To Kill A Mockingbird (film) Literary Elements

Robert Mulligan

Gregory Peck, Mary Badham

Phillip Alford, Brock Peters, John Megna, Estelle Evans, James Anderson, Robert Duvall, Frank Overton

Drama, Crime

English

Won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gregory Peck), Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium), and Best Art Direction-Set Direction (Black-and-White); Nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Mary Badham), Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Music, and Best Picture

December 25th, 1962 (Los Angeles, California)

Alan J. Pakula

Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s

An adult version of Scout Finch is the narrator re-telling the events of the film from a young child's point of view; she only sporadically imposes an adult commentary on her memories.

Naive, somber, ironic, lighthearted, humorous, nostalgic, critical

Protagonist: Atticus and Scout; Antagonist: Bob Ewell

Scout and Jem's innocence is threatened and contested as the racism and ignorance of Maycomb’s residents unfolds. They struggle to reconcile the hatefulness of Bob Ewell and the false verdict in Tom Robinson’s trial, and their faith in mankind becomes challenged. Also, Atticus is under enormous pressure to ensure his children’s safety and adequately defend Tom in the face of such blatant prejudice and evil across Maycomb.

The jury finds Tom Robinson guilty, despite the substantial evidence suggesting his innocence

The presents and knick-knacks Jem and Scout find in the oak tree foreshadow the unveiling of Boo Radley’s fundamental morality and kindness. Bob Ewell’s frequent unhinged, detestable behavior and threatening presence foreshadow his attempted murder of Jem and Scout.

Scout’s soft, subtle greeting to Boo at the end of the film (“Hey, Boo”) understates the great drama, violence, and tension that led up to their meeting.

Mulligan employs predominantly conventional cinematography, editing, and other stylistic flourishes in the film.

Dill makes explicit allusions to "The Gray Ghost," one adventure novel within a popular series, and Tom Swift, the main character of a popular American science fiction and adventure series, during his, Scout, and Jem’s adventures.

Tom Robinson is found guilty, despite Atticus’s sound defense and the contradictory testimony of Mayella which proves his blatant innocence.

During his closing defense of Tom, Atticus remarks, “The evil assumption that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are immoral, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women” is an example of the rhetorical use of parallelism, as Atticus repeats the key word “Negro” to make his anti-racist argument more memorable. Also, at the beginning of the film, Scout distrusts Boo and believes him to be some type of deformed, obscene monster. Once she matures and begins to view things outside of her solipsistic point of view, though, she finally meets Boo and discovers his bravery and kindness. This structural parallelism illustrates Scout’s growth and change in character.