Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

On Monday, March 7th, the Booked for the Day Book Group met to discuss, Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.  Here are a few things we discussed during the meeting:

• We started our discussion talking about why Go Set a Watchman was published now. We all agreed that we did not think it was Harper Lee’s idea. Her sister, who was her lawyer and protector, passed away recently and shortly after that the novel was given to the publishing firm. We did not believe that Harper Lee, who was living in a nursing home, wanted this novel published.
• We talked about whether Atticus was racist or if, as her uncle explained, was only making sure that First Amendment rights were not violated.   We believed that it was a little of both. That one could not live during that time, in that town, and not be above racism.
• The book ends with the Finch family intact. Jean Louise’s Uncle takes her through a kind of logic that justifies their position as segregationists but our group did not think that part of the book worked. It ended abruptly and we could not believe Jean Louise would have accepted her Uncle’s explanation (along with the slap). We did understand his attempt to convince his niece that her family, including dad, are still worth loving.
• While To Kill a Mockingbird was a novel that took a stand against racism, our group thought that Go Set a Watchman was more of a feminist novel, a coming of age for Jean Louise. She returns home to Maycomb, Alabama, to visit her father, Atticus Finch and realizes he is not the perfect man that she thought he was, he finally falls off the pedestal. She is compelled to judge the father who has meant everything to her and now has disappointed her. But we have to give credit to Atticus. We can see that this is what he wanted, for Scout to see him with all his faults. He believes it was needed for Jean Louise to finally stand on her own two feet.
• Most of the group would not recommend this book. We thought it was a good first draft that eventually became, with a lot of hard work and editing, an American Classic. But we did not think Go Set a Watchman would have received the notoriety it obtained if it was published first. And if To Kill a Mockingbird never existed, this book probably would never have been published.
• Lastly, throughout the novel we were all waiting for Truman Capote to come back to town!

These are just a few things mentioned during the discussion. Please feel free to add any of your thoughts in the comment section.