Themes & Symbols: Inherit The Wind

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Themes and Symbols: Inherit the Wind

As probably the best courtroom dramas of the twentieth century, Inherit the Wind is based on the famous, Scopes Monkey Trial. The play was printed virtually thirty years afterward and takes original authority in varying the true-life elements of the court case. The central conflict of the play is based on the Scopes Monkey Trial itself. Several themes are presented throughout the play, for example when Brady argues for religious values while Drummond argues for natural values and freedom of thought. The definition of a theme is an implicit or recurrent idea. We also see a theme of man versus society, furthermore, Bertram Cates versus the small town of Hillsboro. A third theme is appearance versus reality, or the difference between outward pretext and the basic truth. There are also quite a few symbols all the way through the play. A symbol is something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible. A symbol can also be an image that has multiple interpretations. For instance in Inherit the Wind, the small town mentality concept is greatly represented. The widespread significance of the court case is symbolized by the radio broadcast during the trial. External beauty is also significant when it is symbolized by the means of the rocking horse we learn about from Drummond's childhood. During the decade of the Scopes Monkey Trial, the conflict of evolution and the bible has massive relevance to the municipal and philosophical surroundings.

The primary theme of Inherit the Wind is clearly the broad conflict of fundamentalism on the side of religion as well as freedom of thought. The trial a...

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...ion, the conflict of fundamentalism opposed to progressivism grows to be very much connected to the conflict of traditional farmers versus urbane city-dwellers. Lawrence and Lee portray the townspeople of Hillsboro as have an unsophisticated dialect, uniform, and performance, compared with Hornbeck and Drummond who are similar to chic city inhabitants in clothing, act, and language.

In the famous play, Inherit the Wind, the playwrights, Lawrence and Lee, use many themes regarding life as well as symbolizing subject matter. Such themes include fundamentalism versus freedom of thought, man versus society, and appearance versus reality. A few symbols in the play were Golden Dancer, the rocking horse, the small town of Hillsboro, and the radio and its broadcast. This play was written to illustrate themes and symbols while it is based on the Scopes Monkey Trial.

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