[ SECRET POST #3365 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3365 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 070 secrets from Secret Submission Post #481.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[sparrow_lately]

I mean...I think for a lot of people it's hard to reconcile Atticus from TKAM, who had such unwavering, fundamental respect for human beings and their dignity and merit, from an 8 year old girl to a poor boy dumping pancake syrup all over his lunch to Calpurnia to Tom Robinson to Boo Radley and even to Mayella Ewell, with the kind of lazy hackneyed half-racist we see in GSAW. Was Atticus's respect and kindness complicated, and layered, and at times tainted with notions of class, status, race, etc.? Absolutely! But the entire POINT of Atticus's character was that in his heart he loved and respected every person just because people deserve respect.

Now, like I said, there's room for a lot of interrogation there. Atticus was a white man in the 30s, written by a white woman in the 60s, and his idea of Tom Robinson or Boo Radley or Mayella Ewell's dignity might not be THEIR idea. But in GSAW--what I read of it--Atticus has apparently given up his careful, humanitarian approach to people and social problems; he bangs on like everybody's racist uncle about how black people can't be trusted to handle themselves yet, and he condescends endlessly to Scout. It's inconceivable, to me, that a man who had so much respect for his daughter when she wasn't even ten could be so dismissive of her thoughts and opinions as a grown woman. Atticus, in TKAM, knew where he stood in history; I think the Atticus of TKAM would have known his hour was over, and Scout's had arrived.

I would love to see an in-depth look at how a man like Atticus, who was so staunchly "progressive" in the South in the 30s, would adapt to the times, to the age of MLK and the Black Panthers. I have no doubt he'd be worried, likely even paternalistically so, and urge caution without sight for how long Black people had waited for their due. But the novel seemed so...unfinished, so thrown away for shock or something. Like, yes, Atticus is a bit of a dick now. Calpurnia never even had fondness for the kids--does that character deserve a revisitation? Is her position a complex and problematic one? YES. But to have her simply dismiss Scout is to do an injustice to the complex nature of her character, and the many, many real women who lived lives so much like hers.

So...tl;dr: I agree with you that people who recoil in shock at the idea that a man born less than 50 years after the Emancipation Proclamation might harbor some deeply problematic notions. What I can't square is the style and seemingly inconsistent writing in the novel itself, which seems so far removed from the care and dignity that marks TKAM. I think people reacted as much to that as to the idea that Atticus wasn't perfect.

That said, a lot of people grew up with Atticus as a literary/cinematic role model, and I understand why their knee-jerk reactions are frustrating (I also understand why it's hard to swallow; Atticus Finch is pretty Pure).

Sorry for the essay, lol....my students start To Kill a Mockingbird this week, and today we discussed race, family, responsibility, etc. in class. The results were fascinating, and I can't wait to see what they make of the book.

ALSO: I think the book being published at all was exploitative and Bad. Just saying.

[(Anonymous)]

+10000000000 to everything in this comment. It wasn't the fact that Atticus was portrayed as not a shining beacon and his flaws were more apparent than in TKAM, it was the fact that his imperfection was done in a totally OOC way rather than a way that flowed naturally from his characterization in TKAM.

[(Anonymous)]

*insert applause gif*

[(Anonymous)]

This post is awesome and you should feel awesome :).

Also, I so wish I could attend that class. That does sound fascinating indeed.