Have you ever read the book called To Kill a Mockingbird? If so, you may want to read Walk Two Moons. These books are so alike, it’s almost scary. Scout and Salamanca share many experiences that are as different as they are similar. One of the experiences they share is that they both have a dead mother. Another thing is that they have troubles that involve their fathers. Also, they have troubles with friends telling stories, romantic relationships, knowing a potential lunatic; have a neighborhood lady that tries to help them, and a lady that helps their families out in times of need. They also experience different things during the trials they have to face throughout the books.
Scout and Salamanca are alike in that they both have a dead mother. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout grew up without her mother so she didn’t know what a mother was like. In the book it says, “I did not miss [my mother.]” This is not the case for Sal. In Walk Two Moons, Sal is haunted by the memory of her mother during the entire book. In this book it says, “My mother did haunt our house in Bybanks, and in the fields and the barn. She was everywhere. You couldn’t look at a single thing without being reminded of her.” Also, she says, “How could she do that? How could she leave me?” If Sal and Scout were to meet, Scout would probably not be able to relate to the pain that Sal felt when her mother left her.
Scout and Salamanca are alike in that they both have to deal with troubles involving their fathers. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout has to deal with the prejudice against her father because he is defending a black person against a white person. Even though her family is going through this trial, Atticus, her father, tells her, “As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but 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.” Salamanca doesn’t have to deal with this prejudice, but she has to deal with a father that is “dealing with his own demons.” In her book, it says “On the night that we got the bad news-that she was not returning-he pounded and pounded on that wall with a chisel and a hammer.” In this case, I think that Sal and Scout could relate to each other very well. They both have to deal with a problem with their fathers so they have common ground to walk on and they could help each other deal with their father’s tasks.
Scout and Salamanca are alike in that they have troubles with friends. Scout has to deal with her friend Dill’s stories about Boo Radley. In the book, Dill says “We’re askin’ [Boo] real politely to come out sometimes, and tell us what he does in there-we said we wouldn’t hurt him and we’d buy him an ice cream.” I guess everyone has to deal with a weird friend because Sal has to deal with her friend Phoebe that thinks everything is dark and scary and her mother’s “kidnapping.” In the book it says that she said “I think maybe she killed Mr. Cadaver and chopped him up and buried him in the backyard.” While both these characters have to deal with something dark and scary, they take it in different ways that, in turn, make our main characters experience very different.
Scout and Sal are alike in that they both have a romantic relationship in their stories. Scout is engaged before half the book is done and Sal has a weird relationship with Ben. This has already happened and they aren’t even 15 yet! Another thing that happens to them is that they have contact with a potential lunatic throughout all of their stories. Sal’s lunatic is named Mike. Mike is Phoebe’s mother’s son and Phoebe blows things out of proportion with his story. Scout’s potential lunatic is none other than Boo Radley because he hurt his father once.
Another thing Scout and Sal have in common, in a general way, is that they have a neighborhood lady that tries to help them out. Scout’s lady is her Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra comes to live with Scout when Atticus has to deal with a case in court. In the book it says, “We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence.” Scout is growing up and, without a mother, is having more boyish tendencies then a “normal” girl would have. This isn’t the same relationship that Sal has with Mrs. Cadaver. In fact, it is entirely different. Mrs. Cadaver helps Sal’s family out by helping her dad get a job and by holding her mother’s hand when she died. Also, she was there for Sal when she wanted to talk about her mother.
As you can see, Sal and Scout have many experiences in a very short amount of time. They go through so many trials, it doesn’t seem fair. These girls aren’t even 15 years old yet, but they have already dealt with losing a mother, troubles with their fathers as well as friends, and a weird lady trying to help them when they don’t want the help. These girls experience things that are so similar, but so different, it is almost frightening that the authors of these two books aren’t the same people. These books were a great read. Go and read them.
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