We cats have been both interested and uninterested in the current brouhaha surrounding Harper Lee's classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
We've been interested because of course the novel is wonderful. But uninterested because we can't help thinking that the publication of Go Set a Watchman is, in the words of a good friend, somebody taking advantage of an old woman to make money.
In our view, if Harper Lee had wanted Watchman to be published, she would have done so long ago. So we are unconcerned that suddenly Atticus Finch is "revealed" in Watchman to be a segregationist. Why? Because Lee got some very good advice from her editor back in the late 1950s — thanks to which, Lee threw Watchman in a drawer and wrote Mockingbird instead.
See, Watchman is neither a prequel or a sequel, but a first draft. The Atticus in Watchman bears no relation to the Atticus in Mockingbird. (Think Margaret Mitchell's initial creation of "Pansy" O'Hara. Not fully formed, not ready for prime time.) What's the thing that separates the two Atticuses? A really good editor. Hurray for editors!
In the meantime, we cats need to get something off our furry chests. We like the Stanley Kramer movie version of Mockingbird, but it contains an historical error that has always driven us crazy.
"Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it," the now-adult narrator, Scout, says. Then presently she adds, "Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself."
Impossible: Franklin Roosevelt didn't utter those words until 1933. Just sayin'. We cats HISS.
2 comments:
Your posts are always fascinating, but this one was especially interesting. And satisfying since you addressed the annoying
media fuss about the "other Atticus". What you wrote makes perfect sense. I just wish it could be seen by all the lovers of
Mockingbird who "feel betrayed" and shouldn't. Also nice to know someone cares about accuracy and details of history.
One of our least-favorite film flubs!
As for the books, while "Watchman" appears to be about the father Harper Lee had, "Mockingbird" is clearly about the father she wished she had. Don't we all?
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