A Time to Kill and A Time to Kill both have a number of similarities to compare and contrast. Both stories can be compared in their themes of racial justice and prejudice. However, that's where the similarities end. The themes and ideas in both novels are very different in form and scope. In A Time to Kill justice is the main theme and most of the ideas are centered on justice and the gray between the black and white lines established by law, racial prejudice is also touched upon very frequently in the comparisons between Jake Brigance and Carl Lee Hailey and how he wouldn't even have to stand trial if he was a white man. In To Kill a Mockingbird justice is a theme that is not explored or explained in as much detail as in A Time to Kill. To Kill a Mockingbird also has a much wider variety of themes, ranging from themes of justice to exploring how a child perceives right and wrong, as well as the idea of ​​coming of age. These stories are honestly and objectively much more different than they are similar. A Time to Kill is a story based primarily on justice. The story is based on the trial of a black man named Carl Lee Hailey, accused of killing two unarmed white men in the middle of a courthouse. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about many themes, including a child's innocent perception of the world, a man's shame and how far he is willing to go to regain his pride, and the root of it all there is a question of justice. To Kill a Mockingbird features a trial in which a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping and beating a white woman. The main connection between the stories is a question of racial prejudice. None of these trials would have taken place... middle of paper... half the themes and ideas of To Kill a Mockingbird can't even be compared to A Time to Kill because they both deal with such different subject matter. One could compare Scout to Carl Lee's daughter and discuss how both stories deal with the innocence of a child, however Scout's innocence is explored and explained while Carl Lee's daughter loses her innocence. Another way a comparison could be drawn is by mentioning that both stories include rape and use it to spark a discussion about morality, however in To Kill a Mockingbird the rape and beating are only used as a framing device which brings to more important events. , and in A Time to Kill rape is discussed as a terrible and cruel crime that turns the two perpetrators of the act into monsters to be killed and serves as the primary motivation for Carl Lee's killing spree and the not guilty verdict in his trial.