Harper Lee’s second, and last novel Go Set A Watchman was received with mixed reviews by the critics. My favorite part had to be what made others cringe the most. The complete deconstruction of the one character most near and dear to our hearts, Atticus Finch. Over time, Atticus has become the epitome of a great father and a just and fair lawyer. Lee takes this man who so many have put on a pedestal, and through Scout’s eyes, bring that pedestal crashing down on all of us.
Just like Scout, we had to come to terms with the fact that no man, not even Atticus Finch, is perfectly just, perfectly good. To hold anyone on a pedestal like that is a form of worship, not admiration, and worshiping humans is a dangerous thing.
While I, ever the cynical one, could see the “fall from grace” a long time coming, it took Uncle Jack’s unnervingly winding conversations with her to get her to realize that it’s OK. Everyone has their own opinions and they may be right, they may be wrong, or they may just be different from your own, but that does not mean you have to cut them out of your life for having those opinions. You choose the battles you fight. You don’t choose the battles for you likelihood of winning, you choose them for the benefit of those voiceless whom you choose to represent.
Interestingly enough, Lee’s novel was released amidst intense controversy over the Confederate flag & several celebrated pro-slave historical statues around the USA. A considerable piece of that argument had to do with why the Civil War even happened. Was it just to preserve slavery? Or was there another reason that so many in the South chose to fight and die by the swords of their brothers in the North?
While the country fought over whether these symbols were actively encouraging acts of racism and discrimination or simply relics of the Civil War and Southern Pride, Scout Finch and Uncle Jack fought over the after-effects of the South losing that war and the reality that Atticus was NOT color-blind as Scout claims to be. I must admit, while at first, I strongly sided with those calling for the removal of the Confederate flag and statues from their government building, after reading Go Set A Watchman, I really understood the other side’s argument–or what it should have been, anyways.
I agree with the critics, it will not be a classic like To Kill A Mockingbird. But it was one hell of a good read.
Belles & Books 