“They’s my comp’ny”, here she is standing up for “Scout” and “Jem” and protecting them like their mother would, she again takes the role of a proxy mother, she stands firm and strong against “Lula”.
“Lula”, still persists, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n”, “Lula” here decisively defines the two different societies in the town the black society and the white society, furthermore she talks about the white people having their own church and the blacks having there own [they are divided]; as the vast population of “Maycomb” think that the black people do not belong here, the blacks have the same feeling towards the white people and that there are certain places that they shouldn’t be allowed to go. The black community of “Maycomb” have a lot unity between them all, “It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?”, “Lula” changes her tone drastically, in an attempt to become open and she tries to lure “Cal” by almost sweet talking her, but by calling her “Miss Cal”, this shows that she has a decent amount of respect for her.
“It’s the same God, ain’t it?” “Calpurnia” tries to form almost a bridge between the black society and the white society, because she is almost virtually a part of both societies. The children are made uncomfortable by the controversy and want to go home because they have realised that “They don’t want us here”. The reason to which “Cal” brought the children to the church is that she wanted to show “Jem” and “Scout” that there is not any divergence, amid the two societies. “Lula” was an exception, the reason being is that the other black “folk” were “Mighty glad to have you all here”, this represents that the “Negro” community are vastly different to the “White folk”.
Calpurnia is trying to explain to “Jem” that he has to change the way she speaks in accordance to whom he is speaking by giving the example “Suppose you and Scout talked colour-folks talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbours? They’d think I was puttin’ on airs to beat Mosses”.
This shows that she understands the difference between black people and white people and how she is expected to act around either type or how she is expected to speak to them. She gives this counsel for the reason that “You’re not gonna change any of them by talking; right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves…”. “Calpurnia” is trying to explain to “Scout” people will only change if they learn by themselves and that “folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do” she has learnt this from her past experiences and what she has grown to believe.
“Alexandra, Calpurnia’s not leaving this house until she wants to. You may think otherwise, but I couldn’t have got along without her all these years. She’s a faithful member of this family and you’ll simply have to accept things the way they are”.
“Atticus” considers “Calpurnia” as a “faithful” member of his household and he is crediting her in front of his aunt, whom from the impression we had got earlier we thought he had feared and showed a lot more respect towards. Atticus was never expected to stand up for “Calpurnia”, the “Tom Robinson” trial has helped him see things through the eyes of a black person and what it is like for them and how they are pre-judged and discriminated by the white populace because of the redden of their skin and etc.
The children’s meeting with “Dolphus Raymond” in what way something to what we expected it to be because in the novel throughout parts of chapter sixteen he is stereotyped as this human being who gets intoxicated on a habitual basis and has a “coloured women” and “half white, half coloured” children. The intuition that “Jem” and “Scout” have got of “Dolphus Raymond” is an impression which foremost totally contradicts his real character and persona and this makes the children vigilant of him. As the story progresses “Dolphus Raymond’s” reason for being mendacious about his disposition and life is magnified.
Consequently the children accept his invitation “reluctantly”; he offers “Dill” a drink from his “paper sack” and he then follows onto say “You little folks won’t tell on me now, will you? It’d ruin my reputation if you did”.
“Dolphus Raymond” knows what folks around the town say about him and he nicely tells the children not to say anything about it because “It’d ruin my reputation”.
“Some folks don’t – like the way I live. Now I could say the hell with ‘em, I don’t care if they don’t like it. I do say I don’t care…”
Even though he is stereotyped as an abysmal person of society, but he gives the children counsel using his past experiences. He tells them that he does not care if people do not like the way he lives, but he says he cannot just say the “hell with ‘em”. Right the way through his life people have not shown him any sort of respect since the way he acts, here he shows that you have to have respect for other people.
“I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason” , using the “paper sack” he deceives everyone thinking that he is inebriated, the reason behind this is that this gives everyone a reason to think what they do about him and he believes this will help people understand him better.
Using logic he knows what he does is “dishonest” but it helps people understand him, throughout “Maycomb” there are standards which people are expected to live up to, for example “The Ewell’s”, people in the town have their own standards for them and they are expected to live up to them, “Exclusive Society” as referred to by “Atticus”, “You see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to”.
“Scout” has been raised not to listen to “sinful” talks, her natural instincts tell her that she should not be paying attention, but she fights them off, and as this is the foremost time she has heard them she becomes drawn into them and is now finding them “fascinating”.
The one fixation that she still does not understand is and I heard that one “why he had entrusted us with his deepest secret?”
“You’re children and you can understand it”, he chose to tell the children because he feels that children will understand him more than adults do, and he is able to rationalise with them, therefore he has faith that he has a better relationship with children. “He jerked his head at Dill: Things haven’t caught up with one’s instincts yet. Let him get a little older, and he won’t get sick and cry. Maybe things…”
“Dolphus Raymond” is implying that “Dill” does not understand what is happening around him, as he gets older he will begin to understand society in the town.
“Dill” being the character he is asserts his “maleness”, “Cry about what”, he does not want to appear weak in front of everyone, what “Mr Raymond” said, and “Dill” took offensively.
Up to now the parody we have got of “Dolphus Raymond” gives us the ersatz that he does not materialize to know what goes on around in the town, “When I come to town, which is seldom”, but this imitation deceives everyone, as he sits under the tree drinking from his “paper sack” he notices all that goes on around him. “Cry about the simple hell people give to other people – without even thinking. Cry about the white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too”.
