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The house where Jean Louise grew up (in her flashbacks and the events of To Kill a Mockingbird) has been torn down by the time of the events of Go Set a Watchman, and replaced by an ice cream shop. This shop is run by Mr. Cunningham (from one of the poorest families in Maycomb). The ice cream shop in the place of her old house represents the disillusionment Jean Louise experiences when she comes home—the sense that everything has changed and she doesn’t belong in Maycomb anymore. The ice cream shop is the first place she goes after seeing Atticus and Hank at the citizens’ council meeting, and so it is immediately connected to the disillusionment she experiences at the courthouse. After feeling like her father and oldest friend have been irreparably changed, Jean Louise then sees her childhood home replaced by an ice cream shop and a field of gravel.
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The Ice Cream Shop Symbol Timeline in Go Set a Watchman
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Ice Cream Shop appears in Go Set a Watchman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 3
...and built a new one in a different part of town. There is now an ice cream shop in the place of Jean Louise’s old childhood home.
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Part 3, Chapter 8
...walks to the location of her old home, and finds herself in front of the ice cream shop that has replaced it.
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The man at the ice cream shop recognizes Jean Louise, but she doesn’t recognize him. She buys a scoop of vanilla and...
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Part 3, Chapter 10
...this might all be a horrible mistake. She is interrupted by the owner of the ice cream shop . She identifies him as one of the Cunninghams (not the Coninghams) from Old Sarum,...
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Part 6, Chapter 15
Jean Louise goes back to Mr. Cunningham’s ice cream shop , and he gives her a free scoop for recognizing him, as he had promised....
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