The story “Inherit the Wind” holds many themes which are revealed in many ways throughout the story. It is important to know the different themes of a story so there is a better understanding of the book. Appearance vs. reality, the importance of free thought, and man vs. society are few of the major themes that are revealed more than once throughout the story. Appearance vs. reality is shown in “Inherit the Wind” through Brady and Drummond. In the story, Brady is sent to fight against Cates in the monkey trial. Everybody admires Brady, you can tell this by the way they welcome Brady to town with, a parade, big feast, and a reserved room in the Mansions House. Brady appears to be confident, proud, and professional. He is very confident that he is going to win the trial, and he is proud because he has many people who admire. But this all changes throughout the book, when Drummond destroys Brady in front of all his followers. He did this by using Brady’s words and telling the people in the courtroom that Brady says that he is the prophet of God. This happened because Brady was giving false information on the Bible. Also near the end Brady quotes, “Mother, They’re laughing at me, Mother!” (2.2) He says this crying to Mrs. Brady, when the people are laughing at him in the courtroom. This shows the reality of Brady and how he acts like a little kid and is not as professional as he seems. On the other Drummond appears to be the devil, who is mean, and narrow minded. Throughout the trial Drummond makes some very good points, which make a few people believe that he is right. This show that Drummond is very smart and intelligent. Drummond quotes “A giant once lived in that body.” (3) Referring to Brady. At the end of this scene w... ... middle of paper ... ...ve him the guts to do it!” (1.2) this shows that Drummond thinks the society of Hillsboro is unwise because after this trial ends another will occur because someone else will teach evolution, and this whole process will happen again. Even though at the end Cates and Drummond lose. They accomplish their goal of opening the mind of Hillsboro’s townspeople on the society of Hillsboro and how it is wrong. These three major themes which were appearance vs reality, the importance of free thought, and man vs. society were revealed throughout the book in many different scenes, and through many different characters. These major themes gave us a better understanding of the book and the characters of the book, and what some of them wanted to achieve. Works Cited Lawrence, Jerome, and Robert Edwin Lee. Inherit the Wind. New York: Random House, 1955. Print.
There are other arguable themes, but the clearest one stated is destructive love. There are only 3 instances I have defended, but there are so much more within this novel. You can see where love for money, the forbidden, and just simply carelessness ties a ribbon of destructive love around this novel. Now ask yourself, what do you have a love for? Is it a destructive love? Will it lead to a great love life, or a cold fatal death?
A perspective molds the opinions and beliefs of an individual, but an individual has the power and influence to change society’s perspective. In the play, Inherit the Wind, a young man known as Bertram Cates was put on trial for teaching evolutionism in school. Cate’s defense attorney, Drummond, was able to change the perspectives of many people. Everyone has a great amount of power to change society’s perspective by taking action.
Every book has a theme, a main idea that is carried throughout the story, and most novels have more than one. Main ideas are threads that weave the story together. Ideas like friendship or love often are used to tell the story. Witness by Karen Hesse has an obvious theme of racism; however, love, hate, and sacrifice are woven into the plot with sacrifice being the most important.
A theme is a unifying or dominant idea in a literary work. Steinbeck described the competition of good versus evil as the story of mankind itself. He believes that every generation to come since Adam and Eve will now be immersed with the struggle of good and evil due to Eve’s curiosity that led to sin, eventually banning both her and Adam from the Garden of Eden. In East of Eden, Steinbeck makes the contest of good versus evil apparent through his contrasting description of the setting, the characters’ opposing personalities, and society’s changing morals.
Henry Drummond is an acclaimed criminal-defense lawyer and recognized agnostic, so how could a man such as this respect and appreciate the life of the fundamentalist Christian Matthew Harrison Brady? Throughout the play Inherit the Wind Drummond demonstrates that though his opinions are much different than Brady and many of the townspeople of Hillsboro when it comes to religion, he is able and willing to respect these people’s values and beliefs. After being told of Brady’s death, Drummond’s respect for the man only seems to intensify. Despite Drummond and Brady’s evident past concerning both their old friendship and contrasting views on religion, Drummond still has a fair amount of respect for Brady, and though this does not affect the trial, it does affect the play.
In the play Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the theme is that every person has the right to think. One example of the theme of this play is Rachel's progression towards independent thinking. In the beginning Rachel fears her father greatly. She says, "I remember feeling this way when I was a little girl. . . .But I was always more frightened of him that I was of falling. It's the same way now" (48-49). However, by the end of the book she has grown away from her father, and now has her own opinions and thoughts. Her new growth and acceptance is shown in her statement: "This is your book, Bert. I've read it. All the way through. I don't want to think that men come from apes and monkeys. But I think that's besides the point" (111). A second example of the theme of Inherit the Wind is shown by the way Drummond acts and how frustrated he becomes when he talks to Brady. In the courtroom, Brady says, "A man is on trial!" (64). Drummond is extremely agitated and replies by saying, "A thinking man! And he is threatened with fine and imprisonment because he chooses to speak what he thinks" (64). After their disagreement Drummond states his opinion, by saying, "I am trying to establish, Your Honor, that Howard-or Colonel Brady-or Charles Darwin-or anyone in this courtroom-or you sir-has the right to think!" (64). The theme becomes more apparent throughout the play by the way Cates stands up for and defends himself. At first, Bert Cates is very unsure of himself and is not sure if what he did was correct. Cates questions Drummond as to whether he should stay with the case or give in.
