Comparing To Kill A Mockingbird with A Time To Kill

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To Compare and Contrast the novel To Kill A Mockingbird with the Visual Text A Time To Kill.

By Denise Kara

Harper Lee s classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird can be easily linked to John Grishams A Time To Kill. Beside the sixty year gap between the two texts, there are very many comparisons that can be made between the two stories.

Set in Canton, Mississippi in the mid-nineties, A Time To Kill is a cynical update of To Kill A Mockingbird, the 16 film set in the 10s, Maycomb, Alabama. Both texts take place in the Deep South were racism was strong. The crimes were similar to each other. Rape was a key issue in both A Time To Kill and To Kill A Mockingbird. Tom Robinson, To Kill A Mockingbird, is wrongfully convicted of raping a white woman and is put on trial for the crime. In A Time To Kill, Tonya Hailey, a ten-year old coloured girl, is raped by two white, beer-swilling rednecks, beaten, hung and then to cover up their crime, her body was thrown off a bridge. Tonyas father Carl Lee, takes the law into his own hands and seeks revenge on the two men. He shoots the two rapists and is then placed on trial for murder.

Their attorneys are both white gentlemen, and are similar to each other. Jake Brigance, A Time To Kill, is a young and verile lawyer who is fairly inexperienced and has the occasional drink. When comparing this description with Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird, the differences are obvious. Atticus is a very experienced lawyer, who is respected within his community and has never had a drink in his life. They both have very high moral standards and stand up for what they believe in, even if it is an unpopular decision. Both Atticus Finch and Jake Brigance are family men. Atticus is a single parent with two young children, Jem his son and his daughter Scout. Jake has a wife, Carla and a 10 year old daughter Hannah. The children in both stories face harsh criticism from their school mates and peers. An example of this is when, Hannah comes home from school bawling her eyes because of the kids at school calling her nigger lover. Atticuss daughter Scout engages fights with her children at her school, when they call her and her father names such as nigger lover as well. Both families attempt to raise their children to judge a person on who he is and not for the colour of their skin. Attacks were made against the attorneys family because of defending Tom Robinson and Carl Lee Hailey. Atticuss children were attacked when walking home one night by Bob Ewell and Boo Radley comes to their defense. This is quite similar to the guardian angel called Mickey Mouse in A Time To Kill. Twice Mickey Mouse warned Jake of the danger that was headed his way. Another similarity present is that there is a lot of evidence showing how much the cases meant to the two lawyers. Jake was willing to loose all his friends on a case that matters and Atticus was always away from home because of the case.

There are many noticeable difference between the two characters, Jake and Atticus. The two lawyers handle the controversial cases and all the stress that comes with it very differently to each other. The strain of the case was obvious for the young lawyer and the pressure was visible. Jake turned to alcohol to relieve the strain of the case. Atticus remained calm and positive throughout the novel and did not show the pressure that was on him. Jake believed that the only problem the death penalty is that we dont use it enough Brigance does not believe in forgiveness or rehabilitation. Atticus on the other hand despised the death penalty. Jake received a fairly large amount of help with the case from many different people. His mentor Lucien Wilbanks, who taught him to be a lawyer and whose practice Jake took over was a big help. Ellen Roark, a legal assistant from the north offered to help Jake with the trial. Finally his old friend Harry Vonner, a fellow attorney. He is always seen with a friend, laughing and enjoying themselves. This is quite different to Atticus who received little or no help with the case and was never seen with a friend. Beside the differences listed above it is fair to say that both Brigance and Finch are legal heroes. The two lawyers refused to give up even when their and their families lives were in danger. They show a lot of courage for standing up against racism for their quest for justice.

