Posted on 07/11/2015 5:46:00 AM PDT by goodwithagun
The New York Times has its review up of Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman,” the sequel to the iconic masterpiece “To Kill a Mockingbird,” but there’s just one problem. It turns out that Atticus Finch is not the anti-racism crusader we all believed him to be. In fact, he’s “a racist who once attended a Klan meeting.”
(Excerpt) Read more at twitchy.com ...
:-)
On that page, it says a lot people (liberals) named their boys “Atticus”. I’d love to ask them now “wow! Why’d you name your boy after a guy who attended klan meetings?”
We like a good villain in our books and movies. The backstory, the trauma, the glimpses of humanity or culture.
But let that villain be a racist, or a homophobe, and he’s Johnny One-note. That says all that can be said or should be said.
We like our flawed heroes too. But if that flaw is racism, or homophobia? It won’t fly.
Huck Finn becomes the Grand Wizard
This us the McCarthy era of our time. There is a racist behind every tree. Or so “They” think.
As the victims become more scarce the charges will become more outlandish.
Or asks his daughter: “Do you want Negroes by the carload in our schools and churches and theaters? Do you want them in our world?”...
he denounces the Supreme Court, says he wants his home state “to be left alone to keep house without advice from the N.A.A.C.P.” and describes N.A.A.C.P.-paid lawyers as “standing around like buzzards.”...
she returns home to Maycomb, Ala., for a visit — from New York City, where she has been living — and tries to grapple with her dismaying realization that Atticus and her longtime boyfriend, Henry Clinton, both have abhorrent views on race and segregation...
At times, it also alarmingly suggests that the civil rights movement roiled things up, making people who “used to trust each other” now “watch each other like hawks.”...
The difference is that “Mockingbird” suggested that we should have compassion for outsiders like Boo and Tom Robinson, while “Watchman” asks us to have understanding for a bigot named Atticus.
Would the story have been as enjoyable and widely read if Lee had written a non-fiction account of a trial?
I don’t think that there is any doubt that the main point of the story is about a man being judged by his skin color.
However, to focus purely on that is to miss the wonderful other points of the story. It is like going to a feast and only taking some roast beef.
Too many miss the artistry of the story and perhaps, perhaps, that is why Lee reveals that Atticus is not a perfect man.
“While TKAM is a work of fiction, it is based on the real life Scottsboro trial.”
I see no relation between them, other than they involve a black (or multiple blacks) accused of raping a white.
To paraphrase someone (Jerry Ford?), if Gregory Peck were alive today, he’d be turning in his grave...at the revelations about Atticus Finch.
...I once attended a Democrat party fund raising event... Next...
Poor choice of words on my part: the author was inspired by the Scottsboro trial.
TKAM will soon be getting the “Gone With the Wind” treatment”
My copy is on the way ,too. Looking forward to your review.
Great comments from all...
When I was younger, I looked for heroes. As I grew older, I looked traits.
bttt
It’s worth remembering that “Go Set a Watchman” preceded “Mockingbird.” The original book represented Harper Lee’s true vision of Maycomb, Alabama (a fictionalized version of Monroeville, her home town); race relations in the Jim Crow and her depiction of Atticus Finch, Scout, Jem and the other characters that populate the book.
As a first-time novelist, struggling to get published, she eagerly accepted an editor’s suggestion that the original manuscript be re-written around the flashback sections of Scout in her youth. In fact, the book was reworked three times before publication, and it clearly benefitted from the process.
But it’s also a fair bet that her editors and agents were liberals who had their own ideas about the narrative and characters, and their suggestions helped change the book’s tone. The Atticus Finch of Watchman is far different than the one depicted in Mockingbird, more complex and conflicted than the one we came to know in the original book and film.
And, in many respects, it is seems to be an accurate depiction of her native south in the mid-1950s, where most whites were quite comfortable with segregation and had little desire to change. The new book seems to be Miss Lee’s rebellion against racism and prevailing attitudes of the era, though in real life, she distanced herself from the Civil Rights movement.
It’s easy to see why her editors pushed for a major overhaul of the original manuscript. A more nuanced narrative like “Watchman” would have been a tough sell in the early 1960s. Transforming the book into a moral tale, (and making Atticus into a progressive hero) was a brilliant move, creating an epic best-seller than has never been out of print.
From what I can tell, Ms. Lee had no burning desire to publish “Watchman” after the success of Mockingbird. The manuscript was buried in her papers for years; her attorney found it in a safe deposit book and sold it to Harper Collins, which realized a “new” work by Harper Lee would be an immediate best-seller. The state of Alabama conducted an investigation and decided that Ms. Lee was not coerced into publishing the book, but that begs an obvious question: given the staggering success of Mockingbird—and her lack of output over the past 55 years—why not publish it 20, 30, or even 40 years ago? Judging by her handling of the manuscript, it appears that Harper Lee was content to let it remain in that safe deposit box.
Personally, I’m glad the new book is being published, and I’ll probably buy a copy (along with millions of other readers). It’s very interesting to see Ms. Lee’s original vision for her work, even if it conflicts with Mockingbird.
bkmk
Thank you for giving me a different view on this.
Isn’t it nice to have a pleasant discussion on such a great story?
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