I chose to watch Gone with the Wind for my epic movie. I really enjoyed the movie. Gone with the Wind is about a girl named Scarlett O'Hara is the daughter of an Irish immigrant who in 1861 owns a plantation named Tara in Georgia. Scarlett is infatuated with Ashley Wilkes, who, although attracted to her, marries his cousin, Melanie Hamilton. At the party announcing Ashley's engagement to Melanie, Scarlett meets Rhett Butler, who has a reputation as a rascal. As the Civil War begins, Scarlett accepts a proposal of marriage to a man who she does not love and later dies in war. After the war, Scarlett inherits Tara and manages to keep the place going. When desperate measures take place and Scarlett can’t get money to pay for Tara she marries a wealthy man who later dies attacking the men that assaulted her. After that Rhett confesses his love and they get married, but when things get rough and Scarlett’s true colors appear he packs up and leaves.
Can moral obligations be blinded by religious views? For some, the sense of religious pride reigns stronger than the moral belief. In the beginning, citizens of Hillsboro from the novel Inherit The Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, acknowledged religion as something far more valuable than the moral truth. As the novel continues the prosecuting attorney, Matthew Harrison Brady, enters the scene which reveals the prejudice of the courtroom regarding the case of Bertram Cates. When Brady takes on the challenge, the exposure of excessive pride and boasting of recent cases won can be seen as a certain Dramatic Personality Disorder from a medical standpoint. Throughout the novel, more symptoms of the disorder are revealed through Brady, who continuously proves to have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder or otherwise known as NPD.
The major themes of the book are directly related to the themes which John Demos uses to tell this story. The storyline moves on though the evolution of one theme to the next. The function of these major sections is to allow the reader to relate to John Williams overall state of mind as the story unfold. By implementing these major themes into his work, John Demos make it possible for the reader to fully understand the story from beginning to end.
themes of freedom and restraint, of liberty and slavery, science and myth, knowledge and ignorance. Individual choice
The world can become a slippery slope discussing religion and science. Inherit the Wind takes on the task of showcasing the struggle between religion and evolution. The play places all attention on a trial about whether or not one should be allowed to teach the theory of evolution in the classroom when it goes against the Bible. The case allows for the audience to see the division, and bias, between those present in the court. Brady represents the religious advocate whom receives a warm welcome showing the favoritism of the Hillsboro people for him, and therefore the prosecution in the case. Meanwhile, Drummond the defense is depicted by the townspeople as a ‘devil’, and a source of evil. However, when the reporters and critics roll in from
Inherit The Wind is a story written by Jerome Lawrence along with Robert E. Lee. That fallows the story of a school teacher named Bertram Cate, who is being put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution to his students when it is considered illegal in Tennessee at the time. this leads to a long debate over people’s right to think what the bible states. Now this story containers many characters with very different personalities and traits. The character that connects with me the most is Henry Drummond, who is the attorney for Bert in the case.
In Inherit the Wind, because the teaching of evolution was outlawed in schools, the people of the town and nation feared the knowledge and preferred remaining ignorant. The case revolves around right and wrong, simply and completely, right? Wrong. It is merely a factor in the grand scheme of things, because there are so many things that go into determining if something is morally correct, just as Drummond believes. “Realizing that I may prejudice the case of my client, I must say that "Right" has no meaning to me whatsoever! Truth has a meaning—as a direction. But one of the peculiar imbecilities of our time is the grid of morality we have placed on human behavior: so that every act of man must be measured against an arbitrary latitude of right and longitude of wrong—in exact minutes, seconds, and degrees!” (I,II,74).
A theme has many meanings among literary scholars. The definition of a theme is a recurring message the author is trying to convey. Throughout reading literature, literary critics can identify seven or more themes in a piece. In the two pieces of literature that the class read and analyzed was Antigone by Sophocles and The Divine Comedy: Inferno by Dante. I found one theme that was distinct to me from each of the readings. In Antigone, the theme of State Law vs. Divine Law in particular stood out to me. As for Dante’s The Divine Comedy: Inferno, the theme that stood out to me was God’s Justice on Hell’s Punishments.
Theme is important because of the numerous ways the themes of the story accentuate this idea. One of the themes being that technology controls society. Secondly, characterization is important because of how the author characterizes John and Bernard, making them outcasts that are physically and mentally different from the enslaved society, seeking liberation from it's controlling ways. The way these characters stand out help us to better visualize and understand this idea and how it affects the other, non-unique characters. These elements are key to Aldous Huxley's presentation of the ways that society can be negatively affected by technology that is far too powerful. If impactful technology grows to to level that it is at in this fictional world, eventually society can be so controlled by it that they become like machines themselves, lacking free choice and