Analysis Of Prejudice In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

Go Set A Watchman, returns readers to Maycomb, and reintroduces them to the characters from one of the greatest coming of age novels, To Kill a Mockingbird. Watchman had tremendous controversy taking place on both the pages of the novel and swirling around outside the novel since it’s release. Several readers and critics alike became mortified that Atticus, a moral patriarch is exposed as a racist. Although, disheartening this is a realistic tragedy, it is natural to mature with age and in doing so now understand the flaws in people that had once been considered a hero. When Jean Louise returns home, where she experiences this realization once her maturing mind allows her to visualize the ugly struggle of racism in the south. The theme …show more content…
Conflicts arise in this novel through the conversations of the characters and the plot advances through dialog as well. An important argument arises in chapter 17 between Atticus and Jean Louise. In this sequence Atticus’ view of African Americans is clearly revealed. Although, each have different views on racism they have similar views politically. For example, they were both upset with a Supreme Court decision, which basically gave the federal government authority over the state government. It is extremely interesting that Jean Louise was against the Court decision, which can be assumed to be Brown v. Board of Education. It is reasonable to believe the small town where she grew up would naturally affect her views on certain issues. Atticus even points this out when, after Jean Louise is questioned on the Court’s ruling, however her attitude about people of color was far different than that of the majority of whites in Maycomb. The discussion becomes heated when Jean Louise brings up the thought of giving African Americans a chance for full citizenship. Nonetheless, Atticus believes this would be nearly impossible due to being outcast, or how Jean Louise says “bottom shelf people”. The dialog in this discussion turned argumentative, helping to develop the theme of …show more content…
The dialog in this book helps bring up this issue and shows Jean Louise opposing view on the situation. On of the greatest aspects of Watchman, is the antidotes, which has several purposes for the story arc of the novel, for example some of the antidotes are flashbacks to help show us what happen in the past and how they reflect in the present. Antidotes also help describe scenes that are crucial to the development of the theme. The dialog in these helps shows the opposing viewpoints of our characters. Jean Louise comes home thinking her town has changed in realty it is her who changed and matured too see the real horror of racism throughout her own family. An old saying “ You can’t ever go home again” has never been more fitting then for this novel, Jean Louise will never recapture the innocence of her