He is merely trying to tell “Dill” and the other children that white “folk” act towards and treat black people without even thinking. That the majority children in the town have been brought up to deem that white folk are superior towards black people at a young age, “maybe things’ll strike him as being – not quite right”.
“Atticus” has raised his children differently,” Atticus says “cheatin’ a coloured man is ten times worst than cheatin’ a white man”, he believes that blacks and whites are equal and he wants to imbibe this quality into his children.
“I don’t reckon it’s – Miss Jean Louise, you don’t know your pa’s not a run-of-the-mill man, it’ll take a few years for that to sink in – you haven’t seen…”
“Scout” is referred to by her full name, this is now serious, he’s trying to tell her that her farther is not an average man and that’s what she has been raised to believe, but not what she believes herself , she has to see more off the world and the town until she can start to consider it.
“Aunt Alexandra” has come to visit the “Finch” family. Her character and personality is very distinctive to what we might have thought it would be, by using the first impressions we get of her. “Aunt Alexandra” is very family orientated, she is very proud of who she is also she is someone who is very powerful with her words and she can use them to manipulate peoples thoughts and ideas. She is very well known throughout “Maycomb” and “Maycomb welcomed her”.
Furthermore she is very traditional, likes to keep things the way they were before and the way she likes them and mostly decisively to remember is that she is racist. As she arrives at the “Finch” home none of the family members know about this, but as the story progresses, this aspects of her personality is magnified.
The black people on the balcony at the end of the trial stand in silence as a remark of respect to “Atticus”, whereas in the novel they bring gifts the following morning. The silence in the film has a major importance, it juxtapose the tension which has been created throughout the trial hence it shows the deference to which they have of “Atticus” and that entire he has done to help the black society and the progress it has developed in keeping unity and belief amongst the black populace.
“Tom Robinson” is shot seventeen times in the novel, whereas in the film we are told that he is shot once to stop him. This over exaggeration of his death and how it came about in the novel helps form a bold image of what the town was like at the time. The gun shots resemble the racism and prejudice which was formed in the town.
Throughout the film, numerous close ups are used, this can assist show many diverse emotions, moods and personalities.
A persistent example of this is throughout the trial there are various close-ups of “Tom Robinson” and “Mr Ewell”. The result of this is that it helps show the tension and emotion which has been introduced into this dramatic trial. Another continual exemplar is “Tom Robinson” telling his view on what happened. Through this we can see that he is very anxious because of the way he is speaking with the tone in his voice, also from his facial movements we can tell that he is very tense and unfazed.
Throughout the “Tom Robinson” trial there are a number of shots which often look up at him, with the black people on the balcony in the background. This type of camera shot is very important; it helps express a number of things.
“Atticus” is like a momentary principal for the black society and he is standing up for them and putting his reputation on the line. He holds the future and fait for the “negro” society in his hands, for the reason that if he looses the case, blacks will be treated more shoddily and roughly, to make sure nothing like this happens again [Tom Robinson and raping the women].
Another effect it gives is that it helps portray the emotion of the black people, it helps shows the hope and dream they have and how much they anticipated all of these.
The use of music and “Scouts” narration throughout the film is a useful production technique.
Initially the use of music throughout the film helps create different moods and atmospheres during various scenes and helps break up the continuous motion of the film. Furthermore the characters’ words are portrayed without them directly speaking. Additionally music is used to ratchet up the tension at various times throughout the text. A pertinent example of this is when “Atticus” shoots the dog in the middle of the street, as the tension builds up the music increases in pace and becomes supplementary louder. The selection of the music suited the time of when the film was set and it furthermore it helps the audience understand the time period of the film and the hardships of black civilization.
The use of “Scouts” narration throughout the film, helps us, the audience have a better understanding of the film also it helps use see the film in the perspective in which it was meant to be seen, through “Scouts” eyes. Moreover the narration from “Scout” helps break the almost language barrier between the film and the audience. Consequently it acts to make the novel more immediate and personal as the reader develops a close understanding of the narrator. Subsequently the reader becomes more and more empathetic towards the narrator as the novel progresses, and this is perhaps the key aspect Scouts’ narration.
There are many purposes and possibilities for shooting the film in black and white. There might not be any purpose for it but it might have a symbolic value, it is there to constantly remind us about the conflict between black and white people, because throughout the novel there are many small conflicts within the novel, which divert our attention. Also it could be the style in which the director wanted it to be shooting in; it helps give the affect that it was filmed in the time of which it was actually set. Furthermore it may juxtapose white men clearly against the black men hence fore fronting the tension and it also symbolises the harsh nature of oppression, highlighted by the lack of colour and vibrance in the lives of many at the time.
In conclusion, the portrayals of the black characters in the novel by “Harper Lee” with the film version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” are quite similar and different in their own perspectives.
The film in my view is more successful at portraying the black characters and their personalities for the reason that is we as the audience of the film we see it in front of our eyes, where as unlike in the novel, the readers have to use vivid imagery to create a image in their mind of what is happening and how the story progresses forward and they may misinterpret what is occurring and see the story differently.
The novel which is written by “Harper Lee” is a more accurate story since it is the original and in the film parts have been omitted and changed, the reason for this is unknown. The film itself is very flourishing at portraying the black characters of the story and their persona, the reason for this is that all the other aspects of the film contributes to this for example the camera shots used in the film e.g. on a black person they might use a long camera shot to show the “caste system” in the town.
In my opinion they are both equal at portraying the black characters.
