First Impressions Are Not Always Correct

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It takes more than a casual “hello” down the hallway to truly know a person. It is actually very difficult, and takes time, to know someone on a personal level. As human beings we often base our perceptions of people off of what we have heard. In Inherit the Wind Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee show us why these perceptions are usually inaccurate. They show us that once you put aside the rumors and look into a person’s heart, you may be stunned. Towards the beginning of the book we were introduced to Cates. He was made out to be this terrible criminal. The reader was given this first impression automatically. While on the other hand, Brady goes in and steals the show. He was what we call an “idol” to the public. Cates, a school teacher, was put into jail for reading out of Darwin’s Origin of Species. This was against the law in Hillsboro. The people of Hillsboro did not want their children hearing anything other than what was “preached” to them. The town was brainwashed by these ideas that they truly knew nothing about. The “Monkey Trial” was about to begin. The lawyers were en...

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