Book 12 – Go Set A Watchman
It is no wonder Harper Lee never meant for this to be published, and it is a testament to both her and her editor that the marvellous To Kill A Mockingbird evolved from what can barely be considered an early draft. Only two or three verbatim paragraphs and a familiar Finch family dynamic give any hint of what would become an award-winning novel.
What starts out as a coming-home story eventually devolves into a philosophical meander through the conflicting principles of the tenth amendment, which guarantees individual states the right to rule themselves on any issues not delegated to the federal government, and the NAACP, who’s goal is to secure nationally-assured legal rights for black people.
It is not difficult to see why the book is being criticized for its startling racism. Atticus, who seems to speak for all Southerners, possibly including the author herself, believes that responsibility (to vote) and access (to education) should only be given to groups of people (races) who have proven themselves “worthy” and that black people are too backward to be given full civil rights. There are far too many chapters dedicated to the debate between Atticus and Jean Louise, as he tries to win her over while she protests with passionate but weak arguments in favour of the civil rights movement. To be honest, it reads more like Harper Lee’s internal struggle to come to terms with changing times and their impact on her world and her home town. Additionally, there is a very strange chapter describing a town council meeting which seems like an excuse just to spew a creatively large assortment of racial epitaphs. It is unclear if she is trying to engender sympathy for black people through the use of shocking, run-on sentences of racial hatred or if she is trying to shore up feelings of support for misunderstood southerners. Very weird.
All that said, if you try hard enough to see past the racist narrative, you might find a way to gain some insight into southern philosophy and principles. They would rather be left alone to figure things out for themselves, regardless of how wrong they might be to start, than to be dictated to by a national body that pretends to understand this desire but tries to force them to the right answers regardless. Much the way Atticus allows Jean Louise to break free from his influence and find her own identify and path. Hmm. Perhaps Harper Lee’s draft deserves more credit than I first thought.
Rating: Skip it. Honestly, it really was just a draft of what became a much, much better book.