The world went into a frenzy when Harper Lee came out with her second novel Go Set A Watchman, 55 years after her literary masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird. The new novel, discovered decades later as an early draft for the the first novel is now out in stores and Atticus Finch, the central hero of To Kill a Mockingbird, features in it. [caption id=“attachment_2344274” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Harper Lee’s much awaited second novel, Go Set a Watchman, is out in stores. AFP[/caption] However, the fans aren’t too happy about the book. Atticus Finch, a compassionate lawyer who saves a black man falsely accused of raping a white women in Alabama of the 1930s, had been a hero of the literary world. A righteous man, who is guided by his principles. In the new novel, set 20 years after the incidents of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch has become a bitter, old, racist man who even attends Ku Klux Klan (KKK) meetings, according to a
report in The Independent. Seeing their hero’s fall from grace, the readers, long time fans of Harper Lee’s celebrated first and only novel till 2015, are very upset and are taking to Twitter to express their displeasure.
First Woody Allen, then Bill Cosby, now Atticus Finch. You can't trust anyone anymore.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) July 10, 2015
Hm. I always had a bad feeling about that Atticus Finch http://t.co/fBIpFgfz5j
— jon ronson (@jonronson) July 10, 2015
The latest discovery has also put scores of people and businesses, named after world’s former favourite hero Atticus Finch, in a predicament. No one would want to be named after a famous racist. According to a report in The Guardian, Atticus tops the list of baby names taken from literary characters. The much awaited book, however, is selling like hotcakes. According to a BBC report, Go Set a Watchman is the most pre-ordered book on Amazon since the final Harry Potter book. Grab a copy to read more about the fall of your favourite literary hero.