Romeo and Juliet is similar to To Kill a Mockingbird because in both works, people who are different from each other learn to love and respect each other. Romeo and Juliet are from feuding families, the Capulets and Montagues, but they fall in love and realize that they are not really different. As Juliet says, "What’s in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" (II.2.47-48). In other words, she does not care if Romeo's last name is Montague (though her family--the Capulets--hates the Montagues), as she values him for himself, not for his name.
Similarly, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout learns to love and appreciate Boo Radley, who is developmentally disabled, and to understand the injustice with which Tom Robinson is treated in a racist society. Atticus, her father, tells her, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Atticus means that a person can't understand another until they really try to empathize with that person and see what he or she is experiencing. Therefore, the themes of understanding and intolerance are similar in both works, as are conflicts surrounding misunderstanding based on superficial differences. In addition, there are dynamic characters, such as Scout, Romeo, and Juliet, who change in the works and become more empathetic towards people who are different than they are.
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