History Literature / GoSetAWatchman

* ObviousBeta: The manuscript wasn't put through any kind of editing process once Harper Lee's publisher got their hands on it, resulting in several continuity errors with events she portrayed differently in ''Mockingbird'' (most notably, Atticus ''won'' the Tom Robinson case), and some entire paragraphs that she moved to it almost verbatim.

* GetAholdOfYourselfMan: Uncle Jack nearly slaps a furious Scout unconscious before explaining his view of things. He says it's OK because he doesn't ''usually'' hit women.

* OutOfCharacterIsSeriousBusiness: Scout goes to visit Cal, the Finch's former black servant, and quickly realizes that the woman who essentially raised her is code switching -- talking to her with "company manners" (i.e. [[ObfuscatingStupidity using poor grammar, dropping verbs, playing up her country accent, and generally speaking like a subservient black person would be expected to]]). She's taken aback when it dawns on her that the closest thing she ever had to a ''mother'' no longer seems to consider her "family", just another white person she used to work for.

The novel takes place twenty years after the events of the first novel, as a now adult Scout returns to Maycomb to visit her father. To her horror, she realizes that her father, whom she's idolized for his integrity, expresses racist views, and the novel is her coming to terms with him and her town.

* AnAesop: Looking down on people because of their actions, beliefs, upbringing, etc. goes both ways, and ignoring your own faults have consequences.

* LearnedFromTheNews: Nobody remembered to tell Dill that Jem died. Dill only found when someone sent him a newspaper clipping.

* NostalgiaFilter: Seeing your hometown and childhood through a memories of nostalgia can make you overlook the awful aspects and things you took for granted.

* AdultFear: Your loved ones either keeping something from you, or changing in ways that seem inconceivable.
** Your way of life changing due to circumstances that are entirely out of your control.
** Aging to the point of being unable to care for yourself, such as Atticus and his arthritis.
** Being replaced by a younger person in the workplace, even if it is unfounded gossip in the case of Henry and Atticus.
** Losing everything you've worked for because you're shunned for not following society's expectations, [[spoiler: which is Henry's biggest fear]].
** Your child either dying from a heart condition or attempting suicide over a misunderstanding.
** Your child growing up, hating you over differences in beliefs, and walking out on you.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Jem]] apparently died all of a sudden off-screen, and the novel mentions it only in passing.
** Somewhat {{justified|Trope}}; [[spoiler:he died of the hereditary heart problem that killed their mother with equal suddenness years earlier]]. Harper Lee's brother Edwin did die suddenly at a young age, while serving in the military, but he had a cerebral hemorrhage rather than heart failure.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harper_lee_go_set_a_watchman_cover_lead.jpg]]

* RealityEnsues: Growing up worshiping your father as an idealized bastion of moral perfection is ''not'' good for your development as a person. [[ParentsAsPeople Your parents are flawed just like you]], and you won't always agree. [[spoiler: Atticus and Uncle Jack realized this about Scout after it was far too late and knew a confrontation was inevitable.]]
** Seeing your hometown and childhood through a NostalgiaFilter can make you overlook the awful aspects and things you took for granted.
** Looking down on people because of their actions, beliefs, upbringing, etc. goes both ways, and ignoring your own faults have consequences.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Atticus's reaction to the rumor that Scout and her husband were swimming naked in the lake was this:
--> ''"Well, I hope you weren't doing the backstroke."''

* OutOfCharacterIsSeriousBusiness: Scout goes to visit Cal, the Finch's former black servant, and quickly realizes that the woman who essentially raised her is talking to her with "company manners" (i.e. [[ObfuscatingStupidity using poor grammar, dropping verbs, playing up her country accent, and generally speaking like a subservient black person would be expected to]]). She's taken aback when it dawns on her that the closest thing she ever had to a ''mother'' no longer seems to consider her "family", just another white person she used to work for.

''Go Set a Watchman'' is a 2015 American novel that was written by Harper Lee. It has been marketed and reviewed as the "sequel" to the 1960 novel ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Originally, ''Go Set a Watchman'' was a rejected first-draft manuscript that Lee proposed to her editor. Her editor gave her the idea to work on ''TKAM'' instead, because he liked the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, and the manuscript was supposedly lost for years. It was rediscovered when it was found in a safe deposit box in Monroeville, Alabama, and it was published on July 14, 2015.

The novel takes place twenty years after the events of the first novel, and a now adult Scout returns to Maycomb to visit her father. To her horror, she realizes that her father now expresses racist views, and the novel is her coming to terms with him and her town.

There was controversy upon the announcement of the long-awaited "sequel" in two ways: 1) whether the book should even be published and 2) the way its discovery came about. Harper Lee, having never written another work, had for years vehemently refused and denied there would ever be a sequel. The manuscript's "discovery" came only after her lawyer won power of attorney and was going through Lee's assets, who then sent the manuscript to a publisher. Direct and close friends questioned whether Lee, now in her late 80s and of questionable mental clarity, knew what was really going on and was being taken advantage of, having for decades refused any new material only to suddenly acquiesce to a whole book so soon after a change in power of her estate. Her attorney denied all allegations, said Lee was "excited as hell" about the upcoming printing, and so the book was published with all the fanfare a long-lost work demands.

