"To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Help" Compare and Contrast Essay

    The two stories To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help are very similar. However, they have many differences, as well. One must look at both the similarities and the differences to get a good idea of the stories and they ideas they focus on.

    In both stories, the main characters are not raised by their mothers, but by maids. Scout is raised by Calpurnia, and Skeeter is raised by Constantine. Both stories deal with false accusations, and both have main characters who try to overcome the racism of their communities. There are many characters in each story that can be compared with each other. For example, Skeeter is like Scout, Constantine is like Calpurnia, Skeeter’s mother is like Scout’s aunt, Celia is similar to Boo, and Tilly is like Mr. Ewell, who tried to deflect blame from himself. Even the two towns, Jackson and Maycomb, seem very similar in the stereotypes and ideas that are present there.

    However, Jackson is a much larger town than Maycomb. There are many other differences, as well. While To Kill a Mockingbird is written from a child’s view, The Help is from the viewpoint of a young adult. In The Help, people seem to be richer, and the story is more lighthearted. Also, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the 1930’s, while The Help is set in the 1960’s. To Kill a Mockingbird is mostly about men, but most of the characters in The Help are women. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a rape accusation, but in The Help, thought there is a theft accusation, it is not so prominent in the story. Also, the titles of the two stories are different. The title, To Kill a Mockingbird, comes from a quote in the book, which states that it is “a sin to kill a mockingbird”, because mockingbirds don’t do any harm, they only sing. This is the title because there are at least two characters who could be called a “mockingbird” in this sense. The reason behind title of The Help is more obvious. In the story, Skeeter is trying to draw attention to the sometimes-hard life of the help.

    In conclusion, while both stories seem very different on the surface, they also have many  similarities. The morals, or ideas, present in the stories are similar. Both are good stories, and both are extremely thought-provoking.