Some schools have adopted it into their curriculum, and
some schools have added it to their banned book list; nevertheless, most people
have heard of Harper Lee’s masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird. Published
in 1960 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Mockingbird
follows the Finch family living in Alabama and fighting against racial
prejudices. In many ways, Mockingbird reflects Lee’s own childhood in
Monroeville, Alabama.
The books main character, Scout, is similar to how Lee was
as a child. Both were tomboys who marched to the beat of their own drum. Both
grew up in a small town with lawyer fathers. Scout struggled with being the
baby of the family, and Lee was the youngest of four children. In high school, Lee
developed an interest in literature. Upon graduation, she attended Huntingdon
College before transferring to the University of Alabama. She was an active member
of the school newspaper, and eventually became the editor. Although she
attended law school for a year, she explained to her family that she was meant
to be a writer. She moved to New York and began working with her childhood
friend, Truman Capote, on his novel In Cold Blood. Upon its publication,
Lee was surprised to discover that Capote had not given her credit for her contributions
to the work. This pushed her to publish the manuscript that she had been working
on entitled Go Set a Watchman. The publishers rejected this draft
stating that the main character, Atticus, should have more heroic
characteristics and that Scout should be a child. Thus, To Kill a
Mockingbird was born.
For many years, Mockingbird was the only book that
Lee ever published because she “said all that she wanted to say.” In this sense,
Lee was intrinsically motivated. She wrote because she loved to write, not
because she wanted the fame or money that came with it. Her sister even
mentioned that “Books are the only thing she cares about.” Despite many
requests to write a sequel, Lee stayed true to herself and never published another
book… until 2015. In her later years, Lee suffered from a stroke, resulting in hearing
loss, limited vision and problems with her short-term memory. When the conversation
turned to the publication of Go Set a Watchman, many fans wondered if
this was truly Lee’s request. Watchman has sparked controversy as the beloved
character Atticus is portrayed as racist, bigoted, and has ties connections to
the Ku Klux Klan. Lee’s response to these? "I’m alive and kicking and
happy as hell with the reactions to Watchman." Although she didn’t publish
a large number of novels, her contribution to the literary world continues to
shape curriculum across the United States.
A lot of creatives tend to share the drive to keep being productive and keep producing throughout their lives. I feel like there are far fewer creatives who make one significant contribution to their field and feel that their work is done. It's admirable of Harper Lee to have known what she wanted to create, set out to do it, and then withdraw back to the private sphere. Also, I had no idea she went to law school for a year. Possibly her experience there influenced her character design of Atticus Finch? Cool post!
ReplyDeleteTo go off Audrey's point, many creatives work with an obsessiveness that makes them restless and unsatisfied with their work. We've seen this in Stravinsky, Gehry, and Picasso. This shows the spectrum of personality that creativity lies upon.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great blog post to read. Recently I watched an interview of Ricky Gervais and he his advice was to write about what you know. It seems like that is exactly what Lee did. She was intrinsically motivated to share a version of her story growing up and she did so successfully. And I gotta say Go Set the Watchman, in my opinion, was terrible. A real flop in comparison to To Kill a Mocking Bird. Does that mean that Lee was a one trick pony or like you wrote did she really say all that she had to say in her first published work?
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