Race. It's a touchy issue, y'all. And it'll never be as simple as black and white; neither in the American South, nor anywhere else. Even if the characters of Go Set a Watchman didn't explicitly address racial issues (which, uh, they did), purely by being related to To Kill a Mockingbird, we have to talk about 'em.
Questions About Race
- How has the relationship between the whites and blacks of Maycomb changed since To Kill a Mockingbird?
- Is Atticus racist? Is Jean Louise racist? Do these two share any similar views on race?
- Why does Jean Louise insist that Calpurnia speak "right" (12.194)? Why does Jean Louise think the way she talks is more "right" than the way Cal talks?
- Why do both Atticus and Jean Louise have an issue with the NAACP? Is their dislike of this organization racially motivated?
- Are Civil Rights important to Jean Louise?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Go Set a Watchman is an accurate depiction of race relations in Alabama in the 1950s because it was written by a woman in Alabama in the 1950s.
Go Set a Watchman is only one perspective. It is not a definitive depiction of race relations in Alabama in the 1950s, because it was written by a white woman in Alabama in the 1950s and there are few black voices in the novel.