Go Set a Watchman Lesson Plan

Now that you have finished Go Set a Watchman, consider the Atticus that you know from To Kill a Mockingbird. Do you think he could have held the same racist beliefs when he defended Tom Robinson?

It may be difficult for students to imagine that Atticus held racist beliefs when he defended Tom Robinson during Jean Louise's childhood. Encourage students to imagine Atticus with complexity -- it's possible that he believed in segregation and a racial hierarchy even then, but he still didn't feel comfortable standing by while Tom Robinson was tried unfairly for a crime he did not commit. This does not exonerate Atticus, of course, but it does help with the task of...