Analysis: Billy Elliot and To Kill A Mockingbird

Billy Elliot is a text that focuses on the protagonist's journey against social norms to follow his own aesthetic whereas, To Kill a Mockingbird is about the protagonists coming of age and how she learns about her societies inequalities. It is through the struggle against social adversities that Billy Elliot and Scout Finch experience humanity and evolve their own identities. By analysing techniques and comparing both texts I hope to prove how the human experiences in these texts relate to the struggle with adversity and the search for identity.

The book To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee during a racially insensitive time, in her hometown Alabama. This inequality and racism in the Americas South was very clearly the main theme of To Kill a Mockingbird and was also relevant at its time of publication. As well as the main controversial topic of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird also follows the growth and maturation of the protagonist, Scout.

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Scout is a tomboy who loves adventuring and even gets into fights with other boys in her class. Throughout the novel, Scout and his family face tons of unjust criticism because of Scouts father, Atticus’ choice to defend a black man in court. Scout tries to fight all the backlash and even debates his own brother saying, “Jem says that the 4 types of people in the world are, the ordinary kind like us, the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the Negroes.

Scout responds I think there’s just one group of folks Folks.” Scout clearly does realise how opportunities and social factors play a crucial role in someones social class but she believes that it is not an accurate representation of an individual's true identity. This is significant because it really proves to the reader how Scout has grown over time through her own experiences and importantly through her fathers' teachings.

An example of this is when he says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” This was a massively crucial lesson that Scout used multiple times throughout the novel and was the first time she became conscious about perspective. It is through these many of these adversities and experiences that Scout further discovers her own identity.

Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Billy Elliot follows the growth of a young child during the miner’s strike in County Durham throughout the whole film his family faces the effects of being in the working class. The family struggles to stay afloat and during the winter Jackie even resorts to burning their family piano to keep warm. Throughout the whole film, there seems to be a parallel between how the miners fight against Margaret Thatcher's policy to destroy the National Union of Mineworkers, and Billy Elliot’s personal fight against the social norms of the macho male brand. His society is also quite conformist in their social norms and gender stereotypes, which Billy struggles to fight against in order to realise his identity. It seems that nobody he knows supports him apart from his Ballet teacher and his best friend, even his gym teacher says “You look like a right wanker to me, son”. It is through Billy Elliot's strength of character and sheer passion for Ballet that he is able to fight through his adversities and discover his identity.

So, in conclusion, it is clear that even though both stories and character progressions are different, both protagonists discover their own personalities through the huge social adversities and experiences that they struggle through.   

Works cited

1. Lee, H. (1960). To Kill a Mockingbird. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
2. Palmer, A., & Daldry, S. (Directors). (2000). Billy Elliot [Motion Picture].
3. Heiss, A. (2015). "Race, Class, and Gender in To Kill a Mockingbird: Crash Course Literature 211." CrashCourse. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXeXqbkfDwc
4. Scanlon, J. (2011). "Harper Lee." Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia.
5. Harris, T. (2016). "Billy Elliot: An Exploration of Gender in Film." Cinergie. Retrieved from http://www.cinergie.it/?p=6967
6. Cooke, M. (2001). "Billy Elliot: A Novelty among Movie Novelties." Journal of Popular Film and Television, 29(2), 78-85. doi:10.1080/01956050109602889
7. Allard, E. J., & Santacroce, C. (2015). "Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird." Salem Press Encyclopedia.
8. Billington, M. (2014). "To Kill a Mockingbird review – panoramic vision in a seamless adaptation." The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/dec/17/to-kill-a-mockingbird-review-regents-park-open-air-theatre-london
9. Robbins, J. (2001). "Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: New Essays." The Southern Quarterly, 39(3), 179-181. doi:10.2307/20043141
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