Ethical Issues In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee is the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird. This book was recognized due to it’s racial acceptance when it was published in 1960. It is said that she enjoyed the success of the book, but she did not appreciate the attention she received. Harper Lee, due to old age, is now blind and deaf with poor health. Harper Lee’s sister, also her previous lawyer, housemate, and guardian, too, became decrepit, unable to represent her. Tonja Carter, Harper Lee’s new attorney, recently became her representation, along with Andrew Nurnberg, her agent. Tonja, would come across an early manuscript of To Kill a Mockingbird. This manuscript involved many of the same characters, much older, however. This manuscript is what is now known as Go Set a Watchman. After discovering the manuscript, it was branded as a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, although it was written two years prior to Lee’s only published book. Harper Lee’s sister, Alice, urged Tonja not to release the book; however, Alice would die a few short …show more content…
She also suffered from a stroke in 2007. Her mental health is quite possibly the biggest factor in this debate. Is she in a clear state of mind to release this book? Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy touches base on the ethical standard of one’s decision-making capacity. In order to have the capacity to make one’s decision, he or she must understand, appreciate, reason, chose, and value the decision. One can argue that Harper Lee’s mental state restricts her from satisfying these requirements. That being said, if we acknowledge that she was not in the correct state of mind, does her attorney have the right to make the decision for her work, especially after the many years that Harper Lee was in the right mental state to release the book, but choose not to. I think the answer is clear. She does not own the right to the book, and, in turn, cannot make this