Read July 22nd, 2015.
Of course I had to pre-order this book as soon as I knew the address of my new college apartment. It's only the long-lost sequel to my favorite book of all time. And it sure didn't disappoint.
The similarities between Go Set a Watchman and its predecessor To Kill a Mockingbird are refreshing, yet their differences I found to be much more enriching. It's not the same story retold fifteen years later; it's a continuation of the maturation process in the life of Jean Louise Finch.
The first time we read about Jean Louise, she goes by the name of Scout. Being very young and impressionable, her father, Atticus, struggles to teach her and her brother about the difference between right and wrong. As a very wise man, well beyond the society in which he lives pertaining to integrity and morals, he stands in contrast to the ignorant and prejudiced South. The antagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird is no single person or group of people or community. It is an abstract struggle in which we all participate. It is deciding for ourselves what kind of person we want to be. Scout had two major influences in her life: her town and her father. She had to choose who she was going to follow. I don't think it is much of a spoiler to say that she follows her father's influence, who is and will be for a long time her idol and beacon of righteousness. In a way, as said in the sequel, she worshiped Atticus Finch.
Fast forward fifteen years. Jean Louise has moved past childhood, past her nickname, and away from Maycomb, Alabama to New York City. Upon an annual visit back home, she finds that things around her hometown have changed. The town reacts contrarily to the introduction of the NAACP, supporting and demanding segregation. Jean Louise holds onto the lessons she learned from her father many years ago and cherishes her father's perfection; that is, until she learns of him advocating the very thing she protests. The lessons she learns here are similar, yet quite different to the lessons she learned long ago. Instead of leaning on another man's views and standing on someone else's platform, she must come to a heartbreaking conclusion: Atticus Finch is not her God anymore. She, upon her father's encouragement and guidance, has to form her own opinions, to have her own conscience, to go set her own watchman.
I am shocked at how relevant these lessons are for today's problems. Although Atticus encourages Jean Louise to be her own person, she responds harshly to her father's views. She has yet to learn that every person has their own reasons for doing things, for acting the way they do. Upon that realization, she has to accept that it is possible to coexist with other opinions. I doubt there has ever been a time in the history of the world where there has been so many opinions to consider and so many different topics and events. We often react the way Jean Louise does: bitterly, aggressively, and with hostility. Although she never does come into an agreement with her father, his example teaches the key to end bigotry: that coexistence is not only possible, but the ideal of society. While disagreements are formed and arguments are made, peaceable living can still be achieved. What a great message for the global society. The war in this book is a mess of politics that was difficult for me to understand. Harper Lee never implies a definitive right answer for the political problem. That's not the real issue. The real issue is how we react to the event when the people closest to us don't agree with us. The answer may never be found to settle our disagreements. But what can be done is to be mature citizens, having our own thoughts and being individuals while also adopting an atmosphere of love and understanding. The world has a long way to go before it measures up to Atticus Finch.
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