Comparing Cry the Beloved Country and To Kill a Mockingbird

The books To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee and Cry, the Beloved Country written by Alan Paton are two completely different books, but the characters share many similarities. In both books many of the characters are brave, wise, and dangerous.

In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus, Scouts father, displays the characteristic of being wise. After Jem and Scouts' failed attempt to get their neighbor Boo Radley out of the house Atticus stated that, “What Mr. Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside his own house, he had the right to stay inside free from the attentions of inquisitive children” (Lee 49). This shows that Atticus is a wise man because he knows how Boo Radley feels and he understands that Boo Radley might just want to be left alone because that’s how Atticus would feel. Now when Jem was questioning Atticus about why a white man is more trusted than a black man Jem seemed to of get upset. But Atticus reminded Jem about how wrong a man is for treating another man of a different color by saying, "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, that white man is trash" (Lee 220). This is another example of how wise and old Atticus really is; it shows that he knows how people should treat each other after growing up and watching the same things that are happening through his children’s youth. Atticus has been through the same things as his children and he wants them to think the way he thinks about people, which is everyone should be equal in and outside the courtroom. Following this further, John Kumalo in Cry, the Beloved Country is also ...

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...bsalom says, “Then Johannes struck him over the head with the iron bar that he had behind his back” (Paton 193). In this quote Absalom shows how dangerous Johannes really is. He almost killed a man with an iron bar. Another example of Johannes’ danger came up in court also. Johannes seemed to of asked the servant, “Do you want to die?” (Paton 193). Johannes even asked the servant if he wanted to die, when the servant refused he struck him over the head. All these quotes are great examples of what danger Johannes and Bob put people in.

Unquestionably, To Kill a Mockingbird and Cry, the Beloved Country is two completely different books, but many of the characters have major similarities. Three characters have been named from each novel with a characteristic trait such as being wise, brave, or dangerous. Not all books have to have the same theme to be similar.