Autism Answer: Go Set a Watchman - A Personal Book Review

Author’s note: For the past two days I’ve been reading Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. I am an addict of novel reading and dive in always for the pleasure of living lives different (often drastically) from mine, and for the joy that comes with recognizing our sameness. It was no different with this book; my agenda and intention was clear: to have fun. Despite what I may reveal in the following review please know that I really, truly, and deeply did have fun.

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

I wonder if this book was manifested by our need for it. 

The story of its discovery and publication is fraught with controversy and distrust, bringing both fear and hope to fans of Harper Lee and her, until now, one published novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Making a mess of the neat and tidy cozy perfection Harper Lee had introduced to the world with the pairing of curious, indelicate, barefoot Scout and her quiet, strong, kind, brave gentleman father, Atticus. 

In Go Set a Watchman we are introduced to Jean Louise Finch, the once upon a time six year old Scout, on her fifth annual visit from her adult life in New York to fictional Maycomb, Alabama, her childhood home. 

The visit finds Jean Louise, and me as a reader, on the edge of a new kind of independence; visions of the playful past, the painful past, and the presumed past grab hold and mess with our ideas of where we come from and who made us. Visions of potential futures fail to excite or fit us. Jean Louise is courted by a lifetime love, surrounded by family who “gets” and celebrates her, yet she’s at a loss to know herself independent of who they are. Especially her father, Atticus. 

  

The country, too, is in the midst of fighting for a new kind of independence, a new kind of knowing itself. And for the first part of the book I found nothing but nostalgic joy and empathy for the woman who is trying to discover herself as a woman, amidst change and political turmoil. 

But as I came to the part of the book I had been excitedly anticipating, having read warnings and mixed feelings on this supposedly new Atticus, this racist not-the-hero we fell in love with from To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus, I was sent reeling into a similar past of my own. I had been confidently prepared to go along for the ride of the disappointing discovery and empowering understanding that comes with shedding childish notions of right and wrong, good people and bad people. But I hadn’t been prepared to feel and remember it. 

Jean Louise secretly observes Atticus--the man who raised her and gave her every reason to know herself as right and good-- at a meeting surrounded by men advocating for the opposite of everything she believed he believed, and therefore she believed. The Citizens' Council is made up of almost all of Maycomb's prominent men speaking about the need for segregation, the dangers of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), the inability of the Negro to vote in the best interest of the country, all things she was convinced he was morally opposed to. The group of men include not only Atticus but also her lifelong beau.

As Jean Louise felt herself die, I was transported back to my own past where I, too, was left lost and broken and completely alone. When my step-dad, the man who loved my mother and gave me every reason to know I was safe, molested me I was tossed into turmoil and cut off from everyone I loved and everything my experiences had told me to believe.  

I had to put the book down, I had to breathe slowly and remember the chaotic beauty and messy important lessons we had been nearly forced to learn. There are those who choose not to learn, but we did, and I chose to put my faith in Jean Louise to find similar answers. 

Picking up the novel again I was thrown into her world, one of the privilege that comes with being the white daughter of a lawyer, especially of Atticus Finch, but of disability too. Being color blind her whole life had always made Scout different from her peers, but like with most invisible disabilities the difference was small at first. Quirky and strange, but acceptable. As Scout grew the differences amounted to misunderstandings and made up morals. Jean Louise had grown into a young woman who had learned it all wrong and now had to make sense of everyone in her life being a lie. Including herself. 

I held on tight while she bounced from family member to family member searching for what she was missing, seeking an explanation for her difference. I thought of so many people I love who, via their differences and disabilities, have been able to teach me truths I may have not otherwise known, and I applauded her and begged her to see her value. To see herself.

I felt angry, uncertain, thoughtful, and angry again. My dear readers, there is no way to read this book without feeling angry. With so many clashing ideologies and strong morals, there is no one who will be left out!

It would have been easier to put the book down. 

It would have been easier for Jean Louise to give herself over to the prejudice-pretending-to-be-polite interests of Maycomb.

No, it wouldn’t have. Not in the long run. 

So we ventured on, Jean Louise and I.  

With the support and push of her loved ones, Scout let go. With uncertainty and a naked new freedom Jean Louise forced herself into her own form of individuality. 

This is, I believe, what we must do as a society. 

We must grow up a notch. 

