Inherit The Wind Literary Analysis

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As the motivational speaker Rob Liano says, “Knowledge on its own is nothing, but the application of useful knowledge, now that is powerful.” Agree or not, but in the novel Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the application of knowledge leads the city of Hillsboro to accept the unprecedented ideas which they quickly oppose due to the conflict with their religious principles. Bertram Cates, a school teacher, is on trial for teaching evolution to his class, and the closely-knit Christian community of Hillsboro strictly opposes any theory that questions the Bible’s legitimacy. The infamous defense attorney, Henry Drummond, defends Cates and Matthew Harrison Brady, who is a firm believer in Christianity and three time presidential …show more content…

Throughout the trial, Henry Drummond uses his adroitness to convince the people of Hillsboro to let go of their partisan views by explaining the flaws in Matthew Harrison Brady’s arguments. After the Judge rejects Drummond’s evolution experts for witnesses, as a last resort, Drummond calls, “... to the stand one of the world’s foremost experts on the Bible and its teachings- Matthew Harrison Brady! (There is an uproar in the courtroom. The judge raps for order)” (Lawrence and Lee 84). Even though all of Drummond’s witness requests were denied, his cleverness helps him to achieve his primary goal of defending the right for people to think what they please. By doing so, there is an increase in the townspeople concurrence …show more content…

“The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool” (50). Drummond addresses the fact that he is aware of the towns partisan views made prior to the beginning of the trial. This opens up the idea that having opinions that are unwilling to change only lead to oblivion to reality. This encourages the community to drop whatever opinions they have made before the trial and to be open-minded towards new ideas. Brady exhausts the fact that the Bible and its teachings are more important than any other creation theory. Drummond strongly disagrees and

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