In Inherit the Wind Henry Drummond believed that his client, Bert Cates, had a right to his opinions, but more importantly that he had a basic right to the expression of these opinions. At that time, his teachings violated the Butler Act. This act prohibited public school teachers from teaching evolution in class. Cates believed that perhaps “man wasn’t just stuck here,” but that man changed over time and not “in seven days” (Lawrence and Lee 12). Cates wanted his students to establish their own beliefs based on their opinions and not follow the accepted opinion and law.
Matthew Harrison Brady, the prosecuting attorney, defended the Butler Act and its fundamentalist views. Brady accepted the Bible literally and stated, “everything in the
The town in Dayton, Tennessee was both religious and stable. People in this town were seen holding signs marked with the command to “Read Your Bible” (Ginger 93). The inhabitants here had adopted the teachings of the Bible in order to feel secure within a time of change. “In rural areas, particularly in the South and Midwest, Americans turned to their faith for comfort and stability” (Scopes 12). The town would hold on to what they knew. People in Dayton had no desire to travel forward with the roaring twenties. William Jennings Bryan was the leading defender of the Butler Law as well as heading the prosecution.
Both being the challengers they are, they have their own sneaky antics to take what you said and contradict what you had said earlier; thus being great lawyers. "...everything that is in the bible should be accepted, exactly as it is given there" was something that Brady had mentioned, when put up on the stand and questioned by Drummond. But later Drummond questioned the idea of god
The Scopes Monkey Trial was a beginning of independent thought throughout the country. After the trial, it stayed on the books until a 1967 Supreme Court Case overturned the Butler Act and declared it unconstitutional. In the end, evolution can finally be taught; students can examine the research that Charles Darwin did and understand why Darwin came to his belief in evolution. People can study this and decide for themselves.
The Catcher in the Rye Holden Gets Influenced Everyone gets influenced by someone, even heroes do. The Catcher in the Rye, a novel written by J. D. Salinger, talks about Holden Caulfield, a 16 year old boy that is trying to live through his problems. Holden tries to learn from his experiences as well as from the ones of others. He goes through many hard times, but he always takes them as a chance to imagine how it could have ended if he had done something about them or what cold had happened if he was not so “yellow”.
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 a tiny courtroom in the county of Dayton Tennessee, the jury settled into their seats, ready to return the verdict in the most controversial case of the 1920’s, the scopes “monkey” trial. Up to this point, the trial itself had been a media spectacle; the lawyers, the witnesses, even the defendant had become media icons in the commercialism of the twenties. The trial itself was set up to be a media demonstration to challenge the constitutionality of the butler act. This act prohibited the teaching of “any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the bible,” and in particular, the theory of evolution. the American civil liberties union petitioned for a teacher to challenge this statute; john Thomas scopes, the local high school track coach and science teacher accepted the challenge and stood trial for teaching evolution the previous spring. Over the course of the trial Charles Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, the attorneys on the case, debated each other profusely. Eventually Bryan even testified to the truth of the biblical story, even though he was massacred by Darrow upon examination. Despite all that the trial stood for, the most lasting aspect of the trial was that it brought the media into the courtroom, and the courtroom into the daily life of the American citizen.
“Chapter 3” of No Promises in the Wind begins with the author, Irene Hunt, placing Josh and Joey in complete bewilderment. Unfortunately, they have just lost their comrad, friend, and brother, Howie. Attempting to leave the train, Howie lost his life trying to give his banjo to Josh. Dying right in front of his best, and only friend, was an event that Josh would remember for the rest of his life. Grieving, Josh and Joey do not know what they are going to do without their buddy, for without his optomistic attitude or talented musical skills they lost faith in themselves.
the right to teach the children of the public a totally false explanation on the origins and
Early in his career, Drummond defended two teenage child murderers and helped them escape their consequences. Due to this act, he entered Dayton surrounded by strong feelings of hatred. After his scientists were refused a spot on the stand, Drummond was enraged. Henry decided to put Matthew Harrison Brady on the stand to question him. “I call to the stand one of the world’s foremost experts on the Bible and its teachings – Matthew Harrison Brady” he insisted (Lawrence and Lee 82). After Cate’s verdict was announced, Drummond appealed it, causing it to be sent to a higher court. All these actions resemble the same activities of Clarence Darrow during the Scopes Trial. Clarence Darrow was frowned upon because of his success while taking on the teenage murderer’s situation. When he put William Jennings Bryan on stand, the crowd was shocked by his unorthodox action, but he knew exactly what he was doing. “On the seventh day of the trial, on a platform outside the Dayton, Tennessee courthouse, he called William Jennings Bryan to the stand as an expert on the Bible” (“People & Events” 1). His plan worked, allowing him to reduce the sentence to a reasonable consequence, but he was still unhappy about the verdict. He requested that the case be taken to a higher court in hopes of reversing the outcome. All in all, Henry’s actions are a near mirror image of Clarence’s.
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.
Since the time that teaching evolution in public schools was banned as heresy and taboo for contradicting the Bible, most public school systems today take an opposite approach in which creationism is seldom ta...
evidence and the right of a condemned man to ask for testing.("A.B. Butler").He was exonerated by
The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, interacts with many people throughout J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, but probably none have as much impact on him as certain members of his immediate family. The ways Holden acts around or reacts to the various members of his family give the reader a direct view of Holden's philosophy surrounding each member.
simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.” (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU, tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from all over to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet, below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning.
Inherit the Wind is about a 24-year-old teacher named Bertram T. Cates, who is arrested for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution to his junior high-class. Some high-profile Hillsboro town’s people press charges and have Cates arrested for teaching evolutionism in a stringent Christian town. A famous lawyer named Henry Drummond defends him; while a fundamentalist politician Matthew Harrison Brady prosecutes. The story takes place in Hillsboro, which is a small town in Tennessee. Cates is merely trying to teach to his class that there is more to life than just what the Bible teaches. He is not trying to be nonreligious; rather he is just teaching his class to think outside the box. The town’s people think that Cates is trying to push devilish thoughts through evolutionism.