Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Spoilers welcome for chapters 12-13. The first to post please briefly summarize to guide the discussion.

Chapter 12
The day after, in the middle of the night, Jean Louise is compelled to cut the grass before anyone is even out of bed to burn off the energy she was stewing in while she took to her bed. More upsetting news, a drunk driving accident and Zeebo's son has killed an elderly resident. Hank doesn't reassure her of an innocent reason for the Citizens council.
Jean Louise's visit to Calpurnia exposes additional changes in attitudes between the whites and blacks of Maycomb and adds to her feelings of isolation.

Part five
Chapter 13
The tea organized by Alexandra for Jean Louise to reconnect with her friends and the ladies of the town does quite the opposite. The impressions Jean Louise is forming are far from contented as she experiences an internal combustion, building in intensity as the conversations show the changes in attitudes between the races and the backwards attitudes of these women compared to those Jean Louise is used to in New York.
As she starts to wonder how could she ever picture herself married to Hank and living amidst these women, her (mostly?) internal rant about the maligning of the intent of the Constitution and the notions about Communism and states rights builds to a boil.

I found myself picturing the bridge gatherings of Katherine Stockett's The Help. Jean Louise's feelings of isolation grow and she is alone and adrift.

It boggles my mind that it was once not only acceptable but expected for women to not have their own opinions. I think this tea party makes it obvious why Jean Louise moved to NYC.

Scout seems to be the sole voice of reason here. The world is changing, people are looking for somebody or something to blame. For the whites, it looks like the blacks. For the blacks, their world is not changing enough because of the whites. Maybe not so different from the changes we see in the world today, and all those who prefer to find somebody to blame rather than look for a solution.

Barry: I have thought exactly the same thing several times while reading this book. Perhaps that is partly the reason it was published as a reminder.
Barry wrote: "Maybe not so different from the changes we see in the world today, and all those who prefer to find somebody to blame rather than look for a solution. "

Jean Louise continues to be shocked by the attitudes of the people she grew up with, even Calpurnia. The divide is great. She truly grew up color blind, respecting all people. How was she raised that way, when the two people that raised her don't seem to be that way. When she explained to Claudine McDowell about pushing back on the bus, I see her summoning up the courage to start pushing back here too.

Dawn: Calpurnia pulling away from Jean Louise saddened me too. Her attitude shift in general has basis, but Scout was like her own child. This was a very effective way to make the point of the changes between the races.

Yes, Calpurnia and Scout showed you that things had become more polarized, not less.

This was the point in the book when I began to be very unsettled, and it continued to the end of the book.

I have the predictable opinions about the points of view expressed by each side,but it also made sense to me that folks who historically reluctantly gave up slavery as an instituion, and refused to acknowledge the right of blacks in so many areas, would feel threatened by the acts of the NAACP. It was ugly to hear, but part of me was glad that Harper Lee was telling what sounded like the truth about folks' perspectives during that time.

I think there will be a time in later threads to talk about Hank and Atticus' role with respect to these views.

I too was sad about, and didn't quite understand, Calpunia's spurning of Scout. I'm putting it down to her grief at her grandson's predicament, and the no doubt ugly treatment she and her family were receiving by her white acquaintances. I think I'm also conditioned by plot threads in countless southern novels, where despite all the discord between the races there is an unbreakable bond between young whites and the blacks who raised them (like in The Help). This response, and who knows if it was temporary, was very atypical, at least in fiction.

I have to comment also that I found the repeated monologues by various characters here and continuing through the rest of the book, to be tiresome. They were chock full of rich points, even if they were points I disagreed with, but they just seemed to go on and on.

Carol: Looking at it in hindsight this segment and your observation about the monologues may well be some of the places reviewers have suggested to be uneven and needing editing.
Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I have to comment also that I found the repeated monologues by various characters here and continuing through the rest of the book, to be tiresome. They were chock full of rich points, even if they were points I disagreed with, but they just seemed to go on and on. "

Good point, Carol. Perhaps Calpurnia's reaction was impacted temporarily by grief, but it seemed deeper seated.
Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I think I'm also conditioned by plot threads in countless southern novels, where despite all the discord between the races there is an unbreakable bond between young whites and the blacks who raised them (like in The Help). This response, and who knows if it was temporary, was very atypical, at least in fiction. "

Ann wrote: "Carol: Looking at it in hindsight this segment and your observation about the monologues may well be some of the places reviewers have suggested to be uneven and needing editing.
Carol/Bonadie wro..."

Overt didacticism is generally dissed by the literary establishment as unprofessional. Fiction is not expected to be so direct. Readers who like to be entertained also don't want to be bludgeoned with the themes of a book through overt statements. Yet the editor who encouraged Harper Lee to write a new book based on this material saw the potential in this one.

Shomeret- I agree we don't like to be bludgeoned with too much overt mention of the themes of a book. I like to discover what the author intended in a more subtle manner that makes me wonder and discover it on my own.
TKAM qualifies for me because I didn't feel bludgeoned. I don't know that GSAW did or didn't. I would have to think about it. Good food for thought.