COMPARE/CONTRAST ESSAY
The booksTo Kill a MockingbirdandGreat Expectationsare closely related both in structure and in meaning. Two characters that are similar and different from both of these novels are Scout fromTo Kill a Mockingbirdand Pip fromGreat Expectations. They lead similar lives, both under the shadows of those they want to become and pressured by many around them, shaping their overall qualities and characteristics. After analyzing both novels, its apparent that both of these characters are similar in their traits, but they also have some differences that set them apart. Scout and Pip are similar in the fact that both characters are different, or long to become different, in regards to their environment and those around them. Also, both characters go through some similar life-changing experiences, such as meeting certain people or witnessing important events.Differencesbetween the two include setting and gender, interests and hobbies, and their specific roles in their respective plots.
InTo Kill a Mockingbird, the character Scout is seen as particularly unusual by those around her. Since she is a girl, she is expected to perform certain ladylike actions. Instead, shetypicallyengages ingamesand activities that are often physical in nature, considered by many to be the domain of boys.In the tight-knit town of Maycomb , little separates the inhabitants concerning the characteristics of each gender. Simply put, ladies are expected to act like ladies, and men like men. As Mrs. Dubose scolded Scout once,"And you - ! What are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! Similarly, Pip inGreat Expectationssticks out in the fact that he desires to become something different than those he sees around him.Instead of taking a traditional, working-class route, Pip wants to become a gentleman, in the main interest of money and the woman he yearns for,Estella. Although those around him that he knows and loves, like Joe, want him to take their path, he wishes to become something more than a blacksmith. As he said, I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too. This quote shows that Pip wishes that Joe had been raised like a gentleman, so he would become one too. Overall, we see that both characters are different than those who surround them.
Another similarity is that both characters go through similar life-altering experiences that change their perspective on the world and on the people around them. InTo Kill a Mockingbird, Scout witnesses the trial of Tom Robinson, and learns many important lessons from her father, Atticus, that change her opinions on other people. She is taught that there is a lot of blind hatred in the world, and that it is essential to understand a person for who they are, and not who they appear to be on the outside. Atticus once tells her,As you grow older,you'll seewhite men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, he is trash.At one point, the meaning of the novels title begins to dawn on her. She says to Atticus, "Mr. Tate was right...it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it? She realizes that it is wrong to persecute somebody based on prejudice rather than evidence. Pip faces a similar experience upon meeting the harsh, but entrancingly beautiful Estella and the withered, bitterMiss Havisham. He forgets his dream of becoming a common blacksmith and instead becomes interested in the life of a gentleman. As he slowly gets older, he abandons his home and loved ones to move to the disappointingly dim city of London .In the end, both characters see a promising world turn into a dark, disappointing one.
Although there are several similarities between Scout and Pip, there are also differences that set the two characters apart. Both are placed in different settings, one in Alabama and the other in England , and although they narrate their stories they are different genders. Along with that, inGreat Expectations, we see Pip progress into a grown man while Scout inTo Kill a Mockingbirdstays roughly the same age throughout the novel. Also, Pip holds a strong interest in Estella, saying that, The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Also, he shows an interest in Estella when he says,I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I loved her nonetheless because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection.
InTo Kill a Mockingbird, Scout explains an interest more towards enjoying her childhood for what it is and not worrying, much like the average child. There is a lot of innocence expressed throughout the novel, shown when she says, When we were small,Jemand I confined our activities to the southern neighborhood, but when I was well into the second grade at school and tormenting Boo Radley became passe, the business section of Maycomb drew us frequently up the street past the real property of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose. It was impossible to go to town without passing her house unless we wished to walk a mile out of the way. Previous minor encounters with her left me with no desire for more, but Jem said I had to grow up some time. She also says, Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more; I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be.This shows the difference because Pip as a child has a lot more responsibilities, whereas Scout does not.
Another difference found between the two characters is their roles in the plot. Both go through the novel in separate ways, as Pip grows into adulthood but Scout ends up staying a child all through the book. One quote fromTo Kill a Mockingbirdthat expresses this childhood is when Scout says, The adults in Maycomb never discussed the case with Jem and me; it seemed that they discussed it with their children, and their attitude must have been that neither of us could help having Atticus for a parent, so their children must be nice to us in spite of him. The children would never have thought that up for themselves: had our classmates been left to their own devices, Jem and I would have had several swift, satisfying fist-fights apiece and ended the matter for good. As it was, we were compelled to hold our heads high and be, respectively, a gentleman and a lady. This shows her childhood innocence and her inability to understand certain concepts. But inGreat Expectations, the character Pip progresses into adulthood, displayed by this quote: As we got more and more into debt, breakfast became a hollower and hollower form, and, being on one occasion at breakfast-time threatened (by letter) with legal proceedings, "not unwholly unconnected," as my local paper might put it, "with jewellery," I went so far as to seize the Avenger by his blue collar and shake him off his feet so that he was actually in the air, like a booted Cupid for presuming to suppose that we wanted a roll. This quote was taken from later in the book, expressing how he was an adult during that period of time.
In the end, the characters in the novelsTo Kill a MockingbirdandGreat Expectationsgo through many changes and experiences throughout the book that shape them in similar manners and traits. There are a lot of similarities in characteristics and in the events they went through, but there are also the differences, like age and gender, and their roles in the plot. Overall, though, we know that these are both historical characters which share a lot in common.
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