Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman presents a narrative that deals with human relationship mostly from men vs women point of views. The novel is adorned with sometime amicable and sometime hostile male-female bond. By establishing comparisons and contrasts among the senses of value and convictions from both feminist and patriarchal sides, the novelist demonstrates her noble aim to reach some coming-of-age issues among the characters of the novel. On one hand, the events in the novel on many occasions contribute to consolidating men’s and women’s beliefs towards each other. On the other hand, at the end of the day, some other incidents lead to the disillusionment of the trust one nurtures for the other. Nevertheless, Harper Lee has all her commendable …show more content…
Jean Louise always receives an affirmative psychological response and upbringing from Atticus. She gets amicable and comforting manner and companion from Henry, her soul mate. About Jean Louise’s being antagonistic to him, he says, “Don’t argue with a man, especially when you know you can beat him. Smile a lot. Make him feel big. Tell him how wonderful he is, and wait on him” (Lee 16). On one such occasion, while going out with Henry, Jean Louise gets bumped with the car and lets loose her irritation yelling, “Damnation! Why don’t they make these things high enough to get into” (Lee 50). But Henry is always there to behave quite softly with her as he knows her temperament and responds to it mostly in a friendly and soothing manner. Together they pass quite an enjoyable time in the neighborhood. At one midnight they go swimming in a certain type of dress that makes them look naked, but actually they are not. In the morning Alexandra flares up and demands to know what made her do such scandalous deed. During the brawl, Atticus arrives and comes to know the incident. He understands Jean Louise much better. He has all his assertions towards his daughter and he funnily utters, “I hope you weren’t doing the backstroke” (Lee 86). This puts both the father and the daughter in a very amusing …show more content…
This takes place in a consecutive manner signifying Jean Louise’s over reliance on her father and fiancée, and subsequent shock followed by coming of age realization. The patriarchal figure in Go Set a Watchman, Atticus proves to be a man more responding and tending to the demand of his time and social set-up than to the ideology Jean Louise expects of him (Fields). Fields also states that the Scout of To Kill a Mockingbird has turned to be a grown-up, independent as well as cosmopolitan in thinking of and regarding people irrespective of all negligible differences. Jean Louise not just understands the ever existing disparity in the society, she stands bold and protests the anomaly courageously. Harper Lee’s young protagonist, Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird and adult one, Jean Louise in Go Set a Watchman stands to be a gigantic resistance to the prevailing color-caste conflict and inferiority taboo in American culture (Clukey). She gets the sense that she being a woman is not supposed to talk about these male-oriented issues. Nonetheless, she emerges and fights for her impeccable ideology. Clukey (705) brings to the front that Jean Louise has to fight against the long set codes for women in general to face the obstructing challenges deployed by the society, in other way mechanized by the patriarchal mind-set to be able to come out as a free entity. On her pursuit for
There are countless people who judge others by their image or the words whispered by friends. This has been true since people have begun interacting with one another. Indeed, people feel the need to categorize everything and everyone leading to stereotyping and bias based upon appearances. In today’s society, there are many incidents involving racial and gender inequality demonstrating that little has changed since the 1960s. In this novel, Scout Finch, a young girl, recounts her life as she observes social concerns including racism and prejudice. When her father Atticus, a criminal attorney, agrees to defend an innocent black man, Scout comes to realize that not everything is as perfect as it seems. Appropriately, Scout and her brother Jem learn not to judge others as a result of interactions with three characters that they encounter throughout their childhood. Boo Radley, known as the town’s ‘evil monster’, Mrs. Dubose, an elderly, ill-tempered woman who lives near the Finches and Tom Robinson, an African-American man being accused of raping a white woman that is being defended by their father, all teach the children that character is not a reflection of one’s outwards appearance. As such, through knowing these people and their circumstances, Scout and Jem’s sense of social justice and fairness matures. It is through their eyes that Harper Lee, in To Kill a Mockingbird, demonstrates the immorality of judging others without consideration of who they are and what
