Book Review: Go Set a Watchman
“Every man’s island, Jean Louise, every man’s watchman, is his conscience. There is no such thing as a collective conscious.”
Oh boy oh boy...I have been very nervous about this book since its announcement. And for a long time, I went back and forth in the should-I-shouldn't-I-read it. Because on the one hand, it's the friggin' sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird! On the other hand, her family published a book she expressly asked them not to, for money. And I don't feel comfortable with that. I had this same internal battle about Emily Dickinson at one point. At least with Emily Dickinson they didn't do it for money, and at least any Emily Dickinson poems I buy at this point don't benefit anyone but the printers.
In the end, I rationalized and said that if I read a library copy, I was not contributing money to the exploitative scheme. And I read it. Here it is.
One: Years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout (now going by Jean Louise) returns to Maycomb from New York City, where she lives, for a visit. When she gets there, she learns startling things about her family, and where they stand on Civil Rights in the wake of Brown v. Board. Can she still love her family with her image of them shattered into dust?
Two: A very, very early rendition of the idea which eventually became To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't know this for sure, but given Lee's life history, I think there may be some autobiographical influences (not exactly, but in the sense of learning to reconcile familial love with them disagreeing, and reconciling different things that they have taught you with what they do).
First, to get some questions out of the way about things you may have heard.
1) Is Atticus a racist? Yes, no, maybe. I come out of it saying no. He is a product of his time and of his place, and to him, Civil Rights aren't about black and white, but state and federal. Some people come out saying yes, but even if he is, that's actually half the point of the story--how can you love someone whose ideas you hate? To Kill a Mockingbird focuses more on loving all races. Go Set a Watchman is actually, believe it or not, an analysis of love the sinner and hate the sin. And with the reviews I'm reading on goodreads, I can see why so many people seem to think that's not possible--they don't know how to do it.
2) Is Jem dead? Yes. Unfortunately, as he is my favorite character. This is said in the first chapter, and it happens prior to the book. Don't worry, he still shows up in flashbacks to Jean Louise's childhood, and he still fulfills an important symbolic purpose. We all know that their mother supposedly died young and unexpected. In Go Set a Watchman, we learn that her family had a genetic heart defect which Jem inherited from her which basically causes you to drop dead sometime in your late twenties to early thirties.
What did I think?
In all, it's a beautiful story of growing up, learning to come to terms with loving everyone (and stretching that to a different place than in To Kill a Mockingbird), and listening to your own conscience--your own watchman--and learning to think for yourself.
There is one reason I didn't give this five stars: probably because it was written so far ahead of To Kill a Mockingbird, there are world-building inconsistencies and character inconsistencies that just didn't work out (and I'm not talking about Atticus necessarily). Not even mentioning the fact that the Tom Robinson case isn't ever mentioned in this book, which doesn't really make sense given the content, the chronology of Maycomb, the Finches and other things don't hold, and characters change entirely (Uncle Jack), or get introduced where they supposedly held more importance that would have overlapped with To Kill a Mockingbird (Hank). Also, I feel like there were some editing hitches that would have been caught had Harper Lee ever REALLY finished this book.
There is one reason I didn't give this four stars: it is, quite frankly, an exploitation of an indigent old woman. Harper Lee never wanted it published. She made that fairly clear before she fell to senility. This is why I couldn't bring myself (in good conscience, ironically enough) to buy this book. I read a library copy, because I cannot support her family's disregard for her wishes. I spent the entire book feeling like I had happened upon something that I was never intended to see--the awkward feeling when you walk in on your roommate making out, or happen to see a part of a letter that you are pretty sure you weren't supposed to. I thought perhaps it's because I like to write, and though I'm not a writer of Lee's caliber, I know I have written things, even things about established characters, that I never want anyone else to read. They were written for ME and me alone. But then I learned that my mother, not a fiction writer, feels the same way about the book. I actually feel guilty, and like I owe her an apology for reading it at all.
I found it interesting how Jem--my favorite character-- went from a symbol of shattered innocence to a symbol of eternally-retained innocence. Probably by complete accident, as I don't think she planned the books to ever be compared to one another in any shape or form.
One note: everyone who had the same visceral reactions as Jean Louise to the "big reveal," which seem to be many people--you, too, are bigots, just like Uncle Jack said. And I count myself among you. An interesting question that I, too, had to ask myself: how do you come to love and understand people whose ideas are repulsive to you? We feel like we're justified when you're standing up for your conscience, but don't we need to treat those people with love too?
In the end, I again learned that Harper Lee was an amazing writer (I say was, because the woman is in many ways gone from us), and a brilliant thinker. Even the things she never intended to have published were works of beauty. I also learned that she was probably working out her own feelings in this book. I also learned the book would have been better had it maybe been about completely new characters. But I also learned that my reading this book was a violation of a sacred trust I had with Harper Lee, and I am sorry to her for it.
Parental warnings: racial slurs abound. Some swearing and smoking, some alcohol usage.
3 stars for Go Set a Watchman. And I think tonight I will watch To Kill a Mockingbird to renew the glorious beauty that it was before it was tainted by familial greed.
And because I couldn't limit myself to one quote:
“Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends.”
“The time your friends need you is when they’re wrong, Jean Louise. They don’t need you when they’re right—” “We wondered, sometimes, when your conscience and his would part company, and over what.” Dr. Finch smiled. “Well, we know now. I’m just thankful I was around when the ructions started. Atticus couldn’t talk to you the way I’m talking—” “Why not, sir?” “You wouldn’t have listened to him. You couldn’t have listened. Our gods are remote from us, Jean Louise. They must never descend to human level.”
“She went to him. “Atticus,” she said. “I’m—” “You may be sorry, but I’m proud of you.” She looked up and saw her father beaming at her. “What?” “I said I’m proud of you.” “I don’t understand you. I don’t understand men at all and I never will.” “Well, I certainly hoped a daughter of mine’d hold her ground for what she thinks is right—stand up to me first of all.”
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