Atticus Finch’s Societal Changes and the Racial Dynamics of Southern America: A Comparative Study of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman

Abstract

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee published in 1960 is still considered to be one of the most effective criticisms of racial prejudice depicting Atticus Finch as an example of a righteous person. However, the subsequent Go Set a Watchman (2015) has a different Atticus who seems to have changed his stand on race issues. This research employs Lucien Goldmann’s genetic structuralism with comparative analysis to trace the development of Atticus Finch’s approach to racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and Go Set a Watchman (2015). This research examines the major social changes in the mid-20th century American South through Atticus' transformation from a hero for racial justice to a segregationist and racist. It explores how social pressures and personal struggles influence people's beliefs. This research further examines Jean Louise Finch's disenchantment with her father's changing views on race that portrays the generational and moral conflicts triggered by social transformation. The findings of this research are anticipated to offer profound understanding of how literature can mirror societal changes and offer valuable prescription for how the relation between history and literature can be understood.

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