As a child grows, many people influence their development as a person. Some people impact more than others, and a select few really leave their mark. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” several characters play this role. Among them, Miss Maudie Atkinson, a woman who proves herself a strong character, prevails as the one who has the greatest impact on Scout Finch, the protagonist of this novel. As Scout matures and grows up, her views on the world around her change. Through subtle yet effective ways, Miss Maudie teaches Scout many life lessons about being humble, judging, and attitude, all of which ultimately have a great effect on the kind of person Scout develops into and her outlook on the world.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the greatest novel to Teach kids about diversity and the complex relationship with racism. It details the life of Jem and Scout, two siblings who grow up in a time of racial inequality and unrest. Jem Finch is what most would call a typical young boy; fascinated with sports, guns, and being tough. Scout Finch, on the other hand, is an Atypical tomgirl, tough enough to handle anything that comes her way. Yet, both of their childhoods are different from many of their friends and families that live in the town of Maycomb. Harper Lee creates these characters to portray the internal and external conflict that many young adults encounter when their morals clash with the cultural norm. We see that " you really don't understand a person till you climb into his skin and walk in it" (lee 30) Through Jem’s and Scout’s voice and characterization, Lee reveals how average day kids can change the course of people’s live.
To Kill a Mockingbird is written through the eyes of Jean Louise, often referred to as Scout. It tells the story of her growing up and describes her struggles with the educational system – as well as being a target for prejudice. It also shows her viewing her father’s court case as he defends Tom Robinson from being convicted for a crime he didn’t do.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird particularizes the life of the relationship between a motherless brother and sister, Jem and Scout, and their level-headed father, Atticus, who decides to answer any question that their children may have, with ease. Scout Finch, having been a girl, has many masculine influences, which therefore motivate her to dress like a boy and be fascinated with being tough, guns, and adventure. Although improper, Scout’s upbringing shows her how good and evil continuously clash within her society. Through the entirety of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee reveals how an immature tomboy can grow into a pure hearted young woman, who can tell her superiors about the difference from right and wrong, and who knows how to properly deal with the different kinds of people she will encounter later in life.
In the timeless novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character Scout Finch transitions from a narrow-minded and oblivious adolescent to an incredibly strong willed young woman capable of understanding the world as it is rather than as it should be.
Jean Louise Finch also known as her nickname “scout” has personal opinions toward racism. As I touch more on that later in the beginning she is returning home from New York, going back to Alabama to visit her father who is Atticus Finch. Once she arrives, there waiting for her was an old friend slash lover to pick her up because her fathers arthritis was bothering him. This young man’s name is Henry. He would love to marry her but she will continue to refuse his proposal. Her father Atticus has a law firm and likes to wear two watches on his arm. He is thrilled to see her and is anxiously at home waiting for her and once she arrives she is thrilled to hear about how everyone is doing. Atticus goes about telling Jean How they moved across town and that an ice cream parlor now stands where their house used to be. Henry then leaves but schedules a date for him and Jean to catch up. Jean
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is a historical-fiction written by Harper Lee. The novel’s main character and narrator Jean Louise (Scout) Finch is introduced to many of the world’s hardships, and its harsh realities. Standing as Scout’s father is Atticus Finch, leading her down the path of righteousness, fairness, and equality. Atticus is an excellent father, whom leaves little to be desired on the topic of parenting. He shows his superb parenting in numerous ways- ranging from the allowing of his children to have their own walks of life, raising his children as individuals, and not hiding his children from the true evils of the world.
Have you ever felt like you wee never afraid to speak your mind? That is what Jean Louise Finch(Scout) felt like throughout this book. It is full of old things that Scout has missed out on, and worse things yet to come. Go Set a watchman was written by the now deceased Harper Lee. This book shows what the south is all about: money and drama.