The trial settings were both set in the Deep South, where racism was strong. The juries from both stories consisted of white folk who were biased as were the judges and district attorneys. This was not the ideal courtroom to have a fair trial for a black man. Any court trials with a black and white conflict, would invariably result the same whites win, blacks loose. In the novel, it was obvious that not a great deal of investigation was done on the case. A doctor wasnt contacted and there was just no proof what-so-ever that the man, Tom Robinson could have committed the crime of rape. Toms attorney had provided more than enough evidence showing how this black man was innocent and that a white man was guilty of the act. This was obviously not good enough for the all-white jury in To Kill A Mockingbird. It was a black mans word over a white mans and whites were always right. The jury did not base their verdicts on the evidence, only on the fact that this man was black and all blacks are the same. This resulted in a perfectly innocent man sent to prison, where he was later killed whilst trying to escape. This situation is quite similar to the one in the movie. In a straw poll, the jury decides on guilt before all the evidence is presented, ignoring the judges admonition to the contrary. The jury changes its mind only after Brigances emotional closing argument where he describes graphically the brutalization of the defendants daughter and then asks the jury to imagine shes white.

Rape was a major issue in both the movie and the novel, however the two texts presented it in different ways. In the movie, the rape scene was horribly graphic , where it actually showed the two disgusting white men climbing on top of the poor black girl, taking in turns, raping her and then left her to die. Rape was discussed much more in A Time To Kill than in To Kill A Mockingbird. The novel did not provide us with much information on the matter, perhaps due to the fact that it was more an alleged rape. The rape scene is obviously very different in both texts.

The act of violence was present in both texts. It is obvious that violence was more severe in the movie A Time To Kill. Many threats were made aimed at Jake and the people around him by those who opposed the trial. His secretary had been receiving threats made through calls and her husband was attacked and killed by the Klansman. Jakes family had to move away and stay with their grandmother for the duration of the trial because Jake feared their lives would be in dangered. Several attempts were made to assassinate Brigance, shots were fired at him on the steps of the courthouse and a bomb was planted under his house. His legal assistant Ellen Roark was kidnapped and bashed and was left for dead, when once again Mickey Mouse comes to her rescue. People were actually killed and bashed in the movie and all of it was shown. In the novel, Atticus did also receive threats, but this was only from one man, Bob Ewell. An attempt to kill his children was made by Bob Ewell and earlier he did tell Atticus that he was after him but these threats are obviously not as bad as what the people in A Time To Kill had to go through.

Both prosecutors were of a white male gender and presented themselves in very different ways. The two men, Mr. Gilmore, To Kill A Mockingbird and A Time To Kills Mr. Buckley are both quite bias and disliked blacks. In the movie, Mr. Buckley was portrayed as quite a character, he was outspoken and believed that Haileys trial would be an open and shut case. This is different to the way Mr. Gilmore, Toms prosecutor, was portrayed. He was quite low-key and had a totally different attitude to the one of Mr. Buckleys.

A lot of comparisons can be made between the two clients, Carl Lee Hailey and Tom Robinson. Carl Lee portrayed a very different self image to Tom. Carl Lee showed a lot of initiative organizing the case in his own defense. Tom was appointed a lawyer while Carl Lee hired Jake to defend him. Tom seemed to cop what ever came his way. Carl Lee was definitely more outspoken and told his attorney exactly was he was feeling and what he wanted. Both Tom and Carl Lee had a large family to support and provide for. It was obvious in both cases that their familles meant a great deal to Tom and Carl Lee. Carl Lee seemed to be a lot more educated than Tom, perhaps this was due to the setting of the text.

There is a similar sense of community, in regards to the black folk. In both stories the black people have clearly got their own church and the blacks are sympathetic to blacks. A Time To Kills Mr. Buckley once said,....the trial must stay here......we have a better chance of winning if its an all white jury.

We are introduced to two organizations in A Time To Kill. The Ku Klux Klan, which is a white supremacist group who wanted to see Carl Lee hang for his crime. The other group was the NAACP who wanted to see Carl lee freed. Unlike Both Atticus and Jake were in denial that the idea that there was no KKK. Unlike To Kill A Mockingbird we see supporters gathering in the streets for Carl Lee. Because of rioting between the Klan and Carl Lee supporters the national guard was brought in to keep peace.

Both stories have basically the same theme of racism and inequalities of the black people. During the sixty year span, between the two stories we can see changes being made to improve the conditions of the black people in the south. Tom Robinson was innocent of the crime he was charged with, but due to the fact that he was black he was found guilty. Carl Lee Hailey on the other hand did commit the crime of murder but was found innocent. These stories show that slowly we are trying to look past the colour and race in the attempt to make everyone equal.

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