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 …show more content…
At the opening of the play, Drummond is extremely unpopular with the townspeople. To put it simply, he’s downright hated. According to Reverend Brown, Drummond is “A vicious, godless man!” (27) Reverend Brown also says, “Henry Drummond is an agent of darkness. We let him in our town!” (27) These brutal statements alone show the pure abhorrence that is ebbing out of the town’s citizens. Plus, when Melinda, the little girl, first sees Drummond, she gasps and exclaims fearfully, “It’s the Devil!” (36) Drummond’s character also seems very unsympathetic at the beginning of the book. When he gets Brady on the stand, he ruthlessly batters him with questions and even goes so far as to embarrass and mock Brady. For example, Drummond says, “Extend the Testaments! Let us have a Book of Brady! We shall hex the Pentateuch and slip you in neatly between Numbers and Deuteronomy!” (101) These words, directed at Brady from Drummond, are rather unnecessary and cruel on Drummond’s part. In addition, Henry Drummond appears to be a very intimidating and malicious evolutionist. He is immediately portrayed as the bad guy in the story; the person defending Cates only in order to wreck the townspeople’s faith in the Bible. According to Brady, “He wants to destroy everyone’s belief in the Bible, and in our God!” (98) Yet, at the end of the …show more content…
At the start of Inherit the Wind, Rachel is very desperate to try and get Bert to just throw himself at the mercy of the court and admit that what he did was wrong. She visits him when he is still in jail and pleads with him to apologize about teaching evolution and promise never to do it again. For example, Rachel says, “Bert it’s still not too late. Why can’t you admit you’re wrong?” (8) This statement expresses just how deep Rachel’s desperation really is. Furthermore, Rachel is extremely dependent in the first half of the play. When she first speaks to Brady about Cates, Brady wants her to testify against him in court. Of course, this distresses Rachel, and she doesn’t know what to do. Therefore she turns to other people for help and advice; she depends on them to tell her what to do. For instance, at one point Rachel, quite distraught, runs to the jail and calls down, “Bert, can you hear me? Bert, you’ve got to tell me what to do. I don’t know what to do-” (31) Rachel depends on Bert to tell her exactly what she needs to do so that everything will be fine again. Also, Rachel Brown appears to very fearful and scared at the beginning of the book. She frightened that Bert will be convicted and end up in jail, she’s mortified at the prospect of possibly having to testify against him in court, and she’s terrified
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Show MoreThe embarrassing encounter with Brianna at the party was to much for Brent to accept. “Brent stood, brain and limbs paralyzed, as if turned to stone by her curse. He’d never been in such a situation and had no ready response.” (Fleischman 15) Driving and confused, Brent felt hopeless. “He saw that the car was drifting to
The quote has an underlying idea that nobody looked deep enough into it and even if she was just nervous or in shock, she wouldn't get any redemption for her actions. This plays with our emotions and makes the reader want to stand up for Lizzie and believe her. Sarah's play on her uses of logos and pathos makes the book feel like we are solving the crime, which just makes her writing 100x
She is starting to appear more content with herself even though she still hasn’t been able to tell anyone happened yet. “I’m on a roll, I’m rocking… The time time has come to arm-wrestle some demons. Too much sun after a Syracuse winter does strange things to your head, makes you feel strong, even if you aren’t (Anderson 180).” She is able to talk to Rachel during their study hall, they pass notes so they won’t get in trouble with the librarian. Rachel tells Melinda she isn’t mad at her about calling the cops to the party anymore, since it was such a long time ago.
Four people joined the defence team to represent Scopes in the trial. Scopes was being prosecuted for teaching evolution to his class. In the same year, before Scope’s arrest, a law was passed stating all teachings contrary to the Bible are unlawful. A few decades later, Inherit the Wind, a fictional theatre, was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. It depicts the accounts of the “Monkey Trial”.
The two traits that I think will best represent William in The boy who harnessed Wind are that he is very curious in what he does and what he will be looking forward to do in the future. Another personality feature William has, is that he smart, he uses his options very smartly to eventually be able to build his windmill. So in the next three paragraphs I will be explaining in depth Williams Traits and specifics. To start off with the first trait of William is that he is Curious and looks deeper into simple situations like how a regular radio works, and how it charges, and how it plays its music from all the way in America if there are in Malawi. For an example about The boy who Harnessed Wind, William in chapter three Called “DIscovering
Lee, and Jerome Lawrence, also shows the concepts of social and moral responsibility and exhibits how it is our duty as individuals to accept and promote them. “whenever you see something bright, shining, perfect – seeming – all gold, with purple spots – look behind the paint! And if it’s a lie – show it up for what it really is!” Here drummond is basically advocating for people to be morally courageous and to uphold your social responsibility. He is saying not to follow along with someting just because everyone else does and is saying to stand up and out against this.
Abigail, despite being close friends with Betty and Mary implies that she would hurt them if they said anything she didn 't agree with to anyone. This, among many of Abigail’s behavior in the story, shows that people will abandon the morals they have
After continuous pressuring Mary Warren replies with ‘I cannot, they’ll turn on me— “showing us the mob has driven fear into people and how Marry is afraid to tell the truth in the case everyone will turn on her and blame her. Mary’s feeble attempt to recompense backfires, so when Abigail uses the poppet to blame it on Elizabeth, making Mary feel even worse thus she agrees to go with proctor to testify against Abigail in court. Later after agreeing to go to court to support Proctor Mary is asked who is at fault and in fear replies pointing to proctor “You’re the devil’s man!” (act three, page 119). This demonstrates how the fear of the mob and the overwhelming pressure from the Abigail makes her turn from the truth.
Abigail's sudden switch of character demonstrates pure insanity. “I say shut it, Mary Warren!” (Miller, Arthur. The Crucible.) Abigail’s vicious approach almost failed but, pulled through as a twisted
In the play Abigail only cares about herself and what she can do to protect herself. When the girls talk in Betty’s room and Mary shows weakness and wants to tell everyone about what they did in the forest, Abigail gets really angry. She threatens the girls and is not afraid to show what she is willing to do. “Now look you. All of you.
No day in all my life had ever been as cruel as this one. ”(Pg.79). Cassie is starting to learn how the world is working. She doesn't like that she has to apologize to Lillian Jean, but she learns that that is the right choice to make in the situation. Cassie learns how sometimes that standing up for herself isn't always the right choice to make and how it is essential to control her emotions and actions.
Yet, close to the end of the scene, Mary returns to lying to the court. She confesses that the slanderous accusations by the girls “were pretense” but after pressure from the court and girls, she becomes “utterly confounded,… [becomes] overwhelmed,”(3.3) and points to Procor, calling him “the Devil’s man!”(3.3) She becomes afraid and frightened by the feigning girls and the looming notion of the court’s punishment. She presumes that the court will not forgive her for her previous lies in the court and the sentence of death. If she had believed that the court would have forgave her actions, then her confident confession could have ended the devastating witch hunt.
Especially when it comes to Abigail pressuring the girl. “ABIGAIL, starting for Mary: I say shut it, Mary Warren!” (Act 1, p. 19) Relation to the prompt: Abigail makes Mary doesn't say anything that may not match up with her story. Also to see if their on the same page. " I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.
The main characters in this play either see logic and reason, or give in their fear of the unknown. The society around these characters feel the need to fit in, therefore they follow those voices that speak louder to them and those surrounding.
Bert, for not being a child, is one of the most childlike and happy characters, throughout the film. After seeing Mary in the clouds,