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Critical analysis essay on inherit the wind
The theme of inherit the wind
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Inherit the Wind
Inherit the Wind, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, shows the importance of freedom of speech and thought. The conflict in this drama was between the evolutionists and the creationists. Throughout the play every character voices their opinion on their views of evolutionism and creationism, and they explained their point of view. The phrase, inherit the wind, means that anyone who causes trouble and/or problems, anywhere and at anytime, is asking for and causing trouble and/or problems for himself and the community. In the book, Matthew Harrison Brady and Reverend Brown thought Bertram Cates was “inheriting the wind”. When Cates expressed his beliefs and taught Darwin’s theory of evolution, he was arrested and put in jail.
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His determination to teach evolution outweighed his concern about violating the law. Brady and Reverend Brown were characters who expressed that the unconventional ideas of evolution would disrupt the communities creationist views. The conflict between Henry Drummond, Cates defense attorney, and Brady was more than a disagreement between two men and their beliefs, they represented the different views that existed within American society. Unlike Cates who stated his belief in Darwinism, most people in the community were scared to voice their thoughts on evolution. If you have to worry about being arrested because of what you say or think, you might find yourself saying or thinking less and less until you are not saying or thinking anything anymore. Being scared to think was reflected in the book when Rachel Brown, the reverend’s daughter, said, “You see, I haven’t really thought very much. I was always afraid of what I might think—so it seemed safer not to think at all. But now I know. A thought is like a child inside our body. It has to be born. If it dies inside you, part of you dies too!” (124). Fear of expressing what you truly believe had taken over the community of Hillsboro. Rachel shares with Cates and Drummond how she felt restricted on what she could
E.K. Hornbeck through his language in “Inherit the Wind” (1955) tries to show the town of Hillsboro the way that their thoughts are harmful and wrong. Hornbeck backs that up by using a sarcastic tone to show them how ridiculous they are being, by using metaphors and similies to give the citizens context from the outside world that they might not always consider due to their closed mindedness, and by using syntax to prove that he is better than them and making himself and his views credible. His purpose is to get the town to change their viewpoint so they can see that they need to move forward with the time. He establishes a superior relationship with his audience of small town people with narrow viewpoints who need to learn to be more accepting.
Firstly, in the town of Hillsboro teaching the theory of evolution to students was strictly against the law. Bert Cates was in opposition to this idea and, he believed that every student had the right to know about the Origin of species. Teaching the theory of evolution was against the law because it contradicted the teachings
John Scopes, a substitute biology teacher was arrested and charged with violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee law which prohibited teachers from teaching the Darwin Theory of Evolution in a science-related course. The American Civil Liberties Union created a plan to find a teacher willing to teach evolution in order to test the Butler Act, which forbade the essence that anyone teaching any theory that shunned the Biblical story of creationism. Scopes agreed to be arrested and have the case be taken to court. However, Scopes had simply reviewed the textbook chapter on evolution. The traditionalists would see this as a threat to their interests and the issue hit the country stronger than a tornado. Everyone was glued to their radios—it was the first broadcasted radio trial--except the campers and hundreds of reporters near the Dayton, Tennessee courthouse. Traditionalists would be outraged by the appearance of speakeasies, flappers, illegal boozing, popular activities of the Roaring Twenties and especially the Darwinian Theory. Their strong Christian beliefs from the Holy Bible stated how God created the world and man and woman. A traditionalist’s beliefs would not accept the idea of evolution because the Bible said that Man did not evolve but was created by God—the Divine Creation in one day.
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.
Charles Darwin, the Father of Evolution, was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution, transforming the thinking of the entire world about the living things around us (Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)). After working on his theory for nearly 20 years, he published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. As soon as the book was released, the controversy began with each sides gaining followers until the climax on July 10, 1925. The idea that animals could “evolve” and change into new species, including humans, was one that challenged not only how people thought about the natural world, but challenged the story of the creation from the Bible itself. Even though Darwin himself never said that humans “evolved” from apes, everyone took it as a logical extension of his new theory. It went against the idea of argument for design that had unified theology and science for decades (Moran 5). This new threat to Christianity and the social culture of the time was one that would transform state laws on their educational curriculum.
Litwack explains how he obtained certain information in the acknowledgements section. He was able to find information through archives, many of which contained personal narratives that he was then able to weave into Trouble in Mind. Litwack does not overwhelm the reader by bombarding them with countless sources. Instead, he uses a handful of experiences in each chapter that directly respond to the theme. In the chapter “Baptisms,” Litwack explores the black youth experience. He takes a few sources and expands on their narratives, allowing the reader to make connections to the overall message. In addition, Litwack utilizes personal accounts from prominent figures throughout Trouble in Mind, such as Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Ida B. Wells. For the reader who has basic knowledge of history, they should recognize these names quite easily. Litwack communicated that this story does not solely affect the average black southerner, but all black southerners—even those who are in the
John Thomas Scopes, a math teacher and football coach for Rhea County High School in Dayton, Tennessee, was pressured into taking the challenge by a friend, George Rappleyea, who saw the advertisement. With the school’s biology teacher out for the last two weeks of class, Scopes took over and began teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Soon after, he was arrested and charged with a violation of the Butler Act. Contrary to popular understanding, the worst punishment for this crime was a small fine.
