48 pages • 1 hour read
Harper LeeGo Set A Watchman
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 7, Chapters 18-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary
Jean Louise argues with Aunt Alexandra as she packs her bag. She is surprised when her aunt is moved to tears by her insults and apologizes, stating that Aunt Alexandra is a lady and she is not. To her surprise, her aunt declares that Jean Louise is also a lady.
As she is packing the car, Uncle Jack appears and hits her in the face to prevent her from leaving. While Jean Louise is dazed by the blow, he brings her back in the house, pours her a dram of whiskey, and offers her a dime to drink the whole thing in one swallow. She becomes calmer as she grows intoxicated and is able to listen as Uncle Jack explains that he tried to help her by giving roundabout advice. He calls her crisis her “coming into this world” (263). Jean Louise considers that, despite how horrible the argument with her father and the events leading up to it were, everything is somehow now bearable. Uncle Jack informs her that this is because she is her “own person now” (264). She deified her father as a child, adopting what she perceived as his conscience as her own. Eventually, she would have to discover that her beliefs—and her beliefs about what Atticus’s beliefs were—were not the same as those held by the living Atticus. Uncle Jack says that either she or Atticus had to kill her, meaning the morally parasitic version of Jean Louise who idolized her father, so that she could live as her own person.
Jean Louise is filled with shame over the way she verbally attacked her father, but Uncle Jack insists that all will be well. He explains that Atticus and Jean Louise are similar, except that Jean Louise is a bigot in the literal sense—she is unwilling to consider viewpoints that oppose her own. Uncle Jack goes on to ask if she has ever thought about coming home. He argues that she can have an impact without fighting, but by working, coming home, and spending time with friends. When Jean Louise claims that she cannot come back because Maycomb does not agree with her, Uncle Jack argues that more people in Maycomb do than she thinks. He states that a person needs friends most when that person is wrong and suggests that she has the beginnings of the special kind of maturity that is required to live in the South at this delicate and difficult time.
Jean Louise considers his words and wonders why he made such an effort on her behalf. Uncle Jack is surprised that does not know and confesses that it is an open secret that he was—and still is—in love with her mother. He consequently views Jean Louise and the late Jem as his “dream children.” Uncle Jack encourages her not to feel too guilty or alone in light of his revelations and to go speak to her father. Jean Louise drops him off at his house and considers his words.
Chapter 19 Summary
Jean Louise returns to her father’s office to face him. First, she sees Hank and makes plans to meet him that evening to end their relationship officially and permanently. To her surprise, her father simply asks if she is ready to go. Atticus further astounds her by declaring that he is proud of her for standing up to him. As they return to the car, she begins to mentally consider her father as a human being rather than her god/conscience. When she gets into the car, Jean Louise remembers not to bump her head this time.
Part 7, Chapters 18-19 Analysis
Jean Louise’s attempt to abandon her family is forcibly thwarted, as foreshadowed by Jean Louise’s remembrance of her experience at the dance. Just as she was ultimately grateful for Hank’s insistence that they return to the party, Jean Louise is also grateful for her uncle’s intervention as it leads to reconciliation with her father. Similarly, her romantic feelings for Hank ending after his response to the fallout of that same event foreshadows Jean Louise’s decision to end things once and for all.
Part 7 constitutes the falling action (Chapter 18) and the resolution (Chapter 19). In the falling action, Jean Louise finally understands what her Uncle Jack has been trying to tell her in its entirety: The issue she was having was not the discomfort of a moral disagreement with a role model, but the discomfort of developing a personal identity distinct from her idealized perception of her father’s. Her own war is about self-actualization, a coming-of-age story; the civil rights movement and differences in sociopolitical beliefs are incidental to the issue, just as Uncle Jack tried to explain.
The resolution shows Jean Louise’s reconciliation with her father. To her surprise, his is not angry with her for her harsh words, but actually proud of her, considering her moral backbone to be one of her best traits and a sign of his good parenting. This response parallels the situation in which Jean Louise was embarrassed by her suicide attempt and expected mockery from Jem only to receive his kindness. Just like Jem, her father welcomes her back into his life and is willing to move forward without further comment on the event, which brings her shame.
The final chapter also wraps up the theme of change. Jean Louise’s relationship with her father is permanently changed as she now can relate to him as a peer rather than an infallible god. The final sentence of the book is a further indicator that Jean Louise has changed and learned from her experience: After bumping her head several times getting into the car, Jean Louise has finally grown accustomed to it—and to Maycomb—and knows not to bump her head this time.
