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Set in the future of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman examines the town Jean Louise Finch calls home. During one visit back to Maycomb, Alabama, Jean Louise is confronted with how the town has changed without warning during her absence. She struggles with the differences in the way people are acting and wonders whether it was her or them that transformed. Her overlying concerns about race in society surround this theme throughout the plot. Jean Louise’s transition from a child who idolizes her father and feels a certain tenderness for life to an adult misses an entire period of life. The novel’s flashbacks to Jean Louise as a child and back to present where she is in her twenties seem to leave a blank space. It is almost as if she was asleep and woke up years later in an entirely different Maycomb. She does not even realize how much change truly occurred, “she threw off the spread, put her feet to the floor, and sat gazing at her long legs, startled to find them twenty-six years old”(141). Growing up happens rapidly for Jean Louise when she is looking back on it. It takes her until this moment to understand that she is no longer the little girl who caused a row on the playground. …show more content…
The two venture down to Finch’s Landing, a clearing near the water that has been owned by the Finch family for years. The Finch House on the land had already been turned into a hunting club, but Henry further informs Jean Louise that the rest of the land was sold. She is caught off guard by the news as “the tone of her voice made Henry stop”(74). It is unthinkable to Jean Louise that a place with sentimental meaning to her would be given up, especially by her father. It is hard for her to understand why the man she thinks so highly of would do this and not tell
Mays described her favorite temporal context to be sixty-five years old because “you are young and spritely without any responsibilities.” During older adulthood her social participation increased and she was able to take part in elaborate leisure activities including a RV trip to Canada. She believed her love life got better with each year and the passing of her third husband, John, was the most difficult period of her life. As she grows older she hopes to live the remainder of her life without pain and find a significant other to spend time with.
By providing a precise example of the times it is set in, To Kill a Mockingbird effects the readers opinions on today's society making them think of ways to better it. For example, in the novel, Lee describes what life in Maycomb, a southern town in Alabama, was like during the 1930's: “ a day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was no where to go, nothing to buy, and no money to buy it with...” ( Lee 6). People have a hard time imagining what life in a big depression was like, and this provides them with a description that not only helps the reader think about living during those times but broadens their knowledge about the history in general. This new insight helps them to see how far today's society has come and how many obstacles mankind has faced and overcome on their journey to today. In addition, Catherine Bernard explains through her book, Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird, that: “ While Lee's novel is set in the 1930's, the themes of discrimination and toleranc...
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the story is told by a young girl called Jean-Louise Finch but also known as Scout aged five at the start of the book almost turning six who in the book is quite unique as she could read at the age of six and understand her fathers profession as a lawyer. The story is about Scout growing up in the southern state of Alabama in a small town called Maycomb with her brother Jem and her father called Atticus who is the lawyer. The main theme of the book is about Atticus defending a black man called Tom Robinson and he is accused of raping a white girl called Mayella Ewell and how it affects her, in the book she learns about racism and prejudice and the struggle of black men in life and she also learns about the ways of life and family traditions. The book is set in the late 1930’s so racial discrimination is at its peak in the southern states of America.
Returning to Etonville, Janie recounts the story to an old friend. She arrives at her final stage of awakening. She understood that she had fulfilled her dreams, lived them, and still keeps them in her heart. Tea Cake’s memories would stay alive in her heart, as long as she was alive to remember. “He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking. The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace” (Hurston, 193). Janie discovers herself through attaining her dream of love, also uncovering a joy that she can carry the rest of her life. She finally found peace in knowing who she was, and being strong enough to fight for her individuality. Over the course of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie unearths what love truly means to her, and how far she is willing to go to obtain it.
Harper Lee’s only book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the stereotypical tale of childhood and innocence, yet it successfully incorporates mature themes, like the racism in the South at the time, to create a masterpiece of a work that has enraptured people’s minds and hearts for generations. According to esteemed novelist Wally Lamb, “It was the first time in my life that a book had sort of captured me. That was exciting; I didn’t realize that literature could do that” (111). Scout’s witty narration and brash actions make her the kind of heroine you can’t help but root for, and the events that take place in Maycomb County are small-scale versions of the dilemmas that face our world today. Mockingbird is a fantastically written novel that belongs on the shelves of classic literature that everyone should take the time to read and appreciate for its execution of style and the importance of its content.
Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird sets place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the prominent period of racial inequality in the mid-twentieth century. To Kill a Mockingbird explores the transformations that follow one’s coming-of-age alongside the ambivalent morals of the 1950s. Changing the setting would affect the character development, conflict and atmosphere developing a new theme.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is set in the 1930s, a time when racism was very prominent. Harper Lee emphasizes the themes of prejudice and tolerance in her novel through the use of her characters and their interactions within the Maycomb community. The narrator of the story, Scout, comes across many people and situations with prejudice and tolerance, as her father defends a black man.