Scout Finch is a young girl that is interested in many situations throughout the town that are far too mature for her understanding. However, Calpurnia and Atticus still try to explain situations and circumstances on a childhood level for her to understand. Lee uses these examples to show Scout’s character, but to also show the racism and tragedy that occurs in her hometown. Dare in the periodical states, “Her innocence is a crucial aspect of the narration, highlighting the senseless racism and class divisions that rend Maycomb” (96). Scout’s innocent childhood point of view exemplifies Harper Lee’s idea of prejudice actions that occurs in Maycomb.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by a beloved author, Harper Lee. Despite dealing with serious issues of rape and racial inequality, this novel is renowned for its moral in the value of friendship and family. Lee writes about a young girl, Jean Louise Finch, who is also acknowledged as Scout. Scout grows up in the small fictional town of Maycomb County in the 1930s. She lives with her older brother Jem, their housekeeper Calpurnia, and her widowed father who is an attorney that is faithful to racial equality and later on defends Tom Robinson, a black man charged with raping a white woman. Scout has a basic faith in her community that they are good people but then throughout the novel especially during
Going back only a few decades, sexism and gender roles were very apparent, especially during times such as the Great Depression. In that time, the women were not allowed in the workplace, but only the home. With these restraints placed on them, the woman of this time learned to deal with their placement, and to look at the positive side of things. This same situation occurs in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In this book, a girl named Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed Scout, slowly comes of age throughout the book. Scout shows she is doing this when she realizes the true meaning of being a lady, reacts to Tom’s death in a non-aggressive way, and wears a dress.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she highlights various ways to convey the difference in maturity between between the adult narrator, Jean Louise Finch, and the child char-acter, Scout. Jim Rohn once said, “Maturity is the ability to reap without apology and not com-plain when things don't go well.” Everything that is being told, is told by the adult Jean in this book. This way you can see two sides of the story. One of them is from a child’s mind and mem-ories of it; then, the other is from a mature adult who is looking back at her life at a more elabo-rate angle later in life.
The generally perceived theme/general message of Go Set a Watchman is that Jean Louise feels betrayed by her father when she finds out he is involved in racist activities. Readers and fans of To Kill a Mockingbird were outraged that the perfect, role model image of Atticus Finch was destroyed, or tainted, by the release of this work. But even through all this, Atticus was still being a good father to Scout. He did what he thought was right, which was to shield her from the “usual disease” and let her decide what to believe for herself, and so Jean Louise Finch grew up colorblind. She chose to live her life free of prejudice, and to treat Negroes the same as white people. Since her father taught her so many other life lessons, she assumed her father taught her this as well. So when she finds out her father is, in fact, a flawed man, she feels as if her whole world has been turned upside down. Uncle Jack (Dr. Finch) explains to Jean Louise, “...you confused your father with God. You never saw him as a man with a man’s heart, and a man’s failings-- I’ll grant you it may have been hard to see, he makes so few mistakes, but he makes ‘em like all of us. You were an emotional cripple, leaning on him, getting the answers from him, assuming that your answers would always be his answers” (Lee 325). The message/theme of Go Set a Watchman is not about Atticus being racist and Scout’s childhood world falling apart. It is that to Scout, Atticus was someone she looked up to and trusted, thinking that he was perfect and would always be there to tell her what to do. This is why when she finds out that he is involved in the citizen’s council it makes her feel so terrible, so physically sick: because in her mind Atticus was descending from the “godly” level, to a human being. This is also why when
In her coming-of-age novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores how the precocious protagonist, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, struggles to fit into her role as a lady and has a difficult time coming to terms of the cruelty as well as the injustice her Southern town displays through discrimination. Scout resides with her family in Maycomb County, Alabama in the 1930s--a town severely divided by color. She goes through a breathtaking metamorphosis throughout the novel when her father Atticus defends a Negro man accused of rape, exposing her to the true roots of human behavior. Through the use of settings, characterization, and ironies, Lee implies that hypocrisy is a tragic act to be involved in; it can