Go Set A Watchman Conflict Analysis

Approaching Conflict Analysis In American history, major issues plagued the country and the mind of it’s citizens.

Specifically, in the South, the viewpoints of races altered throughout the 1900s and to present time. While there is no doubt that racism is manifested into everyday lives, there is still turmoil over solving the situation. This universal conflict and the timeless aspect of racism allows novels written back in the day, such as To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set A Watchman, to remain relevant today and to give a deeper understanding of how to go about conflict. Looking into the stories written by Harper Lee, it is evident that there is a contrast between how conflicts, like racism, are dealt with. However, Go Set A Watchman approaches

After finding her father's racist pamphlet, Jean Louise shows her animosity towards her aunt’s opinion on the pamphlet by saying, “I especially liked the part where the Negroes, bless their hearts, couldn't help being inferior to the white race because their skulls are thicker and their brain-pans shallower—whatever that means—so we must all be very kind to them and not let them do anything to hurt themselves and keep them in their places” (Lee 102). Instead of just letting Aunt Alexandra elude from the fact that she was being racist, Jean Louise presents a very clear and sarcastic statement about how African Americans are inferior and that they have to treat them differently because they can not be successful on their own. Jean Louise visits Uncle Jack in order to better understand Aunt Alexandra and Atticus’ point of view. She asks him, “what’s turned my father into a nigger-hater?” (Lee 188). Throughout the rest of chapter 14, Jean Louise and Uncle Jack have an open conversation about Atticus’ racist actions and possible reasoning behind those actions. In opposition to the appropriateness in addressing racism and the controversy of avoiding conflict in Go Set A Watchman, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, does not realistically recreate the prevalent issues in the book’s setting in the middle 1900’s. In

In the beginning of the book, Jean Louise was returning to Maycomb via train after attending college in New York. “She had told the conductor not to forget to let her off,” however, when the conductor missed her stop, he said, “...he was sorry, he almost forgot” (Lee 7, 9). By not intervening and reminding the conductor once again to stop, she essentially avoided the conflict. This is a simple example of how avoiding bigger conflict can lead to consequences, such as racism. When Jean Louise found a pamphlet titled “The Black Plague” on Atticus’s desk, she asked Alexandra, “Aunty, have you read this thing? Do you know what's in it?” (Lee 102). Alexandra simply told Jean Louise that it was “Something of your father’s,” and instantly tabled the conversation (Lee 102). Alexandra knew what the pamphlet depicted, however she avoided dealing with Jean Louise about Atticus’ racist views. Instead of addressing the conflict of racism face to face, Aunt Alexandra redirected the conversation. On the other hand, To Kill a Mockingbird contains evidence to prove that the book does deal with the controversy of avoiding conflict and racism in an appropriate manner. In the book, Maycomb’s general reaction is “stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up” (Lee 117). This quote shows an accurate representation of how a Southern town would