Topic > Character Analysis of Jean Louise Finch in Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

In the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird - Go Set a Watchman - we are reintroduced to Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout. Many years have passed in the protagonist's life; She is now in her mid-twenties and has returned home from her busy life in New York to visit her family in Maycomb, Alabama. However, she comes to a surprising conclusion: the city she grew up in is no longer the same as it once was, or at least, how she saw it. Jean Louise encounters a series of changes in her city, from something as small as urban development, to much more serious differences. Jean Louise discovers that her father, Atticus, and fiancé, Henry, have been taking part in a racially motivated Citizens' Council. As your world is turned upside down, say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay, Jean Louise must come to understand that people are imperfect and every man must create his own guardian. The clear theme of this selection is that change is inevitable and must be addressed accordingly. This piece focuses primarily on Jean Louise's internal and personal changes, such as detaching her consciousness from her fathers and allowing herself to become herself and seeing Atticus as a man, instead of a "tin god". In the words of his Uncle Jack: “…you confused your father with God. You never saw him as a man with a man's heart and his failures…You were an emotional lame…taking for granted that your answers would always have been his answers." (page 265)Jean Louise, before coming to this conclusion, tries to deny what she had seen before. She says: "Atticus and Hank were up to something, they were simply there to keep an eye on the things... it was all a mistake..." (page 104). She soon realizes that her dependence on Atticus and her "color blindness" have caused her to see her world through rose-colored glasses, so to speak. Go Set a Watchman details her “coming into this world” (page 263) and documents her personal growth and adaptation to change Harper Lee showed us all through Jean Louise that we must become our own people, open up our eyes and set our watchmen. Throughout the book, the Bible verse "Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he sees" occurs frequently. In the context of the Bible, the watchman is supposed to announce impending destruction. He is seen as a kind of lookout, a kind of watchman, and is supposed to make Isaiah aware of the fall of Babylon. In the context of Go Set a Watchman, the watchman symbolizes one's conscience, since conscience is a kind of lookout for every person. In the book, Jean Louise's Uncle Jack says, "...Jean Louise, every man's guardian, is his conscience." (page 265) He is saying that conscience is what guides them in life. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay It shows them right from wrong, justice from injustice, and serves as a moral compass. The phrase "go, set a watchman" is symbolic of Jean Louise's journey to separate her consciousness from that of her father and to see people as they really are. He says, "I need a gatekeeper to tell me this is what a man says, but this is what he means... say here's this righteousness and here's that righteousness and let me know the difference." (pages 181 and 182) The author is trying to apply this verse to Jean Louise's personal growth and needs, as if she is using this verse to show Jean Louise that she actually needs to go and place her guardian.