There are countless reasons why we love books- some of my favourite times, people, worlds and words are (quite unfortunately, if you think about it) from the fictional pages from books written eons and miles away from me. The most poignant of thoughts, concise of arguments and blatant of truths through my life have been aggregated through books. While that paints a picture of a bibliophile, I should add here that I am a very very regular, sparing reader who’s had a history of bad recommendations being handed over. That’s not the reason I am writing this now, though.
I found love when I read Wodehouse’s character Psmith and felt despair, shock and disbelief as I read through the creative masterpiece that The Book Thief was to me. When I read Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, I found myself.
The protagonist Jean Louise Finch (Scout) is a 26 year old who had stayed blinded to the realities of the world until the course of the book takes over. She had failed to recognize the disparities the color of skin paints upon one, and stayed ignorant of even her close family’s stances and nature. I found myself echoing every emotion she felt- from the tom-boyishness that kicks in harder when she hits ‘womanhood’, to the way she staggers under the weight of the newfound knowledge of living in a world so broken. I could go on and on about this book, and I am sure I would do exactly that in the coming weeks but for now, I’m going to let Harper Lee’s masterful words take over- in the hope it will get you to pick up the book or start a conversation about it.
“Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends.”
““A man can condemn his enemies, but it’s wiser to know them.”
“You said, in effect, ‘I don’t like the way these people do, so I have no time for them.’ You’d better take time for ’em, honey, otherwise you’ll never grow.”
“I thought we were just people. I have no idea”- Scout on race, color and identification.
On accepting a harshly thrown invective, Atticus calmly stands his ground and reasons, “I can take anything anybody calls me so long as it’s not true.”
“I need a watchman to lead me around and declare what he seeth every hour on the hour. I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference.
I need a watchman to go forth and proclaim to them all that twenty-six years is too long to play a joke on anybody, no matter how funny it is.”
The title, the plot, the character arcs and their personality trait all boils down to one question I have been asking myself since Persepolis. How much of what we are is based on where we come from? And what do you do when where you come from and how you were raised has made you blind?
Go set a Watchman, says Harper Lee.
– Swathi Chandrasekaran
Always on the lookout for book recommendations. If you have some to make or have books to discuss, do let’s connect on Goodreads. Here’s me!
