Movie and Book of To Kill a Mockingbird and Oral Tradition

The movie drama "To Kill a Mockingbird", starring Gregory Peck, is a wonderful example of Walter Ongs' theory of secondary orality. This movie was adapted from the classic novel by Harper Lee, and serves as a reminder that electronic media is slowly replacing the printed and spoken word. Instead of books and campfire stories, we now have film.

Ong hints that television, radio, and media depend on the existence of technology. This becomes apparent as classic literature is displayed on the silver screen more and more each day. On one hand, it is disappointing that society has become dependant on television for stories and information. On the other hand, electronic media reaches out to people who may not have the resources or ability to read or understand oration.

According to Walter Ong, secondary orality exists when one method of oration (such as television) depends on another method (writing) to communicate. This is apparent in any movie, but it is especially true for movies that once were books, such as "To Kill a Mockingbird". There would be no basis for this story, no characters, and no script if the movie was not first put down in words. Movies are created vicariously through oral culture and literature.

This movie also highlights many oral features in society, such as urban legends and southern rural history. In the movie, the character of Boo Radley serves as an urban legend for the children in the movie. Jem and Scout collected stories through gossip and word of mouth and formed a story about the elusive Boo Radley based on their own oral culture. There was also a strong message about southern culture and history that came across in this movie. Certainly, you would get an idea about how things were in the depression era south from reading the novel, but the movie gives us a picture that literature could not.

My first experience with "To Kill a Mockingbird" was watching the movie as a little girl with my parents. I was very young and was captivated by the musical score and the story of a little tomboy and her brother. I didn't understand all of the themes then, but as I grew older and became interested, I read the novel on my own. In my own experience, this form of orality (movies) brought me back to its original form (literature). I was also introduced to this story at a much younger age than my peers. In this way, the influence of an oral culture led me back to literature.

Viewing this movie with Ongs' theories of orality and literacy in mind, I came to the conclusion that we are becoming an oral society all over again. In the coming years, school children probably won't have to read books, such as "To Kill a Mockingbird", they will just watch the movie version in class. Hopefully, seeing these movies will inspire them to turn to its literate form. After all, as they say, the books are always better than the movies.