It seems as if Harper Lee’s lawyer is out to truly kill the mockingbird.
In February 2015, rumors flied regarding Lee’s inability to make sound decisions regarding the publication of her newly discovered novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” a discarded first draft of the seminal classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Rather than focusing on the childhood of main character Scout, “Watchman” portrayed Jean-Louise Finch, a 20-something woman who had been known as Scout throughout the duration of her childhood in Maycomb, Alabama.
When the news of “Watchman” first circulated, the general consensus was that it seemed immoral for the so-called “novel” to be published. Lee, who is in her 90s and is an extremely private person, relied entirely on the guidance of her late sister, Alice. Once Alice passed away, Lee’s lawyer seemed to jump all too quickly at the chance to publish “Watchman,” a draft of the novel that was seemingly never meant to be published. It was, after all, a draft that editors had originally discarded. Some even speculate that Lee was manipulated into signing off on the publication of the manuscript.
So this raised the question: did Harper Lee knowingly sign off on the publication of “Watchman?” We didn’t think so.
It didn’t come as a surprise when Lee’s lawyer, Tonja Carter, reported that another manuscript of some sort was found inside of a safe-deposit box belonging to Lee. With Lee’s alleged permission, Carter took the manuscript to be reviewed by a rare books expert in order to determine if it could possibly be the draft of a third novel in Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” series.
On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that rare books expert James Jaffe deemed the manuscript an “early draft” of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” but one that had “substantial” changes from the final draft, citing specifically the changes in the iconic first line of the novel. However, Carter says that the newly discovered draft won’t be published.
After seeing the amount of backlash “Watchman” received when it became available to the public, it seems almost idiotic to consider publishing another one of Lee’s drafts for profit. The New Yorker called the novel “a failed story about race,” and “a book of clichés.” Perhaps if editors had billed the publication as a draft rather than a fully completed novel, the criticism would have been less severe — quite obviously, “Watchman” wasn’t published for a reason, and it was never finished or edited properly. How are we to judge the novel when it was never meant to be seen?
However, the writing style is not the central issue with “Watchman” — rather, dedicated readers’ issues lie within the fact that a beloved literary character, Atticus Finch, was all along a bigoted, racist individual who supported white supremacy.
This was a huge turn-off for “Mockingbird” lovers. A couple that had named their son after Atticus changed his name when the novel was published. A bookstore in Michigan received major backlash and was forced to give refunds when they billed the book as a “fun summer read.” The outrage of readers was unmatchable.
Even still, curiosity seems to be what killed the cat. “Watchman” sold over 207,000 copies on the day it was released, and has now sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. and Canada, according to The Guardian. Although the novel’s publication was morally questionable, Lee’s beloved fans still contributed to her supposed exploitation due to their strong desire to see what she had originally cooked up for them.
Herein lies the issue: the book has made a hefty profit for those benefiting (and that’s the publisher, HarperCollins, not Harper Lee). But aren’t most first drafts drastically different from what becomes the final product? This was the case with “Watchman,” and it was still published. How are we to believe that Carter won’t take a step further and publish this new manuscript as well?
Again, there are blurred lines here. According to Carter, Lee hired Jaffe and agreed to the reviewing of the manuscript. But how can we be sure that this old woman, who is reportedly deaf and blind, truly understood what was happening? According to The Wall Street Journal, Lee was not even present during the inspection.
If Lee had wanted this draft published, wouldn’t she have told her sister and caretaker Alice at some point? “Mockingbird” has been around for upwards of 50 years, which is plenty of time to make a decision regarding the publication of early drafts. Not to mention the fact that these drafts were found in Lee’s private safe-deposit box, which suggests that they were never meant to be reported upon to the public, much less published for the world to see. As a writer, publishing of a draft can be embarrassing — the writing isn’t complete or edited, content is questionable and characters aren’t fully fleshed out.
Not only does for-profit publication seem dirty and misguided, but it seemingly leads to disappointment for readers. If beloved Atticus was ruined for readers with the publication of “Watchman,” there is always the possibility that another character could falter.
Perhaps the situation would be more ethical if Lee was deceased, and she had left these manuscripts to her estate, just as had been done with Emily Dickinson and Ernest Hemingway. But while Lee is still alive, it is distasteful to consider coercing her into signing off on the publication of work she had never intended to be public.
For this reason, the only acceptable way for this manuscript to be published is with the potential for literary analysis — in other words, the ability for students and scholars to view the differences in Lee’s work, as well as to see her process as an artist. Essentially, the manuscript should never be published for a profit. In terms of morality, it seems justifiable to publish the piece as a free-for-all online, rather than as a profitable novel that exploits and takes advantage of Lee’s private work.
However, this all relies upon the artist’s approval of publication, which is questionable in this situation. Another draft masking as a novel begs for more trouble than it is worth.
