Go Set a Watchman

My thoughts on Go Set a Watchman are completely separate from the matter of whether or not Harper Lee wanted this published or not. The ability of Lee to approve the publication is important, and frankly, as someone who writes… I cannot imagine having my words published without my consent. As readers, we have no idea on this matter, though we have suspicions.

My point here is to give some thoughts on Go Set a Watchman in relation to To Kill a Mockingbird.

I somehow missed reading To Kill a Mockingbird until I was in my mid-twenties—I chalk that up to the fact that I switched to a smaller school my freshman year and ended up in honors English where we read something different. Fans of To Kill a Mockingbird are rabid in their dislike of a very racist portrayal of Atticus Finch in Go Set a Watchman. I think that the Atticus Finch in Mockingbird is the same man we see in Watchman. The difference is that they eyes that are on him are different. Scout is different. Suffice to say I spent the last half of the book crying because my adoration of Atticus Finch has been crushed, but I still like him--he remains a man of principle and openness, and for the time it is set in, he's a good man that does right and seeks true justice. I would argue that because Lee was asked to write a second draft of stories strictly from Scout’s childhood perspective, we end up seeing two versions of Atticus Finch. When you look at the first draft in comparison to the second, I think it only serves to highlight the brilliance of Lee—she knew that the idealized version of Atticus that Scout had was only what Scout saw. The grown up version of Scout that we meet, Jean Louise, is a woman who thinks and has her own opinions. She is a different person from her peers in Maycomb.

For me, the part that hit hardest was how Scout had changed. She did not realize that she was the one who had changed, and I have experienced that. I have parents that have vastly differing views from my own, which leaves us little to discuss during holidays. The only thing my father and I can solidly agree on is how much we detest Tom Brady and the Patriots. My mother, to whom I always looked up to and adored is (to me) a completely different person than who she was when I was growing up. But, is she really? Or is it me that is different?

Again, the argument of whether or not it should have been published isn’t happening on this blog. I feel like the problem readers have with Watchman is that they so desperately wanted Atticus Finch to be the ideal from Mockingbird. The (albeit fictional) reality is that Atticus was never as idealistic as Scout set him up as. White people have a problem with that—Atticus Finch is their fictional idolized pillar that yells “See?!? We’re not all racist!” We feel good because Atticus did right by the Black man. And white people have a hard time accepting that it is necessary to acknowledge our Privilege. After reading Watchman, I realized that Atticus was doing right by the law. The law is what was important to him. At heart, we still want to see Atticus defending Tom Robinson as an act of defiance in the face of racism and segregation at the time it is set it. In Watchman, we get a grown up Scout that represents what many of us in the South feel. We have relatives and people we know who use racial slurs and are so judgmental that we cringe during every holiday get together. What Go Set a Watchman is: a heart wrenching reminder that you can never truly go home once you leave.

If you’re looking for a good book, read it. If you’re looking for something comforting and non-confrontational, I suggest you look elsewhere.