Darwin began to explore the changes that happen on the earth and develop his theories of evolution, though Charles did not completely endorse Darwin’s theory of evolution. Lyell was a devout Christian and Darwin’s theory of evolution did not line up with Lyell’s beliefs about natural selection. Darwin continued his research and beliefs of his own and became a scientist working with his theories of evolution. Charles Lyell was born on November 14, 1797 in Kinnordy, Scotland. Charles was the oldest of 10 children and his father, whose name was also Charles, was a lawyer and a botanist.
In 1925, a teacher named John T Scopes was arrested for teaching the Theory of Evolution as this contradicted religion and their beliefs that God created the world.
Gang violence has been an issue within the United States since the colonization in the late 1400s. Although gang violence has always been around, larger more organized factions began arising in the 17th century. Today, according to youthinfo.gov more than 700,000 youth were treated in the ER for gang related incidents. While many actions have been taken against gang related, not all seem effective. While very interesting on how people are drawn into gangs, our government must implement more strict measurements against the clans of hooligans.
Maya Angelou once advised, “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.” However, in Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s Inherit the Wind, one journalist, E.K. Hornbeck, is intent on challenging and ridiculing his surroundings rather than reflecting upon his own moral footing. While the play’s plotline, an allegory of the 1925 Scopes’ Trial, follows the religious town of Hillsboro as a schoolteacher, Bert Cates, goes on trial for teaching evolution to his class, contemptuous E.K. Hornbeck– a journalist from The Baltimore Herald and also arguably Lawrence and Lee’s only static personality– arrives to provide heavily biased, primo-geneticist commentary on the trial. Hornbeck’s intolerance, superiority complex, and flippant humor display evolutionists’ unwillingness to change their beliefs.
The impact these men had on religious thought was tremendous. Some of them are the starting points for many of the controversies existing today. Of all the scientists, historians, and philosophers in the nineteenth century, the most influential and controversial was Charles Darwin. Born in 1809, Charles Darwin always had an interest in the nature, so he chose to study botany in college. His strengths in botany led him to become the naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle. On a trip to South America, he and the rest of the crew visited the near by Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It was there he noticed many different variations of the same general plants and birdshe saw previously in South America. He also observed ancient fossils of extinct organisms that closely resembled modern organisms. By 1859, all of these observations inspired him to write down his theories. He wanted to explain how evolution had occurred through a process called natural selection. In his published work, On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, or On the Origin of Species for short, Darwin stated that, "new species have come on the stage slowly and at successive intervals."(1) He also said, "old forms are supplanted by new and improved forms," and all organisms play a part in the "struggle for life.
The wind is given human traits since the first chapter of the novel. Father sees the wind as a person- a person with a warning. Although he knows what the wind says, he continuously disobeys it when it warns him to “Go home to your house and fire. Go home” (3). At this point, the wind becomes a symbol for all that is uncertain and unknown in the novel; the wind warns him about the bowman that would shoot his arm with a poisonous arrow. This aspect of the wind stands out in The Gift of Stones as one of the many times that the characters do not head to the wind. Father has imagined himself as a horseman in one of his stories- a horseman who gets to be with Doe. Attempting to live out his fantasy in reality only angers the wind. Once again, it alerts Father that he should simply turn away and go back to his village of realism. He retains his dream, however, and is only awoken by Doe, herself, stating that they must “talk” (90). By staying in the heath, Father is exposed to the horsemen he imagines in his dreams and himself, Daughter, and Doe are all threatened. One of the many versions of Doe’s death leads her on the path walking to the marketplace, in spite of the wind blowing at her back telling her to “Go home” (147). The warnings of the wind are not only in reality, but also in Father’s imagination; it shows that the wind has manifested itself deep into father’s storytelling
Throughout history, there have been many examples of governments and societies controlling their citizens. Inherit the Wind, by Robert Edwin Lee, fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” trial, as a means to discuss the then-contemporary McCarthy trials. This can be seen as the concepts of intellectualism and oppression can be witnessed in both trials. In the Scopes “Monkey” trial, ideas are being oppressed through ignorance towards evolution. In connection with this, people were being persecuted during the McCarthy trials because they had contradicting political views.
He had risked demolishing his reputation just so he can express his thoughts and beliefs. Stating your opinion to a town full of hard headed people who are not willing to change or progress takes courage. In the text it states “I had the book in my hand, Hunter’s Civic Biology. I opened it up and read my sophomore science class Chapter 17, Darwin’s Origin of Species” (8). This shows that Cates was unique and different among the people of Hillsboro. He believed in evolution opposed to the townspeople who accepted and understood creationism. Many people often embrace other people’s beliefs to fit in. To go against everyone’s acceptance and view is a very courageous thing to do. In life preserving individuality and standing out is crucial. Regularly, tension is confronted and the horror of becoming an outsider of society so people tend to cave in. Cates took action and dared himself to go against everyone’s beliefs. He explicitly set and presented his thoughts to his classroom. He has showed each and every person that he is not scared to fight for what he believes in and he is not going to