David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "brown-vs-the-board-of-education"
Go Set a Watchman
I wouldn't say GO SET A WATCHMAN is a rejected manuscript the author never would have wanted to publish, but it does need an edit, and it obviously got one. The result was TO KILL A MOCKINBIRD, and it was exponentially better.
The problems start when twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise returns from New York City to Maycomb for a two-week visit, as she does every year. The real Scout, Harper Lee, actually worked in New York as an airline clerk before her success as a novelist. The Supreme Court has just ruled on Brown vs. The Board of Education, and her relatives, including Atticus are not acting like they did when she was growing up. The Tom Robinson case is even mentioned, and that Atticus is not this Atticus. Uncle Jack is more of a featured character in this novel; he's a retired doctor who lives in his own world. He tries to explain to Jean Louise what is going on.
No only does the story need editing, but the writing could use some work. In one scene Scout is attending his first dance. Henry Clinton, a senior has asked her. She thinks it was Jem's idea, but he already has a crush on her. Anyway, Scout refers to the principal as Miss Muffett; she's really referring to Mr. Tuffett. Either that or she got confused during the first draft. We have all had nicknames for our principal, but Miss Muffett just doesn't work. Perhaps Old Lady Tuffett would have made her intentions more clear.
Calpurnia makes a brief appearance as well. At times she's the same old house keeper and substitute mother for Scout and Jem. She still calls Jean Lousie “Baby,” but at other times she looks straight through Jean Louise as if she's not there. You see, her grandson, Frank, is in trouble with the law. He ran over the town drunk and was arrested for manslaughter. Henry Clinton, Atticus's law partner, doesn't want to take the case. Atticus does want the job, to convince him to plead guilty and keep the NAACP lawyers from getting him off. Doesn't sound like Atticus, does it?
The ending is another disappointment. Not only is the Frank conflict go unresolved, but we get a bunch of hooey about how Jean Louise must learn to stand up to Atticus, and he's proud of her when she does. But the race question goes unanswered. I just thought it was unrealistic.
I have taught TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD sixteen times over my teaching career and never got sick of it. I was even criticized for not switching to another book. But I never found one that was half as good, and that includes some of the classics. After reading GOD SET A WATCHMAN we should all realize that we're dealing with one hell of a revisionist, or her editor was another Maxwell Perkins.
The problems start when twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise returns from New York City to Maycomb for a two-week visit, as she does every year. The real Scout, Harper Lee, actually worked in New York as an airline clerk before her success as a novelist. The Supreme Court has just ruled on Brown vs. The Board of Education, and her relatives, including Atticus are not acting like they did when she was growing up. The Tom Robinson case is even mentioned, and that Atticus is not this Atticus. Uncle Jack is more of a featured character in this novel; he's a retired doctor who lives in his own world. He tries to explain to Jean Louise what is going on.
No only does the story need editing, but the writing could use some work. In one scene Scout is attending his first dance. Henry Clinton, a senior has asked her. She thinks it was Jem's idea, but he already has a crush on her. Anyway, Scout refers to the principal as Miss Muffett; she's really referring to Mr. Tuffett. Either that or she got confused during the first draft. We have all had nicknames for our principal, but Miss Muffett just doesn't work. Perhaps Old Lady Tuffett would have made her intentions more clear.
Calpurnia makes a brief appearance as well. At times she's the same old house keeper and substitute mother for Scout and Jem. She still calls Jean Lousie “Baby,” but at other times she looks straight through Jean Louise as if she's not there. You see, her grandson, Frank, is in trouble with the law. He ran over the town drunk and was arrested for manslaughter. Henry Clinton, Atticus's law partner, doesn't want to take the case. Atticus does want the job, to convince him to plead guilty and keep the NAACP lawyers from getting him off. Doesn't sound like Atticus, does it?
The ending is another disappointment. Not only is the Frank conflict go unresolved, but we get a bunch of hooey about how Jean Louise must learn to stand up to Atticus, and he's proud of her when she does. But the race question goes unanswered. I just thought it was unrealistic.
I have taught TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD sixteen times over my teaching career and never got sick of it. I was even criticized for not switching to another book. But I never found one that was half as good, and that includes some of the classics. After reading GOD SET A WATCHMAN we should all realize that we're dealing with one hell of a revisionist, or her editor was another Maxwell Perkins.