Jean Louise comes back to Maycomb after leaving for New York to visit her father. Jean Louise and her aunt Alexandra did not get along but came together when she came to visit. Aunt Alexandra disapproves of many thing that she does, including the decision to marry Henry. Jean Louise and her aunt stopped fighting after Jem’s funeral. Alexandra believed that “Jean Louise [should] come home for good”(Page 29) because her father needs her. As she takes walks throughout her hometown she remembers how it was to live here as a kid and how things have changed drastically since then. When Jean Louise went to church she was memorized by the quote “Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he
As the novel begins, Janie walks into her former hometown quietly and bravely. She is not the same woman who left; she is not afraid of judgment or envy. Full of “self-revelation”, she begins telling her tale to her best friend, Phoeby, by looking back at her former self with the kind of wistfulness everyone expresses when they remember a time of childlike naïveté. She tries to express her wonderment and innocence by describing a blossoming peach tree that she loved, and in doing so also reveals her blossoming sexuality. To deter Janie from any trouble she might find herself in, she was made to marry an older man named Logan Killicks at the age of 16. In her naïveté, she expected to feel love eventually for this man. Instead, however, his love for her fades and she beco...
Jeanette's early character is somewhat timid and a fan of conformity. She writes, "Since I wanted the other kids to like me, I didn't raise my hand all the time" (Wells 58). She goes on to move to New York away from her parents after junior year, just through her own effort and resources. Jeanette changes from a child who is affected by others' opinion of her, into an adult mature enough to make life-changing decisions for herself without being concerned with the status quo. She is motivated by success and by better chances in the world outside of Welch, where she feels constrained by the closed-mindedness of other people who live there. Jeanette is a symbol of the resilience and perseverance of humanity.
Jeanette’s parents were very free spirited and carefree about many things, least of all their children. Her mother’s ambitions were mainly to become a famous artist and her father’s mainly included drinking as much alcohol as he could get his hands on, and in the meantime becoming a successful entrepreneur. Her father was not exactly very concerned with feeding his family properly, and he often took all the money her mother would make teaching. “I’ve got a houseful of kids and a husband who soaks up booze like a sponge… making ends meet is harder than you think (Walls 197). They often went hungry and because of her parents being so neglectful she, along with her siblings, became their own parents. Her self-governance was astounding at such a young age and this was a key to her success later on in life. She had always been very aware of her surrounding and growing up her family was always on the move, always on the run. They eventually settled in Welch, West Virginia and this is where her independence ...
The reader is first introduced to Francie when she is at the age of eleven. Francie is an average, normal girl growing up in Brooklyn in the year 1912. She doesn't have many friends and her family doesn't have much money, however she enjoys reading and is constantly finding ways to amuse herself. Being as young and innocent as she is, life seems nearly perfect for Francie. Eventually though, Francie realizes that this isn't the case and, in a sense, looses a bit of her innocence.
The novel informs us that the Brown v. Board decision was of great importance and significantly greatly impacted this book. The decision of overturning segregation and forcing racial integration in Maycomb, Alabama is what drove the entire story of Jean Louis coming back to Maycomb and essentially grouping up and forming her own opinions. Go Set A Watchman was set in the mid 1950s, an era crucial to United States history. The Civil Rights Movement in the US began in the mid 1950s and ended in the late 60s. Brown v. Board was a key factor during this movement because many African-Americans were fighting to end discrimination and segregation , and the Brown v. Board
Louise has turned into a little girl that must depend on man to take care of her. Louise pleads with Brently to go to the gardens of Paris. She begs like a child begging for something that is impossible to give. Brently must lock her up in their home to protect her from her curiosity and need to see the world. The filmmakers do not give her the commonsense to realize the dangers she would face in seeing Paris and all the other places she would like to visit. Louise remains the little girl in the flashbacks and Brently has replaced her dead father as the soul keeper of her world. Brently must protect her from the world and herself. She is made to be completely dependent on him from her everyday needs to being her only window into the outside world. There are no female positions of authority in her life. Aunt Joe is left in the background and Marjorie must ultimately answer to Brently. Louise is left to see men as the only authority in her life. She herself as a woman must feel powerless to the will of men. Brently even chooses the destinations of their daily visits to far off and exotic places. These excursions are Louise's only escape. Brently is made to be her captor and savior at the same time. Her fate is completely dependent in his yet she is given no control of either.
Since the beginning of her life, Louisa isn't allowed to express herself because her father continually stresses the facts. Mr. Gradgrind suppresses Louisa's imagination and all she can do is wonder. One example of Louisa attempting to view the unknown occurs when she and Tom peep through a loophole in order to see a circus (8). This is the first time both Louisa and Tom have seen such a sight. When asked why they were there, Louisa curiously answers, "Wanted to see what it was like" (8), a response any normal child would have. Her "starved imagination" (8) is curious and needs some sort of avenue for release. As Louisa blossoms into a young lady, the young Miss Gradgrind enchants one particular suitor. Her father thought that it was time for Louisa to marry and had a suitable companion in mind. When Mr. Gradgrind asks Louisa if she would like to be Mrs. Bounderby, all Louisa can utter is, "You have been so careful of me, that I never had a child's dream. You have dealt so wisely with me, father, from my cradle to this hour, that I never had a child's belief or a child's fear" (63). Mr. Gradgrind interprets his daughter's words as a compliment to him and his strict belief in teaching only the facts. But Louisa means she has not experienced life and has never been given the chance. Her childhood has been murdered by her father's strict insistence on the perpetuation of facts only. Although Louisa realizes she has been enslaved by the theories of fact, she willingly enters yet another bondage to Mr. Bounderby allowing the process of her suppression to continue.