In the midst of a busy summer, Colorado College political science professor Cronin and junior William Kim, a political science and history major, recently co-authored a piece in the Denver Post.
The article, “Say it ain’t so, Atticus,” is a combination of political analysis and book review. It reflects on Harper Lee’s “Go Set A Watchman,” the sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and is part of Cronin’s larger political novel project.
“The project shows how much literature reflects politics,” said Kim. “Books are filled with political messages, as literature is an excellent way to deliver messages subliminally. The great political novels fall into four categories: consciousness-raising, which is an attempt to educate the populace about a particular issue; political anthropologists, who examine and describe; satire; and agitators. Agitators often evoke a direct appeal that go beyond consciousness raising, as seen in the Monkey Wrench Gang and Upton Sinclairs’ works.”
The article came about as part of Kim’s several month-long journey working with Cronin.
“He handwrites everything, and I would type his notes up. Sometimes I felt like I was cracking the enigma code,” said Kim. “I would also read many books for him, mainly the novels, and write short essays with my opinions on them. One of the books in his project was “To Kill a Mockingbird” and [Cronin] mentioned the sequel was coming out and thought, as race is still a big issue, it would make a good article for the Denver Post.”
Kim goes on to describe the process behind writing the article as well as the relationship that the two held while working side-by-side, comparing it to him being George Bush and Cronin being Dick Cheney.
“He did most of the work. I contributed some of the ideas,” said Kim. “One of the things I found most interesting were the changes in the character of Atticus Finch. He has been the moral paragon, seen as the greatest hero of all time, but people in the real world aren’t like that. They are more Game of Thrones shades of grey, and I like that the novel made him more human, more ambiguous and more complex.”
“Whereas ‘Mockingbird’ was a consciousness-raising inspiration about how we can overcome intolerance, ‘Watchman’: is a frank examination and analysis of the realities of the time,” Cronin and Kim wrote. “’Watchman’ is more political than ‘Mockingbird.’ It probes the political values of the white community, and puts under a microscope the ‘pay-to-play’ politics of the courthouse political cabal.”
Kim has greatly valued his summer at Colorado College and recommends the experience to others.
“Take a class with a professor, make sure they like you, and then just ask,” said Kim.
For more novels analyzed through the political lens, look for Professor Cronin’s yet unnamed book, which Kim has dubbed, “Tom Cronin’s Big Book on Books.” For more from Kim, look for his opinion pieces in The Catalyst, which focus more on American hegemony, his personal passion, than literature.