BeginningThe story unfolds with Jean Louise (Scout) returning to Maycomb from New York, to visit her childhood home and her aging father, Atticus. Jean Louise meets Aunt Alexandra, who similar to her childhood years continues to criticize her manners. The plot of the novel is introduced when Atticus and Jean Louise discuss a recent Supreme Court Case which limited the power of the states.
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Start of the conflict |
While spending time at her childhood house, Jean Louise learns that their cook and long time friend, Calpurnia has left them but she is not aware of the reason behind it. Jean Louis finds a racist magazine named The Black Plague in Atticus's office which causes her to go to the council meeting that both Atticus and Henry attend. Seeing Atticus at the meeting shocks and disgusts Jean Louis and pushes her to question Atticus's character.
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confrontation |
Jean Louis first confronts Henry about the Klan meeting he attended and he claims that the Klan members are respectable people and that him and Atticus only attend the meetings to find out more about the members. Then she fights with Atticus about his new beliefs. He argues that the Supreme Court violated the 10th amendment through the case of Brown v. Board of Education, and that African Americans are not yet ready to be treated as equals. The last person she argues with is uncle Jack, who believes she is "color blind", which has made her unable to see the truth in the south. Jean Louis settles down and begins to accept Atticus's changed personality, by finally accepting that she cannot be everyone's conscious.
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