On July 1925, the Scopes Monkey trial convicted a teacher guilty for breaking the Butler Act. Inherit the Wind, by Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence, reflects the Scopes Trial in which Bertram Cates is convicted guilty. Henry Drummond, Cates’s defense attorney, fights for the right to think, while educating the courtroom about science at the same time. With Henry Drummond’s boldness, knowledge, and encouragement, he convinces Cates that he did no wrong, and that the Butler Act is unjust.
Throughout the play, Drummond uses his boldness to prove that the Butler act is unfair to those who believe in evolution. When Colonel Brady is cross examined, he exclaims that he knows nothing of evolution, yet has multiple passages of the Bible memorized.
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How can you be so cocksure that the body of scientific knowledge systematized in the writings of Charles Darwin is, is in any way, irreconcilably with the spirit of the Book of Genesis?”(Lawrence and Lee 86). Drummond using his ardor to express anger towards Brady not being educated on evolution causes more people turn to Cates’s side. The fact that Brady is able to testify against evolution without being educated on it shows that the Butler Act is unjust. Brady winning conveys that the Butler Act is prejudiced towards those with religious beliefs. When the judge exclaims that the right to think is not on trial, Drummond expresses: “with all respect to the bench, I hold that the right to think is very much on trial! It is fearfully I’m dangerously in the proceedings of this court!”(Lawrence and Lee 72). Drummond’s confidence allows him to acknowledge to the courtroom that the right to think is on trial. Cates expressing his beliefs with Drummond supporting him, …show more content…
When Brady is being questioned on the stopping of the sun, and the ruin of the Earth, Brady claims it did not happen. Then Drummond proceeds to yell: “it must’ve happened! According to natural law. Or don’t you believe in natural law, Colonel?” (Lawrence and Lee 89). Drummond’s knowledge allows him to correct Brady on natural law, which leaves Brady looking clueless. Drummond’s knowledge of science causes Cates to have faith that more people will take his side. The fact that Brady admitted that the Bible may be wrong, yet still won, shows how unjust the Butler Act is. Again, when Brady is asked on the events in the Bible, and its relevance to the real world, he claims that everything has happened in the Bible, even if scientifically proven wrong. After Brady says everything in the Bible is true, Drummond says: “now if what you say factually happened--if Joshua halted the sun in the sky--that means the earth stopped spinning on its axis; continents toppled over each other, mountains flew out into space. And the earth, arrested in its orbit, shriveled to a cinder and crashed into the sun. How come they missed this tidbit of news” (Lawrence and Lee 89). Brady looks ignorant as Drummond demolishes him with facts. Drummond considers that Brady says everything in the Bible is true, but why did all these facts get left out from science? Since
When Edwards wanted to change the terms of church membership by forbidding the baptism of the children of halfway members, many were furious. This went against the norm of baptism as a birthright that was apart of the New England culture. Another point that the townspeople did not agree with Edwards was how he resolved the “bad book” incident. During this time, Edwards called out everyone that was apart of the scandal to public without telling who was to blame and who was just a
Two giants of the twentieth century, Henry Drummond and Matthew Harrison Brady, confront each other in the courtroom, arguing passionately for their beliefs. When the verdict is delivered, Bertram Cates is found guilty; however, Drummond is convinced that Cates has won. (Thesis statement): Despite the guilty verdict, the outcome of the trial can be considered a victory for Drummond, Cates, and science and a crushing defeat for Brady and Fundamentalism. Brady has been put on the stand by Drummond to talk about the bible were Brady cannot recite biblical accounts and has put Drummond in the driver's seat to winning the jury. “Good now if what you say is actually factually happened-if joshua halted the sun in the sky-that means the earth stopped
The Warren-Flew Debate on the Existence of God, Thomas B. Warren, Ramer, TN, National Christian Press, 2004, 5th ed. 253 pp. The book “The Warren-Flew Debate was written by Thomas B. Warren and the National Christian Press publisher and has an almost word for word account of a well-known debate between two of the most intellectual minds of their times though Flew did not look it at this debate. Flew was known for blowing his debaters out of the water.
Inherit the Wind: Granting the Right to be Wrong While the practice of limiting a man’s ideas may now be seen as archaic, Inherit the Wind brings to light this very injustice, prevalent in an era not yet shrouded by time. In this final scene of the play, Drummond poignantly summarizes the beauty of free thought. The following passage highlights the central theme of Inherit the Wind: theological and scientific beliefs can co-exist, on the condition that an individual has the right to believe whatever he or she deems fit: DRUMMOND. Say - you forgot - (But Rachel and Cates are out of earshot.
