question: public static Object readField ( final Object target , final String fieldName , final boolean forceAccess ) throws IllegalAccessException { if ( target == null ) { throw new IllegalArgumentException ( "target object must not be null" ) ; } Class < ? > cls = target . getClass ( ) ; Field field = FieldUtils . getField ( cls , fieldName , forceAccess ) ; if ( field == null ) { throw new IllegalArgumentException ( "Cannot locate field " + fieldName + " on " + cls ) ; } return FieldUtils . readField ( field , target ) ; }
target:  Read the named field. Superclasses will be considered.