There are two stories that Harper Lee had written over the years that portrayed a child’s life into adulthood. The two stories reflect each other in a sense of experiences throughout the character’s life. The two stories focus on a girl who grew up with an unrealistic view of her father. The two novels interact with each other from child to adult point of view. The two books that will be discussed involved To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. The author displays a unique comparison between the two novels. Harper relates the child’s image of life in the first novel, with the second novel examining the different impact adulthood can have. These two novels have similar characters but different outcomes as the characters grow up. In order to understand the point of the second novel, it is important to have read the first novel. The two go together as a part one and part two of the Jean’s life’s representation. The main character offers insight to the type of events that had occurred and the theories that were thought to be true. The two stories complement themselves regarding Jean Louise and the main points of her experiences. Through a child’s eyes things seem considerably different that how an adult see’s them. This is true for Jean also known as Scout in the first book. It compares the same scenarios and individuals with an aging understanding of what was thought to have been already comprehended. The books both portray how different a child and adult views are, even when it is the same person. Jean thinks her father is nonjudgmental; her community is acceptable, but as an adult she realizes racism has been present all along.
Jean views her father as a nonjudgmental man who treats everyone equal. As a child, she is very questionable and concerns herself in what is going on around her. Scout and her father have a close relationship in the aspect of how she views him. He was not the type of father to sit and play games with her, but in her eyes, he was a respected person. She saw her father as a man who did not judge others and was fair in his decisions regarding human race. “He had defended a black man in the community in a court proceeding which showed his non-prejudice behavior among all humanistic backgrounds” . Scout takes up for her father’s actions in the novel by processing his leisurely time spent reading. She never saw him take part in any hobbies or extracurricular activities like fishing or drinking. She just remembers him as reading books because he was an important lawyer in the community. His reputation was likable and he had a well-rounded group of acquaintances.
Jean acts like a tomboy and her town accept her for who she is. In her childhood years, she is referred to as Scout. Scout is a smart young lady who acts more like a boy with her tomboyish ways than she does a girl. She is criticized for her strength and boyish style because she is a female. The girl has a wondering imagination because she is bored with school. Her advancement of knowledge exceeds the kids in her age group and therefore she needs something else to occupy her mind. Scout has a conflict with her teacher because of the racial comments that are made in class. Her views on racism are different than her teachers because she had never witnessed her family acting in that manner. The thought of her teacher making such accusations was disgraceful and she was astonished by her words. Since her father was not racist in her eyes due to representing a black man, she is angry at the remarks made by the teacher. Scouts brother teased her for being either too girly or too boyish but her father excepted her for who she was. As a young girl, Scout understood the world around her as she saw it. Not for what it really was. Her outlook towards her family, friends, school, and community has been seen differently through her eyes as a child. As she grew older the sense of reality has taken over and what she thought was true was not actually real at all. Her perception was changed as she grew up and understood things that were going on in her life and she wondered if that was how her life had always been.
When Jean grows up, she realizes that her father and community had been racist. Jean lives in New York and decides to go back home for a visit to Alabama. During her arrival, she starts to see things differently as an adult and realizes the town is different. Once she arrives in town she thinks it has changed so much since she was younger. Her journey in her hometown keeps changing into how reality is in the community. At first, she thought everyone in the community had changed, but soon realized it was her that had changed. Jean realizes after finding books and witnessing the town meetings that her father is indeed a racist. “She had not known this growing up, but her father had been a part of a group known as the KKK” . Most of the town was members of this group and she was confused when realizing this. Jean was not sure if this was how the town always had been but she had not realized this growing up. She was upset with her father for being a racist because she was not like that.
Both books relate how different the perception of reality can be to a child and through adult eyes. Jean realizes nothing had changed in her hometown except for her. She had changed and everyone else was the same. The guy whom she wanted to marry was involved in the same group as her father. She was shocked to learn that his views were also different from her own. In her eyes, the town that she thought she knew had been a lie. She was disappointed in the community and felt hurt by the betrayal of her father’s intentions. Her father was always a member of a racist group even though he defended the black man. Jean had not understood how this could have occurred without her having a clue that it was going on. The town had not looked different in reality; it was her perception she had of the town as a child that was different. The interpretation of people and her town was only different to her and not to anyone else who had lived there. She had not known growing up, that her father’s beliefs were different than hers. As an adult, she understood things more clearly and analyzed what was happening. Jean had to come to terms that she was the one who changed and that her misinterpretation was the problem. Her father accepted her for who she was and she had to do the same no matter what the differences were. He would always be her father.
Work Cited
Atkinson, Robert. "GROWING UP WITH SCOUT AND ATTICUS: GETTING FROM TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD THROUGH GO SET A WATCHMAN." Duke Law Journal (2016): 1-12. web.
Leopold, Todd. "Harper Lee's 'Mockingbird' and 'Watchman' an intriguing comparison." CNN (2015): 1-6. web.
