Pale Horse said:
Harper Lee, Author of
To Kill a Mockingbird and it's (pre)sequel....
I'll pass the mic to Joe Brody for a few words.....Joe?
Who was Harper Lee?
I confess I won't read 'Go Set a Watchman' -- not because it casts Atticus Finch in a different light but because I suspect it casts him in his true light. And if that's the case, Ms. Lee's attempt to set the record straight was too little, too late.
When I compare the circumstances of Ms. Lee's and her childhood friend Truman Capote's upbringing, I realize that it was Truman Capote that needed that ideal, that model father figure -- and not Lee since she purportedly had the real deal in her own father. I submit that people that have something are seldom compelled to create it. And while Capote may not have written Mockingbird (as once was the rumor), I suspect he helped guide its narrative -- it's idyllic depiction of Atticus -- before Ms. Lee and Capote had their falling out. But before she passed, she let us know the real deal.
So if Watchman makes Atticus just another failed ideal -- I tell myself to not let it get me down. Instead, it's just another reason to just do it. And do it right. And do right by everyone, all the time.
Mike back to you for
Mr. Umberto Eco.