LanDroid wrote:I had a freshman English professor who read novels as a puzzle or a problem to be solved, looking for clues that unlock hidden meaning. Early on in this book, we already have two clues to investigate. One is the title, which comes from the Bible.
Quote:
For this hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
Isaiah 21:6 KJV
It is probably way too early to solve that mystery, but something to keep an eye on.
Dylan was directly referencing Isaiah. In Isaiah the watchman sees a lion.Penelope wrote: The above makes me think of the last verse of the Bob Dylan song, All Along the Watchtower:
All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.
I am feeling that Harper Lee is declaring what she seeth. But she held out and did not want it to be said too soon.
One reviewer I read suggests the watchman is conscience. Harper is taking the idea of seer beyond reporter or even moral judge,I think. Babylon will surely fall.
The seer has prescience and sees this house of cards will be blown down, perhaps in divine judgement.
I'll have to read on to find out how she employs this, but the biblical allusion is to that beyond the natural.