Harper Lee: Go Set a Watchman, Pt. 1

Harper Lee:  Go Set a Watchman

I am now a bit over 1/3 of the way through the novel.  It is, as purported, an account of  Jean Louise' trip home.  I keep wanting to call her Scout.  Her father, Atticus Finch, is suffering from arthritis, and she wants to see for herself just how bad it is.

We meet her Aunt Alexandra; Henry, the man in love with her and who has asked her to marry him; Atticus, her father; and various other inhabitants of  Maycomb.  There are, as should be expected, many "remember when" and "that was the time" reminiscences, and much catching up on what has happened since her last visit.  We also learn about her relationship with Henry and about Dill, who is based on Harper Lee's friend, Truman Capote, and, of course, a bit of the history of Maycomb itself.

I am now at the point when Jean Louise discovers that Atticus reads derogatory material about blacks and that he and Henry are on their way to attend a Citizen's Council meeting (see note below).  Atticus is on the board of directors, and Henry is one of its "staunchest members," according to Alexandra.  "Not that we really need one.  Nothing's happened here in Maycomb yet, but it's always wise to be prepared," Alexandra reassures Jean Louise.  Jean Louise is shocked to hear this and is now on her way to the Citizen's Council meeting to see for herself what is going on.
 
I have read several derogatory reviews and heard about others, including one that called the novel "a mess."  I don't see it, at least so far.  Perhaps the "mess" comes later.  On the other hand, it just may be that I'm insensitive to those flaws in the novel which are obvious to more astute readers who are trained to analyze and dissect literary works.

Well, there's still almost 2/3 of the novel to go.




From the Wikipedia article

"The Citizens' Councils (also referred to as White Citizens' Councils) were an associated network of  white supremacist organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South. The first was formed on July 11, 1954.   After 1956, it was known as the Citizens' Councils of America. With about 60,000 members across the United States, mostly in the South, the groups were founded primarily to oppose racial integration of schools, but they also supported segregation of public facilities during the 1950s and 1960s. Members used severe intimidation tactics including economic boycotts, firing people from jobs, propaganda, and occasionally violence against civil-rights activists.
By the 1970s, following passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s and enforcement of constitutional rights by the federal government, the influence of the Councils had waned considerably. The successor organization to the White Citizens' Councils is the  Council of Conservative Citizens, founded in 1985.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens'_Councils