Go Set a Watchman
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“I was taught never to take advantage of anybody who was less fortunate than myself, whether he be less fortunate in brains, wealth, or social position; it meant anybody, not just Negroes. I was given to understand that the reverse was to be despised. That is the way I was raised, by a black woman and a white man.”
As an English teacher, I felt a duty to read this book. It is amazing that after all of these decades, Harper Lee now has two books published.
Go Set a Watchman is not a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird; although the characters are mostly the same and it focuses on the same theme, it is very, very different. It is difficult to read this book objectively because I found myself picturing the characters and events from To Kill a Mockingbird, which certainly influenced by views. Nonetheless, overall I feel that this book is of a high quality, despite some clear downfalls.
This novel is told from third person point-of-view, and it focuses on an adult version of Scout. Jean Louise is twenty-six, and she even has a love interest in the book. I really enjoyed reading about the adult version of Scout. I liked how her grown-up persona really matched what I imagined Scout to be like. She is sassy, contrary, and very free-spirited, which fits the vision of the character from To Kill a Mockingbird. I also liked the element of romance and how she was trying to decide if she should marry because this made the book more connectable to a contemporary female audience. Also, To Kill a Mockingbird was never my absolute favorite classic because it was told from six-year-old Scout’s point of view. I found it hard to connect with a view of the world from such a young narrator. I liked the narration of this book better.
I also thought it was interesting to read a less idealized version of Atticus and the war on racism. There has been a lot of controversy noting that Atticus is racist, which ruins the whole theory of the book. I felt like it was more about Atticus being jolted by the harsh realities of the world. He is in his seventies in this book, and he has seen how hard it is to make changes. He has realized the toll that Civil Rights is taking on the South, seeing it as tearing them apart. By the end it is clear that he doesn’t condone racist behavior but feels like it is just too complicated to change. I think the message of To Kill a Mockingbird is certainly more admirable, but I think in this book, Harper Lee was trying to be realistic. Readers must remember the era in which it was written, which was a time when it did seam idealistic for racism to be obliterated. Maybe she used this “less than angelic” characterization of Atticus to show that side of the argument. I also think it made a statement about how life can beat down even the most heroic of characters.
There were several flaws I found in the novel. First, I thought the book was split up into way too many “parts.” These divisions seemed somewhat arbitrary. I also did not like how she switched narrative voice at points, jumping into Jean Louise’s head using “I.” The ending was also very rushed and wasn’t satisfying.
Overall, I do not think that this book is as powerful as To Kill a Mockingbird. If this had been Lee’s “Mockingbird,” I don’t think she would have achieved the same level of fame as she has. It certainly isn’t as inspiring, deep, or revolutionary as To Kill a Mockingbird. Nonetheless, I found it interesting to see where her mindset was with this whole concept and to realize that author’s truly make many choices before publishing a novel. As an author myself, I was intrigued by how one concept can come across in two very diverse ways through various writing choices.
Lindsay Detwiler, Author of Voice of Innocence
Available at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TMX826K
