Jake Brigance is a local attorney who has been thrown into the midst of a legal battle of an estate settlement. His character plays a major role in this novel. After losing his home, his secretary, and even his dog because of an earlier racially fueled fire, Jake finds himself embroiled in another fierce trial that could possibly divide the small town of Clanton, Mississippi. He has been given the job of defending a handwritten will “to the bitter end.” Racial tensions were still high in the eighties, especially in small southern towns like Clanton, Mississippi. Jake has to figure out how to win his case without causing a race war in the town he loves.
Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man, worth millions, who is dying of lung cancer. Although he has children and grandchildren, they rarely visit him during his illness. Because of their lack of concern for him, Hubbard decides to rewrite his will leaving them none of his fortune. After hanging himself from a sycamore tree because of the pain his cancer is causing, the new will is received by local attorney Jake Brigance with a request to do everything possible to ensure the handwritten will is executed. To everyone’s surprise, the new will names Hubbard’s black maid, Lettie Lang as the primary beneficiary. As the story unfolds, it is apparent that Hubbard is righting a wrong that happened decades earlier.
Lettie Lang is a poor black woman who has been a maid most of her adult life. She is married to an alcoholic who has never held a steady job. Her home is busting at the seams because her children, grandchildren, and mother are all living in Lettie’s small dwelling. Lettie is devastated when she learns of Hubbard’s suicide, because once again she finds herself unemployed. Little does she ...
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... grandfather being beaten and hanged from a sycamore tree. As the novel proceeds and more information is uncovered, reasons behind Hubbard’s decision to make Lettie his primary heir become clear – Hubbard’s deep need to make amends for something he had no control over as a child.
I would recommend this book to others because it shows the unity and division of small town life. Being from a small town myself, I can relate to how issues are played out in our communities before any official judgments are passed. I feel that I most identify with Jake Brigance because he has a desire to see justice served in the most honorable manner. Even the poorest of humanity deserve to be represented to the best of one’s ability. This novel is evidence of my opinion that small towns are great to live in and the majority of people join together to help their neighbors in time of need.
The beginning of Janie’s marriage to Joe shows promise and adventure, something that young Janie is quickly attracted to. She longs to get out of her loveless marriage to Logan Killicks and Joe’s big dreams captivate Janie. Once again she hopes to find the true love she’s always dreamed of. Joe and Janie’s life is first blissful. He gives her whatever she wants and after he becomes the mayor of a small African American town called Eatonville, they are the most respected couple in town. Joe uses his newfound power to control Janie. When she is asked to make a speech at a town event, she can’t even get out a word before Joe denies her the privilege. He starts making her work in the store he opens and punishes her for any mistakes she makes. He enjoys the power and respect her gets when o...
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
The story also focuses in on Ruth Younger the wife of Walter Lee, it shows the place she holds in the house and the position she holds to her husband. Walter looks at Ruth as though he is her superior; he only goes to her for help when he wants to sweet talk his mama into giving him the money. Mama on the other hand holds power over her son and doesn’t allow him to treat her or any women like the way he tries to with Ruth. Women in this story show progress in women equality, but when reading you can tell there isn’t much hope and support in their fight. For example Beneatha is going to college to become a doctor and she is often doubted in succeeding all due to the fact that she is black African American woman, her going to college in general was odd in most people’s eyes at the time “a waste of money” they would say, at least that’s what her brother would say. Another example where Beneatha is degraded is when she’s with her boyfriend George Murchison whom merely just looks at her as arm
One's identity is a very valuable part of their life, it affects the Day to day treatment others give them which can lead to how the individual feels emotionally. Atticus, defending Tom Robinson, who is an african american man from the plaintiff of the case, Mayella Ewell, who is a caucasian woman, accusing that Tom raped her is supposivly a lob sided case. During the great depression, any court session that contained a person of color against a caucasian would always contain the “white” individual winning the case. The cause of the bias outcome comes from the lawyer of the african american does not try to defend or the jury goes against the person of color simply because their black, this shows the effect of racism to anyone’s identity in the courtroom for a case simply because of race. Atticus, deciding to take Tom Robinson’s case seriously sacrifices his identity as the noble man he is, to being called many names for this action, such as “nigger lover”. He is questioned by
He discusses LaJoe's parents, how they met and married and why they moved to Horner. He depicts LaJoe as an extremely kind-hearted yet tough woman who will do anything to help not only her own family, but all the neighborhood children as well. LaJoe feeds and cares for many of the neighborhood children. For this, she is rare and special in an environment of black mothers who are prostitutes and drug addicts. She sticks by her children when most mothers would be ashamed and disown them.
...courage to survive in the world. On the other hand, her portrayal of marriage and the black family appears to be negative. Marriage is seen as a convenient thing—as something that is expected, but not worth having when times get rough. At least this is what Lutie’s and Jim’s marriage became. The moral attributes that go along with marriage do not seem to be prevalent. As a result, because marriage and the black family are seen as the core of the black community, blacks become more divided and begin to work against themselves—reinforcing among themselves the white male supremacy. Instead of being oppressed by another race or community, blacks oppress themselves. Petry critiques these issues in the black community and makes them more applicable to our lives today. These issues still exist, but we fail to realize them because of our advancement in society today.