Inherit the Wind is a play inspired by real life events in Dayton, Tennessee in t 1925; “The Scopes Monkey Trial” where a teacher, John Scopes taught evolution to his students. Another character named Cates lecture on evolution because as a teacher, he feels he must teach what is actually and evidently true. Inherit the Wind formulates the arguments of both side of the issues of evolution and religion. The Monkey trial is in essence a drama over the educational validity of teaching science as science and of the teaching religious belief as a form of verifiable knowledge.
They all seemed to be persuaded by Drummond’s argument, even if they did not fully approve Darwin’s theory of evolution. If one man can do that to a jury, then he must of impacted them more than a more simple character like Bertram Cates or Reverend Brown. Another example of Drummond power to capture the crowd is when he says to Brady, “What if a lesser human being-a Cates, or a Darwin-has the audacity to think
William Jennings Bryan builds an effective argument proving the legitimacy of the Butler Act by persuading the audience that the act was created with a justifiable and tangible purpose in mind, rather than merely on a whim. He accomplishes this by appealing to pathos, more specifically the audience’s sense of entitlement. He proposes that the law is just, as a majority of people in Tennessee support it and since their taxes go towards paying teachers, they have a right to influence the public education system. He argues that the Legislation was acting in favor of the majority, which he furthered by using the collective word “we,” throughout his speech when referring to the people paying taxes to build a feeling of solidarity. By doing so,
Characterization in Inherit the Wind Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the play Inherit the Wind is a fictitious spin off of the historical Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, which hotly debated the concept of evolutionism vs. creationism and, in general, a person’s right to think. In the play, a young man by the name of Bert Cates is prosecuted for teaching evolution in school and breaking the state’s “creation-only” law. His case is taken to court where he fights against the highly exalted paragon of religious devotion, Matthew Harrison Brady. Henry Drummond, an almighty but rather infamous attorney, stands by and defends Cates throughout the whole trial. In the midst of this all, Cates’ lover, Rachel Brown, is torn between her love
The character traits a person possesses can influence many things. In the book Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee based on "The Scopes Trial". The character traits that William Henry Drummond, based on Clarence Darrow, possesses majorly influences the outcome of the trial. The three character traits that affects the outcome the most are intelligent, tolerant, and detail-oriented. Henry Drummond is intelligent and this character trait propels him to win the case.
Nicholas Grill Mrs. Browning English 10X 25 July 2017 Inherit the Wind Journal Entries Question #2: Inherit the Wind reflects the Holy Cross core value of Hope through the actions of its main characters. The central conflict in this story revolves around a fictional court case against a high school teacher, named Bertram Cates, who taught his students evolution. This court case takes place in a Christian town, wherein the townsfolk disagree with the theory of evolution and feel like Mr. Cates should be punished for his actions. Throughout the rest of the story, Mr. Cates, and his lawyer Henry Drummond, hope to win this case in defense of Mr. Cates’ right to freely speak what he believes.
The Scopes Monkey trial was one the biggest and most influential court cases of all time. John Scopes was a public high school teacher in dayton tennessee who was arrested and tried for breaking the butlers law. Passed in 1925 it made teaching evolution in any schools and colleges in the state of Tennessee illegal. This was because evolution challenges the idea of creationism which was the popular religion in the tennessee. this was a huge problem because it was written in the constitution that you must separate church and state.
Rachel tried to persuade him to give in by saying: “ Bert, it’s still not too late. Why can’t you admit you’re wrong? If the biggest man in the country--next to the President, maybe-- if Matthew Harrison Brady comes here to tell the whole world how wrong you are…” (Lawrence and Lee 8).
While disrupting the image of Sarah as the doting mammy figure, Butler places Dana into that role by making her be responsible for Rufus. This further allows Butler to examine what it meant to be a caretaker for white children during this time period. Dana’s travels allow her to catch glimpses of Rufus’s development into a young man. While she initially has hopes that she can be a positive influence on him and curtail the influences from his mother and father, she inevitably fails. Though Dana saves Rufus from many near death experiences and nurses him back to health many times, Rufus still grows into a replica of his father and becomes a man of his time.
Because the jury did not favor black men, Tom Robinson did not receive a fair trial, although Atticus made a great case. Segregation directly disobeys the fourteenth amendment, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Maycomb Alabama is where the story, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. Tom Robinson’s trial out come was not based on factual evidence. Mayella was lying to the jury, while Tom was completely innocent.
Maybe what Mr. Darwin wrote is bad. (...) Bad or good, it doesn’t make any difference. The ideas have to come out” (Lawrence and Lee 124, 125). This is evidence that the people of Hillsborough are being impacted by Drummond and starting to think for themselves. Another example of the fight is when, in Act Three, Cates spoke powerfully, saying, “I have been convicted of violating an unjust law.