In this quote Atticus is demonstrating how caring and calm he is. He is not yelling and upset but in fact he is happy that Bob Ewell took his anger out on him instead of taking it out on his children.

Jake Brigance is shown as being a lawyer defending Carl Lee Hailey. Not much about his personality was shown although the viewer could see his emotions. When Jake was cross-examining a witness, the viewers saw his anger, his frustration, and his dedication to win the case but the reader did not really understand weather Jake was always dedicated or was just dedicated this one time. The viewers did not have any background information on Jake Brigance and that key factor is crucial to stories to make them intense. Scout also describes her brother Jem who is also another main character in the novel. She describes Jem as being smart, strong, and later on in the book as Jem grows older and goes through puberty, she describes Jem as being bossy, irritated, and much wiser than he was before. As Scout explains "Jem was twelve. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody. (Lee 115). The narrator has described Jem in great detail so that the reader has some background information on him. Ellen Roark is another main character in the movie but not much about her personality is shown either. In the movie she helps Brigance find evidence for the trial which somewhat makes her personality but other than that the viewer does not know anything else. The narrator, Scout describes her emotions, thoughts, and ideas to the reader as well. When Jem is growing and going through puberty this is what Scout has to say about it "His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop pestering him I consulted Atticus", (Lee 115). In this quote the reader observes Scout side of the argument about Jem, which illustrates Scout's personality a bit by showing her as a little brat for bugging Jem. On the other hand the movie did not have a narrator thus making the novel more intense than the movie. Narrator's have an inside "scoop" on characters, ideas, and events but when there is none the reader/viewer is less interested in what is happening in the book/movie ultimately decreasing the intensity level of the story. Therefore, character descriptions are important to the reader to understand the plot and the story behind the story (the meaning). This is not shown in "A Time to Kill" thus making the movie less intense because the viewer does not have any background information on the characters. When good plot and characters are developed it allows the characters to represent as symbols of important ideas.

"To Kill a Mockingbird"