Go Set A Watchman Jean Louise Character Analysis Essay
705 Words3 Pages
Throughout Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee use selective scenes to narrate Jean Louise’s two-week vacation in Maycomb. Jean Louise, returning home from New York City, finds the two best men that she respects reveal opposite actions. She faces a difficult decision whether or not she can still respect these “honorable men.” However, Jean Louise soon realizes these men around her symbolize the importance of her growth and independence. Lee uses experiences in the courthouse, drugstore, and her father’s law office to weave the eye-opening tale of Jean Louise’s return to Maycomb. Jean Louise senses betrayal in her father, the prestigious attorney, and sweetheart, Henry, while attending the council’s meeting at the courthouse. First, she discovered a pamphlet of a city council meeting for an “anthropophagus Negro” beside her father’s chair. She develops suspicion and immediately rushes out of the house and arrives into the deserted town. Jean Louise enters into the courthouse and walks up the stairway to the balcony. She steadily takes her place in the corner where she and her brother used to sit watching their father defend trails with…show more content… Jean Louise confronts her father about his views on political stance and race equality, which inevitably separate the two once close characters. He uses demeaning words and claims that black people “are still in their childhood as a race.” He explains that hosting a racist preacher at the council’s meeting as a tactic to keep “tabs on the people of Maycomb.” Jean Louise finds his arguments hypocritical and immoral; however, his claims reveal an accurate description of the views of many citizens in Maycomb. Jean Louise realizes what she needs to take from her parent and what to reject. Their argument in his law office reveals that Jean Louise finally develops into her own person and she embodies higher moral standings than her