Go Set A Watchm Character Analysis

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In Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee, twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch returns home from New York City to visit her father, Atticus. Jean Louise experiences extreme amounts of disillusionment throughout her homecoming when she discovers that her father, who she completely adored throughout her entire childhood, is not who she thought he was. To elaborate, as a child, Jean Louise took Atticus 's word for gospel and idolized everything about him. At one point in the novel, Jean Louise describes Atticus as “the only human being she had ever fully and wholeheartedly trusted.” (Lee 113) When Jean Louise returns to Maycomb, she discovers that her father has is far from perfect, as he uses derogatory terms about colored people and attends citizens council meetings that are dedicated to preserving white supremacy. Upon realizing this, Jean Louis must learn how to separate herself from her father 's ideas and think on her own. As …show more content…

Initially I was skeptical about reading this novel as I knew it would contradict Atticus Finch 's character. However, I did enjoy this book! I thought the novel presented a good message about following your own conscience rather than conforming to the opinions of others. My favorite part of the novel was after Jean Louise and Atticus’s big fight where Atticus tells Jean Louise “You may be sorry, but I’m proud of you,” (Lee 277) and after processing all of this information Jean Louise tells Atticus “I think I love you very much.” (Lee 278) I loved this part in particular because it described how in life we can still love the people we disagree with. This novel is definitely a more challenging read than To Kill A Mockingbird as it requires lots of analyzation to fully understand the text. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the story of To Kill a Mockingbird. Although they are two completely different stories, they share themes of conscience and principles and doing what is right despite the opinions of