A Fearful Symmetry: the Making of To Kill a Mockingbird
(this page was produced by Jean Power, LMS, Georgetown HS)

 

Robert Mulligan, director

Alan Pakula, producer

Horton Foote, screenwriter

Elmer Bernstein, composer

 

As you watch the documentary based on TKAM, answer the following questions for discussion.

 

  1. According to Horton Foote, why do people respond to this story?
  2. What were the good things about growing up in the South according to the narrator and Monroeville residents?
  3. Why didn’t most movie studios want to make a movie based on this book?
  4. What people contributed to the movie’s success?
  5. How were child actors chosen?
  6. For what qualities was Robert Mulligan looking in selecting the children?
  7. What influenced Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch?
  8. Pay attention to the female narrator’s lines regarding indoor plumbing, electricity, and other improvements injected by “all those W’s.”  What does she mean?
  9. Why couldn’t the movie be made in Monroeville in 1963?
  10. How did Henry Bumstead, the artistic director, create a convincing set in Hollywood?
  11. How does the title sequence set the tone for the movie?
  12. What inspired Elmer Bernstein’s music for the title sequence?
  13. How did children amuse themselves in the 1930s?  How do the novel and movie illustrate that?
  14. Why is oral tradition important to a community?  How has Southern tradition perpetuated an oral tradition?  What modern intrusions have corrupted our oral tradition?  How?
  15. Interview an older relative (grandparent or older), and record at least one family story.
  16. Describe the Finch household.  Why is this a good way for these children to grow up?  How was it an unorthodox home?
  17. What function does the mad dog serve for the story?
  18. What real life events influenced Harper Lee to write the scene when the crowd goes to the jail to lynch Tom Robinson?
  19. What inspired Gregory Peck’s portrayal during the courtroom scene?
  20. How did Collin Wilcox prepare for her Mayella character?  How does she describe Mayella?
  21. How did the other actors react to James Anderson who portrayed Bob Ewell?
  22. How did Brock Peters prepare for his role as Tom Robinson? 
  23. How does Cleophus Thomas describe Atticus?
  24. What human reality did Peters use to portray his character as the verdict was read?
  25. How does this story influence American lawyers even today?
  26. What does Atticus’ character embody?  In what way does he help us “see a sermon?”
  27. Why is the scene where Bob Ewell spits on Atticus important?
  28. How is the “Cracker” described?
  29. How does Atticus contrast with the Southern Cracker?
  30. How does Bernstein’s music reinforce the seriousness of the scene when the children are attacked by Bob Ewell?
  31. What things did Boo Radley symbolize in the story?
  32. For whom does this story speak?
  33. How has society changed the eccentrics of our world?
  34. How has the justice system changed since the story was written?
  35. Do you know any Atticus Finches today?
  36. Based on the comments at the end of the documentary, do you think our society is better or worse off now than in the times portrayed in the story?
  37. How can you become an Atticus Finch?