A Comparison of the portrayal of Boo Radley in'To Kill a Mockingbird' and Miss Havishamin 'great expectations'
Extracts from this document...
Introduction
Nirmal Sisodia A Comparison of the portrayal of Boo Radley in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and Miss Havisham in 'great expectations' In 'To Kill a Mockingbird' the author uses a retrospective narration, this means that we can see events through the eyes of a child, yet also has the intelligence of an adult to explain the events thouroghly. Because narrator has personal experience of what happened we have a closer insight into the details. This method of reflection means that we can understand other characters feelings more easily, and the settings and ways of Maycomb. 'Great Expectations' is similar to ' To Kill a Mockingbird' it also has shows the events of a person from childhood to becoming an adult. The story follows Pip, who is the main character in this novel; it shows him as a child, being introduced to Miss Havisham, then later on as a main person in Miss Havisham's life. Pip and Scout help us to understand the feelings of other characters.. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is set in the 1930s, in a town called Maycomb. It is a small town with a close-knit community, it has a deserted feel to it, however it is very tense, with a lot of families and rumours and gossip. ...read more.
Middle
They are not known to hurt any one, no matter how much people have hurt them. Boo Radley saves the kids and Miss Havisham is the one who is left at the altar. In the 30th and 31st chapters of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Boo Radley is known to move awkwardly, and he is unable to communicate properly like an adult. He uses body language to get his thoughts across, for example: "his hand tightened on mine and he indicated that he wanted to leave" Whereas Miss Havishm does not have any problems getting across her feelings, she speaks normally to Pip, the reader can tell she does not have any problems from this quote: "its other name was satis; which is Greek, or Latin, or Hebrew, or all three - or all one to me - for enough" the author, Charles Dickens, uses this list of words to show Miss Havisham speaking clearly and precisely. In the eyes of the other residents in Maycomb Boo Radley is made out to be some kind Monster who only comes out at night. In Great Expectations Miss Havisham is very different to this. ...read more.
Conclusion
She goes around showing that she is a very strong person, emotionally. She does this because she does not want to be hurt again, like she was when she was left at the altar. Boo Radley and Miss Havisham are similar characters, however they also have a lot of differences. They are similar in the way they live their lives. However the way they act is different. They are both living their lives in a bizarre way because of what happened to them earlier on in their lives. In 'Great Expectations' the author uses the surroundings to reflect Miss Havishams inner life. In 'To Kill a mockingbird' the author does not do this, however he does show in detail how different the Radley place is compared to the rest of Maycomb. This is shown by this quote: "the shutters and doors...were closed on Sundays...alien to Maycomb's ways" Miss Havisham has some respect in 'Great Expectations' what ever she says, goes. This is different for Boo Radley in 'To Kill a mockingbird' Nobody respects Boo Radley, most of the people are in fear of Boo Radley. There is only one person in 'Great Expectations' is afraid of Miss Havisham, Pip. In conclusion I think there are more differences between Boo Radley and Miss Havisham compared to similarities. ...read more.
This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Harper Lee section.
Found what you're looking for?
- Start learning 29% faster today
- 150,000+ documents available
- Just £6.99 a month