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Go Set A Watchman. Harper Lee.
New York: Harper Collins. 2015.
278 pp.
“I mean I grew up right here in your house, and I never knew
what was in your mind.”
To Kill A Mockingbird
was assigned reading when I was in high school. I didn’t enjoy it. Part of that, I am sure, was the intensity
with which themes were thrust down our throats.
The other part was that I do not enjoy stories of precocious children. There was something about me that rankled
with Scout’s freedom and sass. Now, as
an adult, I finally see the cultural importance of this book and can appreciate
it.
So it was with mixed feelings that I purchased Go Set a Watchman. What awaited me? I knew the backstory. This was the first book written. Ms. Lee’s editor suggested changes that would
focus on Jean Louise Finch as a little girl in the Depression-era South and her
relationship with her mild-mannered father.
Scout gave us an interpretation of racism through her innocent eyes. But we also developed cult-like hero-worship
of Atticus Finch – Father of the Century.
It is rare to read a novel from the perspective of an
omniscient
narrator these days. From the first page, I loved the voice – there is
something sincere about the writing from the 1950s. The dialogue is smart and snappy – lively and
honest. I couldn’t tell who was
mirroring whom: Scout or Harper Lee. But
that was fine by me – either was good company.
There has been a lot of scuttle-but about the coming forth
of this book. While most of that did not
concern me much, I was surprised – gasped aloud and put down the book for a
while – by the harsh and honest characterization of Atticus, now in his
seventies, afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis and arthritic narrow-mindedness. I can see why the editor suggested the shift
in the story. If we are upset,
disgusted, horrified and appalled at this older lawyer today, how would we have
accepted Go Set a Watchman in the
late 1950s?
The characters of Go
Set a Watchman are undeniably racist, and yet, forward-thinking. Jean Louise is coming into her own belief
system, neatly fed by her father’s influence and encouragement over the years. But when she, as any child does, finally
comes face to face with the reality of who their parent really is, and what
they think, she is crushed. Her innocence
is sucked into a national storm that is battering even her little hometown. Bigotry is evident in Atticus – but discrimination
is also clearly seen in Scout.
It is an undeniable treat to read such a raw and true examination
of that time in our country, through the eyes of a woman who was there. I did not find a comfortable resolution here
and I was still wholly unnerved by the prejudiced attitudes and behaviors on
all sides. But I did appreciate that
Harper Lee had this story to tell – twice.
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