TO KILL A WATCHMAN?
The buzz has been building for Go Set a Watchman.
This long-awaited first novel was written 50 years ago by Harper Lee before she
re-tooled it as To Kill a Mockingbird.
I've always been a fan of Mockingbird and Lee (see my Op-Ed
in The Record, 7/6/10). And while, as a writer, I am very
intrigued by the whole premise of reading the vision of a work before it was
edited, early reviews of the novel are making me very leery. And I would bet
there have been more articles and criticism already written about—and in
anticipation of—Watchman than
the 288 pages of the novel itself!
Reviews of Watchman have
been disillusioned and unsettling. Most notably (and shockingly) is the
character of lawyer and father, Atticus Finch. In Mockingbird, he
was a paragon of virtue. In Watchman,
reviewers are saying he is a racist bigot—who even attended a Ku Klux Klan
meeting. Watchman is
set 20 years later than Mockingbird and
builds on the premise of now 20-year-old Scout and her return visit to Maycomb,
Ala. from where she now lives in New York City. Upon arriving back in her
hometown, Scout is shocked to find that her father holds "abhorrent views
on race and segregation," according to Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times.
How did this happen?
If this review and others are accurate in their assessments, then
the very idea of Watchman is
confusing and troubling. Was Mockingbird scrubbed
of Atticus's racist tendencies in order to make him and the story more
commercially viable—to appeal to the masses, a wide swatch of African-Americans
and Caucasians? If so, was this choice an artistically aesthetic choice or
simply a means to drive up book sales? What might be the reason why Lee would
recast Atticus so significantly from a racist "sinner" in Watchman into
a morally upright and virtuous "saint" in Mockingbird ? Yes,
the novel is fiction, as is the character of Atticus Finch (although he is said
to be closely based on Lee's own father). But for a writer, this would be like
rewriting the character of Mother Theresa into an abusive harridan the likes of
Joan Crawford!
Mockingbird has sold well over 50
million copies. What author wouldn't want their work read and enjoyed, debated
and celebrated by the masses? It remains required reading in schools throughout
the USA and beyond. And yes, Lee has made millions and even won a Pulitzer Prize for Mockingbird.
But did Lee pay a price—in her soul—to craft the Mockingbird narrative
away from her original vision as found in Watchman?
Which leads to my next question: if early reviews of Watchman are
discerningly on-target, then did Lee really sanction its publication? Could
suspicions of Lee's lack of cognizance be accurate? Why would she strip off the
idyllic finish of Atticus as portrayed in Mockingbird and
tarnish his persona by finally exposing his "dark side" in Watchman? And
why now? Was Lee manipulated into publishing Watchman just as
she was manipulated to rewrite the essence of Watchman and
transform it into the more idealistic version of Mockingbird?
On the flip side remains the possibility that Lee is completely
aware of her intentions—that she is fully mindful and astute. Whether she
"sold out" her story or not for Mockingbird, perhaps
before her life ends, she wants, for her own peace of mind, for others to
experience her original vision, the way she first envisioned the novel? After all, considering the strides made for equality over the
past 50 years, the racial divide is still miles apart and a hot-button
issue—especially with the police-civilian riots in St. Louis and Baltimore and
the Charleston, South Carolina church massacre. Perhaps Lee has been closely
watching current world events unfold and believes Watchman—with its
darker, less politically correct themes—may prove even more relevant today than
if the book was released 50 years before?
Calculated decision or coercion, we'll likely never know the
author's true intent or the real story behind the reasons for publication
of Watchman. And maybe "not knowing" will, in the
end, serve to further ratchet up book sales, intensify conversations and
debates about the continued racial unrest in our country and ultimately
make Watchman even more appealing and well-read than Mockingbird.
"To Kill A Watchman?" (commentary) © 2015 by Kathleen
Gerard
Note: Do not reprint, reproduce, post
online or copy without proper attribution
Harper, $27.99 Hardcover,
9780062409850, 288 pp
Publication Date: July 14, 2015
To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE
To
Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee (50th Anniversary Edition)
Harper Torch, $25.00 Hardcover,
9780061743528, 323 pp
Publication Date: May 11, 2010
To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE