Discrimination And Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Over the past decades the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been taught to American students anywhere from seventh grade to twelfth, credited as a story with themes such as coming of age, discrimination and justice, all of which might appeal to young adults. However, the teachings of the Lee’s recently second published book, Go Set A Watchman seem to be daunting many within the English profession. Some reasons why there is hesitation to incorporate the new novel into curriculum is because it contains incest, racism, and the reconstruction of the heroic Atticus Finch. In order to prevent misinterpretations of characters like those of Jean Louise and Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird should not be taught unless it is alongside with Go Set a Watchman.

Discrimination is a powerful theme embedded into the story however, while aspect of this can be seen in the the treatment of Tom Robinson, it is Jean Louise’s ignorance as a child and her neglect for such details that display this and several other elements within the story. “Calpurnia is the housekeeper, cook and babysitter, but there are no clear indications of when her work days begin or end or how much she is paid for her services. As ‘part of the family,’ she is expected to be present most of the time, including Sundays when Atticus is away on business…” (Murray 85) Calpurnia helped Atticus in the raising of his children, but she was not their mother. Yet every time she was mentioned by Scout she was always at their house, details of when she wasn’t or if she even had a family of her own weren’t spared. While assumptions could be made that part of Jean Louise’s ignorance to mention such detail could be due to the fact she is reflecting on a childhood memory, the superstition could be quickly dismissed by reading both