He was just modeling his best behavior so that I would grow up to be a better person than he.Īlso, my childhood memory likely filtered out the instances when my dad was not perfect. Then it dawned on me that it was highly likely that's how my dad felt. I truly worked at being and doing my best, at modeling the kind of behavior that I had so admired in my father. So I worked very hard to improve myself in ways that would influence them, help them strive to become better people than their imperfect mother. You see, I wanted to be a better person for my children. It wasn't until years later, after I had my own children, that I finally got what happened. I told him, 'This is what you taught me to take each human being as a respected individual.' I was confused, angry, hurt beyond words. I confronted him with his own lessons, his own example that he had so clearly set for me as a child. We went round and round, me in tears, he in stroke-level fury. I learned that the hard way, by dating a Black man. It wasn't until years later that I learned he had much more complex views of the world. By his actions he taught me tolerance and respect and open-mindedness. He treated all people, regardless of race or social situation, equally well. He was as friendly with janitors and parking lot valets and waitresses as he was with the millionaire that owned the company he worked for. But he appeared to me as the kindest, most tolerant and benevolent man I knew. He was no lawyer and no champion of civil rights. Maybe I knew that because when I was the same age as Scout was during that trial, in my eyes my father was just like Atticus. But I also recognized the fact that as a character, as a human being, he was a fiction. Style and point of view aside I would expect that readers - people I hold in the highest esteem and who, because they are readers after all - would be among the first to understand the concepts of cognitive dissonance and character complexity.įrankly, I fell in love with the old Atticus Finch right along with everyone else. They seem to feel betrayed by the fact that the Atticus Finch they had so revered is shown to be a racist. Here are my Thursday morning thoughts:Īlthough GSaW was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird most reviewers have spoken about it as a sequel since it deals with events that occur decades later. I've also read many, many reviews and commentaries.

I pre-ordered Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee some time ago.

Harper lee sequel