Inherit the Wind - Why a Classic

Inherit the Wind is said to be a classic book. Do I agree with this statement, yes I do. Inherit the Wind has stood the test of time. It was written in 1951 as a playwright. Many people from all over have read and performed this great work. Inherit the Wind has a solid thesis behind it, you don't have to win to influence society. This book brings about a good topic and teaches a valuable lesson to keep standing up for what you believe in no matter what it is that you are thinking, you still have the freedom to think. Inherit the Wind also brought in the reality of life with its message. The man on trial, Bertram Cates, didn't technically win his trial, but with a bias judge and jury you would expect this in real life. Life isn't a fairy tale that everything magically just falls into place. But because of the case the town was influenced and this is where the theme ties in. Inherit the Wind was not a very long book but it had a lot of quality in it which makes this book a classic through out time and the analysis of people.

Character Growth - Rachael Brown

Rachael Brown was an uptight and conservative girl. She was the daughter of the preacher in town, who was the man who basically ran the town. Rachael had mixed feeling from the very beginning, she was in love with Cates, the one on trial for teaching science in the school system. Rachael could be considered to be an archetypal character of an innocent embarking on a journey. Through this innocent love of Cates and the his trial she gained enough courage to repel against her father. The town trial made her realize that she did have the right to think and act, and by the end of it all she stepped out against her father and left with her love, the "devil" science teacher. She was put in her uncomfortable situations with the fued against her father and her love, and she was even put on trial to testify against Cates. Yes, she was more of an innocent embarking on o journey with more of a mental journey than anything, but she still falls under this archetypal character.

Inherit the Wind Summary

Inherit the Wind took place in a small tow called Hillsboro. It was a very religios town where all teachings in school systems were based on the bible. That was everything thing that people ever knew and it was an extravagant sin to actually think. This happened to be in the time frame though where Darwin's theory was beginningto scatter itself through out the world. And a younger teacher in the system at Hillsboro started a new revolution in the town and taught his students using the Darwin theory instead of the bible. This upset the town and people accused him of being associated with the devil and they but him in court to testify against him. The town paid to have this great lawyer,Mathew Harrison Brady, who ran for president three times and didn't get it any of the times but, he was also a very "godly" man. The towns people got exited and thought for sure they would win the trial with out any trouble , but little did they know a lawyer from Chicago, Henry Dummond, was coming to represent This teacher, Cates. Drummond was an awesome lawyer as well, but the towns people made him to be the devil, especially the peacher, head man of the town, Reverand Brown. But of course there was a twist to this, the reverand's daughter, Rachael, was in love with Cates. When they started the trials finally a student as questioned and Rachael was questioned, but she didn't want to be. This ended up proving that Cates was in fact teaching different than bible studies, but Drummond was on a mission to prove that this wasn't a bad thing and that people should know about this and have the right to think about htese kind of things due to free will. Drummond tried to get scientists on the stand but the judge was bias and didn't allow it, so finally Drummond ran out of witnesses but he managed to get his opponent, Brady, on the stand. Drummond ended up influencing the jury and the crowd by usung references of the bible and comparing it to real science. Drummond and Cates worked the crowd and Mr. Brady and actually made them think. In the end technically Brady won the trail, he also ended up dying, but Drummond and Cates influenced the town and got their case bumped up to a federal trial. They won in their hearts by loosening the grounds on which they stood on and helping those similar trials in the future. And in the end Rachael and Cates decided to leave the town together, the trial gave Rachael the courage to stand up to her father, and leave. And Henry Drummond wasn't revealed to be the devil everyone thought. He still knew and believed in the bible but he fought for the cause of the case, the right to think.

First Post

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Inherit the Wind, Publication Date: Sep. 1955, Presentation Date: Friday, Feb. 20