聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Growing up I fell in love with the book, 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird,鈥� by Harper Lee. So, when I discovered that the first manuscript she had written which led to the classic novel was being released I wanted to read it. 鈥淕o Set a Watchman,鈥� became one of my Christmas presents and I ended up reading it in about three days. Don鈥檛 read any further if you don鈥檛 want spoilers on either book.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When 鈥淕o Set a Watchman鈥� was first released reviews were rather negative. The character of Atticus Finch who, in Mockingbird, was the quintessential moral compass people held in high regard. Finch, a lawyer, defended a black man who was accused of raping a white woman during an unfortunate time in history. Although he was not guilty, everyone in the community had made up their minds that he was, but Finch defended him despite taking heat from the community including facing down a mob who had planned on abducting and lynching the accused.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Finch teaches his children Jem and Jean Louise that you only really know a man if you slip on his shoes and walk around in them. He teaches them the importance of treating people like people despite their skin colour or their economic status.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This is what became a point of contention in Watchman. It鈥檚 revealed that Finch had once been a member of the Ku Klux Klan (for a very short time) and was now part of a town committee dedicated to keeping the NAACP out of their community. Both anger the reader who had held Finch up as being of high moral character, however, this anger is shown in the character Jean Louise who throughout the book attempts to understand how her father could teach her one thing and do another.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Essentially Jean Louise says she grew up colourblind because of Atticus鈥� teachings as a child. Jean Louise now lives in New York City and finds the questions from Maycomb residents about riding buses and trains, working alongside, and generally living amongst people of varying races quite odd. In fact she replies that she doesn鈥檛 notice who鈥檚 sitting next to her on the train.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So when Jean Louise discovers her father, the man that she looked up to and idolized, had differing views than her regarding the civil rights movement in the 1960s became devastated. A rift in fact develops by the end of the book between Jean Louise and Atticus.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The book, although it does show Atticus in a less favourable light, portrays the mindset of people in the 1960s during the civil rights movement in what I feel was an accurate way. Jean Louise argues that everyone is equal and that she is disgusted by the idea of continuing to keep people down because of the colour of their skin. Atticus鈥� argument, however, focuses on politics and that by simply giving everyone their rights, such as the right to vote or hold office is actually a dangerous thing. His assertion, however, was not because of the colour of people鈥檚 skins but in regards to education.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 He felt that the NAACP was pushing change and pushing for rights that not everyone understood. That within their county there were more African Americans than Caucasian Americans, so despite who understood the law, people would be voted into office simply to vote out Caucasian Americans and the county would be mismanaged. To me it didn鈥檛 seem he was against African Americans, but for developing a better education system to give everyone the same advantages and understanding of the intricacies of running a county or a country before being given the ability to vote in a way to take it over without the education.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I could see how Atticus would come to this conclusion. He is a pragmatic man and to him, education and an understanding of how to interpret laws and run the county would have been placed high. After all he is a lawyer who is willing to hold up the rights of anyone in need, but he wanted to ensure progress and equality in his own sort of way. If you hand someone something it doesn鈥檛 guarantee they know how to use it, so he was scared of what this meant.
