Chapter 8: "Hanseldee and Greteldum"

A very popular work of literature, a novel most students have read at some point in their high school lif, is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. While reading the book, one's mind does not instantly think it is similar to a fairy tale. However, there is an inkling of a connection to the renowned story of Beauty and the Beast.  The most definite parallel between the two stories is the lesson to not a judge a book by its cover. In Mockingbird, Scout Finch, the main protagonist, grows up living in fear of her neighbor, Boo Radley, an old man that is unseen and is rumored to have done terrible things that makes him avoided by all. Scout and the other young people of her small town cower in fear away from the Radley household, though most know none of the mysterious man living within. It is not until later that Scout meets him and builds a fondness and a good relationship with him. He becomes a friendlier person and is more open to the people of the town who no longer are afraid of him. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle is not the friendly neighbor to the Beast, but is taken captive by him in exchange for the release of her father. The similarity is the ability to look past the unseemly exterior and find the good inside, which occurs later in the tale when Belle falls in love with the Beast. The Beast sheds his mangy appearance and becomes a handsome prince, not much unlike Boo Radley. The story of an unlikely relationship formed between very different individuals is a common tale and is a lesson taught to most young children. This story of real people deepens the appreciation of a girl falling in love with a massive, furry man by utilizing this aspect and relating to situations that could happen. They both illustrate that what one sees is not always what one gets.