Miriam Cherry, who teaches business associations and contracts at St. Louis University's Law School, has a very different contribution to the Go Set a Watchman symposium. She's written a dialog between Atticus Finch and Clarence Darrow:
Atticus Finch: As my mentor and dear friend, I beg you to take on my case. I have been misunderstood and maligned. Yes, I will say it, defamed!
Clarence Darrow: Take a deep breath, Atticus. What are you talking about? Are the ignorant trash in Maycomb giving you trouble again? Just remember what I always say: I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a hell of a lot more if I had been understood.
Atticus Finch: No, it’s not the racists in Maycomb. Well, it is, I guess. Apparently I’ve just been accused – in print – of being one of them. A Miss Harper Lee degrades me. Says here in print (throws down copy of Go Set A Watchman) I’m a member of a hate group. Can you believe it?
Clarence Darrow: Incredible! Atticus, are you sure she is talking about you? I have known you a long time. If you drank until you were drunk you wouldn’t be as hard as some men are at their best. You’re a bang up father. A prince among men.
Atticus Finch: I may be a lot of things, but I’ll tell you this. I’m not someone to go on night rides wearing bedsheets. I’m a civil liberties attorney. This is character assassination, pure and simple.
Clarence Darrow: We need to clear your name, Atticus. Why don’t you go on record and tell me, courtesy of your earlier statements (throws down copy of To Kill a Mockingbird) exactly what your sentiments are. Set the record straight for us, Atticus.
Atticus Finch: You know that I’ve said that the one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom. Also, I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.
Clarence Darrow: Pray, continue.
Atticus Finch: White men cheat black men every day. … But let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.
Clarence Darrow: Well said my friend.
Atticus Finch: What could be motivating this? Whatever did I do to Miss Lee that she hates me so?
Clarence Darrow: Let me tell you my thoughts. Go Set a Watchman contains a long discussion of iconoclasm. Destroying an image, an idea, a hero. But just because Miss Lee created you, doesn’t mean that she gets to destroy you. The ideals – the true courage that you stood for – the simple decency – it doesn’t end just because HarperCollins wanted to make a buck. I will take your case.
Atticus Finch: Thank you, old friend.
Clarence Darrow: Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails. Let’s give ‘em hell, Atticus.
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