Scout was right to put her faith in Atticus. He was consistent and kind and offered his children freedom. He always had time for them and he was a strong, honest, anchor. 

Like Scout, I was right to put my faith in my step-father. It gave me years of comfort and the joy of watching my mom be loved. My sister and I felt confident and safe. 

Like Scout, as fans of To Kill a Mockingbird we were right to put the hero, Atticus, on a pedestal. It grew us comfortably in the right direction. 

But we must be Jean Louise now. We must open our eyes and see how we’ve been fooling ourselves while we’ve been fooled. We must see that our painful past is playing with us, teasing us into thinking things like: “We” gave “them” what “they” said “they” wanted and look what “they” do. 

Like Jean Louise we must hurt and fear and let go of the beliefs we thought were our own and with uncertainty stand naked inventing a new freedom to think differently and form our own inclusive individuality. 

This is the messy part. 

But it’s already messy, isn’t it?

So, like Go Set a Watchman, let’s do it now. Let’s not wait until we’re perfectly edited and let's not pay too much attention to our controversial and unknowable backstory. 

I recommend reading both Go Set a Watchman and To Kill a Mockingbird, in any order. 

The author, Harper Lee, is a woman both before and completely of her time. 

“What was incidental to the issue in our War Between the States is incidental to the issue in the war we’re in now, and is incidental to the issue in your own private war.” ~Uncle John Hale Finch, Go Set a Watchman 

Autism Answer: Revealing Our Prejudice So We Can Reject It

When our own prejudice is revealed it often surprises us. And in that surprise we are given an opportunity to take a good look at who we are. And an even more important opportunity to make a change. 

Allow me to share such a moment: 

My hubby and I were chatting about the church shooting that happened in South Carolina when our seventeen year old son walked through the room, headed to the kitchen for a snack. He could feel our mood and knew we were talking about something serious so he asked us what it was. 

"Do you know about the church shooting?" I asked.

"No," he responded, adding,"but it sounds like justice."

For a second I didn't know what to say! A shooting as justice?? 

Then I remembered that my son is seventeen and the reality of the world is still partly in "not real" form. Then I also remembered that my son is gay and all of the people who have bullied him about it have used strong religious beliefs to back up their cruelty. 

Then I remembered that sometimes we say things automatically that can teach us something important about ourselves. 

I waited a moment and when he just stood there I said, "People died." 

"Well, killing people isn't really justice." he grudgingly admitted. "But still, most of those church and religion freaks are constantly hurting us gay people in a lot of other ways."

Then I said, "It was a racial crime, kiddo. The young man was white and he shot several black people specifically because he wanted to start a race war. Specifically because he believes black people do not belong here and are less than human."

My son looked at me, a little stricken. Then he looked at his black dad, who had a few tears in his eyes, and gave him a huge hug. 

While still hugging his dad he said, "I just did the same thing, sort of, didn't I?" our son asked. "I just had my own belief about people who go to church and felt hateful enough to think shooting them was justice."

I piled my own hug onto this emotional realization and added,"But, my love, you didn't do the same thing. You did exactly the opposite! You were willing to see your prejudice and recognize it as cruel. You know, we all have some prejudices in us. Not because we're horrible but because we're human. It's an unwillingness to look at them and re-think them and learn from them that makes us horrible. It's the willingness to hurt and even kill others because of our prejudices that makes us horrible."

We all stepped back from the hug and my son looked relieved. I think this was one of those times when he really heard me! 

Goodness knows I've been saying this sort of thing to him his whole life, but I think this time he really heard me. 

Never stop believing in yourself or your kids, friends! We are always and forever growing up and learning new things about ourselves and our world. 

And let's do our best not to back away from ourselves or our loved ones when prejudices are revealed. Let's talk about them and admit that they are what they are. 

And then, let's reject them. Let's tell them "No. Not in my house!"

And when another one has slipped in with the wind through the crack under the back door, or more likely through the whispers and words and attitudes of a society that still struggles with prejudice, be willing to see it. 

And, again, be willing to reject it!

It's a never ending thing for our generation I'm guessing. But imagine what we can teach to the next generation!

Imagine!!!

Hugs, smiles, and love!!!
Autism Answers with Tsara Shelton (Facebook)

One of my stepdaughters and two of my sons. A colorful bunch!