There was controversy upon the announcement of the long-awaited "sequel" in two ways: 1) whether the book should even be published and 2) the way it's discovery came about. Harper Lee, having never written another work, had for years vehemently refused and denied there would ever be a sequel. The manuscript's "discovery" came only after her lawyer won power of attorney and was going through Lee's assets, who then sent the manuscript to a publisher. Direct and close friends questioned whether Lee, now in her late 80s and of questionable mental clarity, knew what really going on and was being taken advantage of, having for decades refused any new material to suddenly acquiesce to a whole book so soon after a change in power of her estate. Her attorney denied all allegations, said Lee was "excited as hell" about the upcoming printing and so the book was published with all the fanfare a long-lost work demands.

** Somewhat {{justified|Trope}}; [[spoiler:he died of the hereditary heart problem that killed their mother with equal suddenness years earlier]].

''Go Set a Watchman'' is a 2015 American novel that was written by Harper Lee. It is the "sequel" to the 1960 novel ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Originally, ''Go Set a Watchman'' was a rejected first-draft manuscript that Lee proposed to her editor. Her editor gave her the idea to work on ''TKAM'' instead, because he liked the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, and the manuscript was supposedly lost for years. It was rediscovered when it was found in a safe deposit box in Monroeville, Alabama, and it was published on July 14, 2015.

There was controversy upon the announcement of the long-awaited sequel in two ways: 1) whether the book should even be published and 2) the way it's discovery came about. Harper Lee, having never written another work, had for years vehemently refused and denied there would ever be a sequel. The manuscript's "discovery" came only after her lawyer won power of attorney and was going through Lee's assets, who then sent the manuscript to a publisher. Direct and close friends questioned whether Lee, now in her late 80s and of questionable mental clarity, knew what really going on and was being taken advantage of, having for decades refused any new material to suddenly acquiesce to a whole book so soon after a change in power of her estate. Her attorney denied all allegations, said Lee was "excited as hell" about the upcoming printing and so the book was published with all the fanfare a long-lost work demands.

* HonorRelatedAbuse: Downplayed but still present. Aunt Alexandra thinks in terms of [[FamilyHonor]] and acting as a [[ProperLady]], so when Jean Louise does not think in those terms as well (as she usually doesn't) arguments begin.

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler: Dill]], who only appears in flashbacks and is now most likely traveling in Europe. He was in Italy last time anyone heard.

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler: Dill]], who only appears in flashbacks and is now most likely traveling in Europe.

There was controversy upon the announcement of the long-awaited sequel in two ways: 1) whether the book should even be published and 2) the way it's discovery came about. Harper Lee, having never written another work, had for years vehemently refused and denied there would ever be a sequel. The manuscripts "discovery" came only after her lawyer won power of attorney and was going through Lee's assets, who then sent the manuscript to a publisher. Direct and close friends questioned whether Lee, now in her late 80s and of questionable mental clarity, knew what really going on and was being taken advantage of, having for decades refused any new material to suddenly acquiesce to a whole book so soon after a change in power of her estate. Her attorney denied all allegations, said Lee was "excited as hell" about the upcoming printing and so the book was published with all the fanfare a long-lost work demands.

There was controversy upon the announcement of the long-awaited sequel in two ways: 1) whether the book should even be published and 2) the way it's discovery came about. Harper Lee, having never written another work, had for years vehemently refused and denied there would ever be a sequel. The manuscripts "discovery" came only after her lawyer won power of attorney and was going through Lee's assets, who then sent the manuscipt to a publisher. Direct and close friends questioned whether Lee, now in her late 80s and of questionable mental clarity, knew what really going on and was being taken advantage of, having for decades refused any new material to suddenly acquiesce to a whole book so soon after a change in power of her estate. Her attorney denied all allegations, said Lee was "excited as hell" about the upcoming printing and so the book was published with all the fanfare a long-lost work demands.

* BatmanGambit: Atticus and Uncle Jack were well aware of Scout's worship of her father, how bad it was for her growth as a person. They let the issue run its course, giving her vague hints and hoping that she'd figure it out eventually and talk things out rationally, but [[spoiler: this fails, culminating with Scout angrily telling off Atticus and coming within seconds of leaving him forever, and Uncle Jack has to physically intervene and explain the situation directly.]]

** Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]]; [[spoiler:he died of the hereditary heart problem that killed their mother with equal suddenness years earlier]].

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Uncle Jack nearly slaps a furious Scout unconscious before explaining his view of things. He says it's OK because he doesn't ''usually'' hit women.

* TricksterMentor: Uncle Jack's seemingly random musings, literary quotes, and snarky responses are contrasted with Atticus's more straitlaced personality, and the rest of the townsfolk in general. Guess who ends up [[spoiler: being the most GenreSavvy character and talking Scout out of her HeroicBSOD?]]

''Go Set a Watchman'' is a 2015 American novel that was written by Harper Lee. It is the "sequel" to the 1960 novel ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Originally, ''Go Set a Watchman'' was a rejected manuscript that Lee proposed to her editor. Her editor gave her the idea to work on ''TKAM'' instead, because he liked the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, and the manuscript was supposedly lost for years. It was rediscovered when it was found in a safe deposit box in Monroeville, Alabama, and it was published on July 14, 2015.

** Looking down on people just because of their actions, beliefs, upbringing, etc. goes both ways, and ignoring your own faults have consequences.

* AlternateUniverse: This novel takes place in a different version of Maycomb. Besides the fact that Atticus is a racist in this version (which may or may not actually be a difference; critics are still arguing and probably will never stop), Tom was ultimately acquitted in this version on the grounds that it was consensual rather than being convicted on the grounds of being black.