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| Deborah Johnson |
Both are set shortly after WW II
with The Secret of Magic in 1946 and Go Set a Watchman in about 1955.
In each book the young woman is
residing in New York City and travels to the deep American South. Regina is on
her way to rural Mississippi and Jean Louise to her hometown of Maycomb,
Alabama.
They travel by train which brings
about the first difference in their experience based on race. Regina, a Negro
in the language of that era which I shall continue to use in this post, is
shunted in Richmond, Virginia to an inferior colored car for the balance of her
journey. Jean Louise rides with comfort in the white section all the way to
Alabama.
In each book lawyers play prominent
and secondary roles. In important roles Regina is a fresh law school graduate
while Atticus Finch has been a lawyer for 40 years. District Attorney Nathan
Bedford Forrest Duval V better known as Bed and young Henry Clinton are more modest
characters.
In each book the legal establishment
is prejudiced against Negroes. Both Bed and Atticus believe Negroes need to
stay in the place white society has assigned them. Each of them is a
segregationist.
Yet both are part, albeit a very
small part, of coming change in race relations.
Bed convenes a grand jury to
investigate the death of a Negro, Joe Howard Wilson. While it is perfunctory
and ineffective it is a step towards justice for Negroes in the South.
Atticus can see Negroes
participating in the governance of the South though he does not believe them
ready to take on the role.
Each book sets out the increasing
presence of the NACCP lawyers in the South.
Regina is sent by Thurgood Marshall of
the New York City office of the NACCP. She is one of numerous young lawyers
being sent to the South to defend Negroes and challenge the segregation
statutes.
A decade later in Go Set a Watchman Atticus and Henry take
on the defence of a Negro charged with vehicular manslaughter partly to avoid
having an NACCP lawyer sent to defend the young man.
How the legal system of the South
approaches the murder of a Negro, The
Secret of Magic, and the killing of a white man, Go Set a Watchman, is predictably different. The death of Joe
Howard is ignored. The death of the white man sees the Negro accused promptly
charged.
At the personal level Jean Louise is
the centerpiece for a garden party of the leading white ladies of Maycomb.
Regina stops all conversation and draws a racist remark when she walks through
a grand party on the lawn of Calhoun Place in Revere.
Each book has a prominent white
woman, Mary Pickett Calhoun and Aunt Alexandra, staunchly maintaining the
traditional social structure of the community. Neither would even think of a
Negro woman being involved in their activities.
Both books set out the emphasis on
manners and language of the South of that era. At the same time there is the
constant presence of racism where a white will often not bother to greet a
Negro by name. Underlying all is the constant threat of violence against
Negroes who do not live by the white imposed codes of conduct.
Neither Regina nor Jean Louise is
prepared to accept those conventions. Each is a member of the generation in
which Negro and white Americans will desegregate the United States.
****
The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson
Oh, that's fascinating, Bill. Such interesting looks at some of the same issues and events. And in both cases, the authors bring those larger issues of social structure and social justice down to the human level. What's most interesting about this is that you read this books close together in time without any plan to do so.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. I would love to listen to a conversation between Harper Lee and Deborah Johnson.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting comparison Bill, which led me to move back and read the review of Secret of Magic.
ReplyDeleteMoira: Thanks for the commenet. I think you would appreciate the descriptions of clothes in The Secret of Magic.
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