Go Set a Watchman: Harper Lee

In the past few months, if there has been one book that has been unequivocally talked about, torn apart and compared, it’s “Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee. I was curious. I finally managed to read it. Here is a brief summary, an extract from the Harper Collins website, before I go into the review:

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can only be guided by one's own conscience.

Almost all the reviews I have read have compared this book to Lee’s award winning book, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Although inevitable and irresistible, I find this unfair. Harper Lee wrote these two books at two different points in her life and I feel each book deserves to be seen in its own light before going into comparisons. Luckily for me, I read “To Kill…” a long time ago and I deliberately did not refresh my memory prior to reading “…Watchman.” 

When I began reading “Go Set a Watchman.” I was reminded of Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help.” Just like the young protagonist in Stockett’s book, we have Jean Louise coming to her father’s place for a two week break from New York. But the comparison ends there. We don’t know what Jean Louise does in New York nor do we have her mentioning any place or person from the city. Her mind is filled with memories of Maycomb and the slow realization that the town has changed from what she knew of it during her childhood. 

In only two days, events that happen cause her to feel a sense of loss – 

“Why is it that everything I have ever loved on this earth has gone away from me in two days’ time?”

When Calpurnia’s grandson runs over Mr. Healy in his car, Atticus is ready to take on the case. This is where we first get a hint of Atticus’ underlying motives for supporting blacks. He wants to prevent the case from falling into the “wrong hands,” by which he means coloured lawyers. He justifies by saying that the black lawyers who are in the state wait for a crime committed by a black man against the whites, and then “they demand Negroes on the juries in such cases. They subpoena the jury commissioners, they ask the judge to step down, they raise every legal trick in their books…” 

This apart, Jean Louise discovers there’s more to Atticus in the coming days when she attends a City Council meeting. She is so shocked by what she sees there that she feels physically sick. What follows is heated arguments with Atticus and his brother Dr Finch, who tries to make her understand that living in Maycomb requires certain attitudinal adjustments. 

Jean Louise’s argument with Atticus reveals shades to the aging lawyer that weren’t apparent before. Atticus was the demi-god, someone who was,

“…unique in the history of the county; no machines opposed Atticus Finch, no machines supported him, and no one ran against him.”

He was always right, just and different. Until now. In this book, we see an Atticus who is human, has the same approach to society as many of us, and is trying to create a balance between his innate sense of justice and his place in society. But in reaching this balance, he makes statements that paint him as a racist, like, 

“Do you want your children going to a school that’s been dragged down to accommodate Negro children?”

and

“What would happen if all the Negroes in the South were suddenly given full civil rights?”

But is he really? If we see what he says in the same breath, I would not jump to conclusions–

“Would you want your state governments run by people who don’t know how to run ‘em? ... Zeebo’d probably be Mayor of Maycomb. Would you want someone of Zeebo’s capability to handle the town’s money?”

Isn’t there a grain of truth in what he is pointing out? In India, we have politicians who haven’t even graduated and who come from poor, agricultural families. Yet, they have rights and they are definitely part of the society as it should be. But do they have the capability to run the government? I wouldn’t think so. It’s again, a vicious circle. Because they were in rural areas, they did not receive much education and they were never considered part of mainstream society. But now they have more opportunities, and they want to exploit them. Similarly, the blacks are now in a position to command and they are making use of it. It’s a fine line. People like Atticus will help them individually but will work with the system for the greater good of the society. Just like the unique neutrality of his character, he is neither for nor against them. 

Emotionally charged reminiscences form a large part of the book along with heated political debates, and the ending fizzles out with the largely vague discussion between Jean Louise and Dr Finch. In the end, we are made to understand that Jean Louise has come round to understanding the situation, and has gained a certain level of maturity. Atticus is her role model again and all’s right with the world. 

I would read the book once. It might not have the power to merit multiple readings like Lee’s previous book but it does have more depth in some of its discussions. Let me be like Atticus, though. I am neither disappointed nor enamoured by “Go Set a Watchman.”

Verdict: Definitely worth a read

Rating: 3.4/5