Case Of Carl Lee Hailey example essay topic

I want you to close your eyes and think for a moment. Picture in your mind a patch of land in the South that's off a dirt road. There are trees everywhere, but only 3 people and a yellow truck. Two of the people you are to picture are boys somewhere in their twenties. They are drunk rednecks. The third person is a little black (this is how they are referred to in the book, I do not mean to be politically incorrect or disrespectful to anyone) girl about 10 years of age.

She's tied to tree's, spread eagle. She has been beaten beyond recognition. She has been tortured, kicked, and raped repeatedly. She has been urinated on and orally assaulted. She is crying as softly as she can, to prevent another beating. She is wishing for her daddy to come.

Now, imagine she is you daughter. What would you do? John Grisham's A Time to Kill is the story of Clanton, Mississippi, where two white boys rape, beat, and leave for dead little Tonya Hailey. The boys, Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard, are arrested for the crime. Tonya's Daddy, Carl Lee Hailey, decides that the only justice for these two white boys raping and beating his black daughter is death. Death by his own hands, at the end of an M-16.

The town of Clanton is divided; some think what Carl Lee did was "justice", and the "right thing". Some feel that what he did, while understandable, is wrong. Some feel that as Carl Lee was black and Billy Ray and Pete were white that he should fry. I have to tell you that I feel what Carl Lee did was justifiable, and right, and that justice did prevail. You see, I have never had faith in our justice system. I've seen our justice system fail up close and personal.

And then we have the Ku Klux Klan. They are not happy that a white lawyer, Jake Brigance (who is a very good lawyer), is handling the case. The Klan hasn't been around Clanton for years, but thanks to Billy Ray Cobb's family they are back burning crosses and planting bombs. This has Jake's wife, Carla, worried for her families safety. Most importantly their daughter Hanna.

Jake's secretary, Ethel, is also suffering the consequences of Jake's decision. They all want to distance themselves from Jake and this case and do so. A Time To Kill will make you question your own ethics, beliefs, and trust in our justice system. It will make you look at things from a whole new angle.

The characters are so in-depth and we don't just read about them, we read and see life through their eyes, and not just the "good guys" either, you see through the eyes of the "bad guys" too. It will make your hair stand on end and your skin crawl. I live in Minnesota. This is the only place I've ever lived. Reading this book, and others by John Grisham, has shown me almost an entirely different world. It has been educational, horrific, and fascinating all at once.

The movie version of this book runs pretty true to form, and even if you have seen the movie first still read the book. If you like to read at all, doesn't matter what type of book you normally enjoy, pick up a copy of John Grisham's A Time To Kill and journey along with Jake Brigance, Ellen, Lucian, and Harry Rex, as they try the case of Carl Lee Hailey. Watch every aspect of their lives be touched by this trial and the towns prejudices'. When you are done reading this book picture in your mind my opening remarks in this review and then ask yourself "what would you do"? and "is there ever a time to kill"?