Final writting Exam

Inherit the Wind

Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee

To this day, freedom of speech and of thought are still not permitted in many countries around the world. Not so long ago, the law in the United States of America seemed to prohibit it as well. In 1925, the prosecution of a high school teacher for teaching evolutionism to his class, an action that went against the the Butler Act which made it criminal “to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals”, drew a lot of media attention. This trial was and is considered a major turning point in the American creation-evolution controversy; thirty years later, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee based their play “Inherit the Wind”on it, illustrating the importance of freedom of speech and not necessarily who is in the right or wrong.

Firstly, to understand the significance of some of the final statements that are made in this play, you must know a little about the characters and their views. Bertram Cates is a young man who teaches biology in a small town high-school; he does not seem to be have any strong religious or scientific view, but he appears to question things that others take for granted. When he is arrested for teaching evolutionism to his class, he doesn’t bow down to the law and pretend he didn’t question Creationism; he stands up for what could be possibly be, with the help of Henry Drummond. This key character, a defence lawyer from Chicago, represents Cates opinion throughout the trial, by arguing for freedom of thought. He, like Cates is not a “believer” of creationism or evolutionism, he simply is fighting for human progress. The next character of whom it is important to understand the views, is Matthew Harrison Brady. This man unlike Cates, is one who has a very strong Faith in the Lord and does not want to hear anything about other theories or hypothesis about the origins of the Universe. He judges himself as quite a knowledgeable man when it comes to the Bible, and believes every word in it in a literal way. He receives an enormous amount of support from the people of the town from beginning to end of the play, because they voted for him in all the elections he participated in. E.K. Hornbeck is a character that holds a very important part in the final scene of the play who despises Brady’s religious fundamentalism and the way the townspeople accept Brady’s views. Nevertheless, both Brady and Cates’ opinions are what seem to create the main issue throughout the play.

Now that you know the basic facts about the antagonist and protagonists beliefs, we can proceed with the final statements that resume the theme of this play. Since I do not have access to the play itself I cannot cite but, I will do my best to paraphrase as accurately as possible. When the trial is over and Cates has “lost” , Brady has a heart attack and dies; at that moment, the focus of the play shifts to a conversation between Hornbeck and Drummond. Hornbeck makes some wisecrack about how the world is better off without another fundamentalist and Drummond answers that he had as much right to his beliefs as anyone else. Hornbeck reacts to Drummond’s answer by saying that he is a hypocrite and that he is no better than Brady. The final comment that Drummond makes is what holds together the whole meaning of the play: It does not matter what you think as long as you do not impose that thought on others and let them think freely.

Words: 600

Merry Christmas M. Bonkowski!!!!