In The Heat Of The Night Character Analysis

Should people make assumptions on the character traits of outsiders?

Appearances both mask and reveal the characters. Sometime a rough and tough exterior gives way to reveal a gentle and loving heart. In some novels the appearances of some characters remain relatively fixed throughout the novel, while others undergo subtle and drastic changes that force us to question. Do appearances deceive, reveal or confuse? Do characters speech and actions contrast with their appearances? People are judged by outside looks appearances and no one is stopping to promote stops promoting this myth. Discrimination also can be seen in the novel In the Heat of the Night by John Ball, where the words and appearance do not match with the personality

of characters. Hence people should not make assumptions on the character traits of outsiders and their background proving that appearances can be deceiving. Because one’s willingness to work is not based on their appearance and physical appearance does not tell one about the person's past and education.
From the appearance of various characters one can not tell if those characters are willing to work or not.

This thing can be seen in the characters of Virgil Tibbs, Sam and Ralph. At one place Gillespie exploded “Still examining the body! What the hell is he trying to do, find out how a man died who was hit over the head enough to break his skull?” (Ball 27). This quote tells us about important feature of Virgil Tibbs that he was a very hard working homicide investigator. He kept on examining the dead body although it was not his duty. At that time Gillespie thought that negroes can never be able to do this task and he was getting furious over Tibbs, because Virgil was doing something which was not assigned to him. For Gillespie it was a simple thing to catch the suspect but for Tibbs, the case of murder requires a lot of effort. He was putting his soul and his blood into it. Therefore, it proves that although Virgil Tibbs was a negro and Gillespie did not like negroes. But still Virgil was willing to work proving that appearances can be deceiving. Furthermore, the appearances were deceiving in the case of Sam Wood. It can be seen in this quote where John Ball says, “ He wanted to leave, but when he half started to rise, he remembered that he had offered to stay on duty and that he had not received an answer” (Ball 28). In this quote it can be seen that Sam is willing to work for longer hours. He has been working whole night and he need to go home and sleep in morning.

But being the murder case so sensitive issue, he could not go home as ordered by Bill Gillespie. It was not his work time, even then he stayed there. It shows that Sam Wood was ready to put extra effort to solve this case proving that outer looks are not always revealing. In addition to that Virgil Tibbs character was another proof of hard work and dedication, which can not be seen from the very appearance of him. Virgil Tibbs says, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ride with you tonight.”(Ball 88) This quote shows Tibbs dedication. He was dealing with the case of murder with full zeal and zest. He was very confident of his ability to meet all the challenges. He wanted to see all angles of the dead body to solve the case of murder. He was willing to ride all night with Sam Wood, to see the whole track on which Sam patrols. He proved with his hard work that even negroes can do anything and everything what whites can do. Hence proving that outer looks and appearance do not tell us about the abilities of people. Sometimes slim people are strong from within and Ralph is one of such personalities.It can be seen where author says, “The night courtman was a thin nineteen-year-old whose too long arms thrust below the cuffs of his soiled shirt…, his sharp bony face still showed the signs of acne, his lower lip hung slightly open.” (Ball 4) Appearances are totally deceiving in case of Ralph. It is hard to digest that a thin nineteen-years old boy can commit a serious crime of murder. It does not go with Ralph’s personality. The murder seems to be done by a very muscular man. He was thin and bony from outside but from within, he was hard as rock. He was very smart and tricky to have planned the situation of murder and then to carry it out. Even for a professional homicide investigator, it took a long time until he could came to a conclusion that Ralph is the real murderer. It shows that although he was physically weak but emotionally he was so strong that he was willing to do a crime and he did it. Hence proving that physical image of a person can mislead others. Therefore it can not be said that how much a person is willing to work by looking at their outer personality.

Sometimes character’s impression contrast with their actual personality and background.

Person’s education can not be seen from their physical appearance.This is evident in Tibbs explanation of dead body where Tibbs Says, “It was evident that the fatal blow had been struck by a blunt instrument at an angle of about seventeen degrees from the right as the skull is viewed from the rear. That makes it almost certain that the assailant was right-handed.” (Ball 34). This quote shows that Virgil Tibbs was very confident and sure of the decisions and judgements he makes. This confidence was the result of his education. He has gained full training and was well-aware of how to catch the murderer and what things should be considered while investigating. He knew that Mr Mantoli was attacked from the back at seventeen degree angle, and to attack in this way the assailant would be right handed. He has learnt all this from his training, education and experience. On the contrary Gillespie can not differentiate between the murderer and the suspect. Hence this quote stands strongly in favor of the fact that character traits of people should not be assumed on the basis of their education and background. In addition, this theme can also be seen in another quote of Virgil Tibbs where Pete says, “Confirm Virgil Tibbs member Pasadena Police Department past ten years. Present rank investigator. Specialist homicide, other major crimes. Reputation excellent. Advise if his services needed your

area.” (Ball 23). This quote proves Ball’s point of view that anyone can do anything irrelevant of their education and background. It shows that Tibbs was a very professional man. He has studied to get this post which was acknowledge by Pasadena police department. He was advised by his officer that he is a specialist homicide investigator, his reputation is excellent. Hence he would be an asset to help solve this case of murder. From the very appearance it was not expected from Tibbs personality to be so educated to get important clues of murderer. It was a great shock for Gillespie and Sam that a negro can be an educated and well-trained person. This proves that one cannot judge others education by their outlook. Similarly by thinking about Sam Wood as a cop the picture that comes to our mind is that he would be a well educated and well trained person. In chapter one, John Ball says, “Sam had not had any special course of training for his job...But as instructed, he had studied the civic, county, and state codes”(Ball 8). Sam was trying to remember what he has read about dead bodies. Although he has not taken any course which can tell him how to catch the murdered. Yet he is trying to catch the murderer. His appearance was deceiving. It seems that being a policeman, he knows all the regulations of police department but it was not like this. Yet he was dealing with the case of murder very professionally. Then he went to Mantoli’s house very confidently as if he is managing this case of murder. Despite the fact that he did not had any education before but still he is willing to work hard in his profession, showing that physical appearance does not tell one about the person’s past and education. Thus people should not belief that one’s past and education is based on their appearance. Doleras Purdy is a strong proof of contrasting personality where appearance do not align with characteristics. “Doleras Purdy is eighteen years old; she passes for sixteen so she will not be behind the point where she should be.”(Ball 151) She was two grades behind from where she should be. She and her family lack intellectual level and had no educational background. Although she was not well educated yet. She accused Sam of seducing her. She was not afraid of telling a lie. The way she talks shows that she was lacking in education. This demonstrates that Purdy’s outer image was in contrast to her education and background. Thus one should not judge others from their outer looks because education and background are very skin deep and not superficial characteristics.

In all these characters it can be seen that their appearances do not tell one about what a person really is. Hence people should not assume about anyone from the looks and background. From the outer personality no one can guess about other person's willingness to work. Furthermore, the looks can not be a clue towards person’s background. Characters keep on changing . Although some characters are flat but this novel have round characters. In addition, John Ball has very skillfully portrayed the idea of discrimination throughout the novel “In the heat of the night”. Therefore, assumptions should not be made by only looking at the people’s surface appearance because appearances can be deceiving.