"Actually when its that darky being the litigant?" a more youthful voice asked. I turned around to see Nick Leonard. He was an adolescent newcomer to Maycomb. He had just been here a few months. He had short, wavy tan hair, grass green eyes, and he had a tall, brawny figure. He has a wife, Jennifer and one-year-old kid, Dylan, and they live about five miles from this very court house. He and his family are pleasant people, and nobody truly loathes them. The main quality I despise about him is that he was the fastest to judge each and every individual in Maycomb. His early introduction from what I review about Tom Robinson w...
...ecommend this book because out of the many books I have this is one of my favorites. This book has been credited not only by me but famous organizations, for example the National Observer said “What it’s like to live lonely and unwanted and cornered by circumstance… There is rawness and violence here, but honest hope, too. Another example is the, The Chicago Tribune which stated “Taut with tension, filled with drama.” This book relates to the world and life of especially teenagers because today there are social classes like the popular kids, the cool ones, and the nerds. All of these groups have their own social status and they don’t relate to each much like the Greasers and Socs didn’t relate to each other a lot. Then there are some people like Ponyboy who a part of a certain group but they don’t fit in because they are different and their own self or an outsider.
Leta lived no ordinary childhood. She faced many hardships after her mother’s death; one being the disappearance of her father, leaving his children with their mothers parents. Hollingworth grew up on her grandparent’s farm until her father returned ten years later to reclaim his daughters. Leta’s father, now re-married to a woman named Fanny Berling, forced his children to live with their soon to be stepmother in Valentine, Nebraska. Berling was both verbally and physically abusive towards her stepchildren due to alcoholism being common amongst her family (Silverman, 1992). At the young age of 15, Leta graduated Valentine high school where she escaped and started a new life at the University of Nebraska.
Miss Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan returned back home to Jackson, Mississippi from graduating from Old Miss. When Skeeter returned home after graduation she finds her maid and Nanny Constantine had left and no one would tell her why. Skeeter tries to please her mother by being a proper southern lady but in all actuality she just wants to be a writer. While joining in the local bridge games with young married women Skeeter cornered the Leefolt’s maid, Aibileen, to ask her what happened to her maid Constantine but Aibileen claims she knows nothing. Skeeter searched and searched for a writing job before and after she moved back home. During her search she finds the path for white women seems just as narrowly defined as the path for black maids. Skeeter finally receives a job with the Jackson Journal writing the Miss Myrna column, a housekeeping advice column. Skeeter asked Aibileen to help with some of the question and Aibileen agreed because Skeeter knew nothing about housekeeping. Aibileen and Skeeter built a bond with each other put of course they had to keep it secret because back then
Already in the first chapter, the reader begins to gain a sense of the horrors that have taken place. Like the ghost, the address of the house is a stubborn reminder of its history. The characters refer to the house by its number, 124. These digits highlight the absence of Sethe’s murdered third child. As an institution, slavery shattered its victims’ traditional family structures, or else precluded such structures from ever forming. Slaves were thus deprived of the foundations of any identity apart from their role as servants. Baby Suggs is a woman who never had the chance to be a real mother, daughter, or sister. Later, we learn that neither Sethe nor Paul D knew their parents, and the relatively long, six-year marriage of Halle and Sethe is an anomaly in an institution that would regularly redistribute men and women to different farms as their owners deemed necessary.
After learning that her friend died with being at her new home for nearly a year, she learns from her father has died. She had lost her mother, father, mistress, and a friend all together. After her grandmother was told from her dying mistress that she would be free and Dr Flint put her up for sale, her mistress' sister purchase and she was soon freed. Linda learns that the Flints are cold hearted people, having no mercy upon their slaves.
In in a time to kill a little girl at the age of nine is kidnapped by two white teenagers. The teenagers take her to a field where they beat, rape, and even attempt to hang her on a tree limb. The limp of the tree then breaks and they come to a conclusion to throw her off a nearby bridge, and by God's grace she does not die. Her dad Carl Lee Hayley hears what has happened and takes matter into his own hands, he shots the two teenagers with a shotgun and is sent to court.
The Last Juror by John Grisham is a book containing many twists and turns complimented by insidious people around every corner. Written in the view of Willie Traynor, a young man, new to town, who owns the local paper. He takes us on his adventures unleashing the secrets of the town that were always taboo. Through the trial, aftermath, and segregation of the races, Willie writes every detail with careful and serious consideration. In this journal I will be evaluating, questioning, and predicting.
When Jake’s client, Carl Lee, kills the two Ku Klux Klan members who rape his daughter, fellow KKK members sends threats to Jake, Carl Lee, and their families. At first, Jake arrogantly waves off the threats he receives. He tells his secretary, “I’ve ha[ve] threats too. I don’t take them seriously… The threats are not serious. There are a lot of nuts out there” (Grisham 254). However, this perceived invincibility does not last very long. Without delay, the Klan attempts to blow up his house, and Jake sends his wife and daughter to his in-laws to avoid danger. Almost on cue, the Klan attempts to assassinate him outside the courthouse. Luckily, the sniper misses, fatally injuring the soldier next to him instead. As a result of this near-death encounter, Jake is greatly disturbed and begins to take the time to reflect on the balance of his values. What tips the scale more? Will this case that he has taken on for little pay, lost his house for, and possible lose his life for really worth it? Will this case really make him the rich and famous bigshot lawyer he aspires to be? These questions Jake asks himself are telltale signs of his change in personality. As a result, he is no longer the almost reckless lawyer ready to give up anything for a case.He has facesthe polarizing issue of discrimination head on, and limps away