Ending Of The Last Juror example essay topic

The Last Juror by John Grisham 1. "From day one she was intimidated by me because I was from Memphis and had gone to school up North for five years. I was careful not to wear my Ivy League ness on my shoulder, but at the same time I wanted these rural Mississippians to know that I had been superbly educated. (page 10) " There are two literary elements that could be categorized in this excerpt. I think that John Grisham highlights his use of satire very vividly early on in the book. He is placing a reasonable amount of underestimation upon a southerner's overall intelligence. Simply because he was educated "up North" he feels he is worthy of a higher ranking.

Although the character says he does not want to "wear" his Ivy League education for all to adore, he most certainly wants it known that his education was among the best one could buy. The second literary element is setting. Although it does not give descriptive geographical characteristics, we can get a sense of the Mississippi vibe. Depending on whether a reader is from the North or the South, some type of connection to their homeland can be made. We have a northerner experiencing, and reminiscing rather keenly, the way in which he first experienced his own dose of southern comfort.

The object that I chose to correlate with this particular excerpt was an Ivy League diploma. Although our main character, William Traynor, is geographically located in the south, mentally he still feels connected to the North and the education he received from it. This diploma would be brought with him as a constant reminder of who he is as an individual and the prideful attitude he possesses. 2. "I marveled once again at the backwardness of Mississippi. 'Still fightin' the War,' was a slogan I'd heard several times in Ford County (page 47)".

Although there a numerous literary terms that could be applied to this excerpt, followed by extensive reflection on the true backwardness of the state of Mississippi at this time, I would like to focus mainly on the theme represented here. Looking deep into the story many themes regarding the will to succeed, morals, and racism all arise yet an overall theme that can be collected stems all the way back to the Civil War. The major theme that is constantly radiated from the pages of John Grisham's story is the diversity between the North and the South. After spending a month in Mississippi this past summer, I began to realize that there were some people who will never cease to believe that the North prevailed over the South in the Civil War. Confederate flags are displayed in large numbers in car windows, on license plates, at the tops of flag poles, and disrespectfully on billboards.

Popular t-shirts and hats also support the flag of our nation's biggest internal conflict. That is how I easily chose my symbol to be none other than the confederate flag itself. While traveling in Memphis I was actually given a confederate flag on Beale Street. There seems to be no shame in the display of this disgraceful flag.

3. "Folks were watching again, so I picked out the smallest piece and put it in my mouth. The texture was rubbery, the taste was acrid and foul. The smell had a barnyard essence. I chewed as hard as possible, choked it down, then followed with a gulp of moonshine. And for a few seconds I thought I might faint (page 79)".

If one can read this without feeling, smelling, and tasting the "chitlins" described then my literary term of imagery is obviously unsuitable. I remember rereading these lines two or three times and each disgusting recap made my senses more alert. I think John Grisham did an excellent job describing some of the exotic foods one can come across in the South. His description of a rubbery texture made me grind my teeth as if chewing this inedible product was nothing but impossible.

The object I chose to coincide with this excerpt is peppermint gum. After simply reading this I felt that I needed to go brush my teeth. When someone eats something distasteful or smells something foul, gum always seems to come to the rescue. It can serve as a minty reminder that the taste is no more and fresh breath is on the way! 4. "Change is painful in rural Mississippi, so I decided to do it gradually (page 13)."I was an oddity but every effort was made to include me.

Driving the dark roads home, I asked myself the same question I posed every day. What was I doing in Ford County, Mississippi (page 83)?" The literary element that I connected with this excerpt was tone. In The Last Juror, John Grisham uses an informal and playful tone to capture the vulnerability of the reader. Through his recollection-type novel we feel we can better related to our main character.

These two excerpts are taken from the beginning and near-middle of the book. Throughout the entire novel we can see our character, William Traynor, grow and experience serious internal strengthening. The object that I would relate with this particular excerpt would be a journal. Because the story is not told in an omniscient point of view, we must take the position of our northern character, and consider how his perspective may have influenced the story telling. A journal could easily have been compared to this book although not exactly in dated journal format.

We see both the internal and external battles of our character and feel a closeness to him because of it. 5. "A deputy ran down the stairs and yelled, 'It's over! He's dead! It's Hank Hooten!' The bewildered expressions were almost amusing.

Hank Hooten? Everyone said the name but no words came out. Hank Hooten (page 345)?" The literary element that could be associated with this excerpt is irony. Within the story, Hank Hooten was a very lovable man. It just so happened that he was so lovable because he was undeniably crazy.

As unfortunate as the events may have been, the woman who Hank was in love with was murdered in the beginning of the book. Merely any, if no, big references to this man were made throughout the story. In the end when he kills both her murderer and himself moments after, the story simply drips with irony. He had so much love, so much it could almost be categorized as obsession, inside of him and yet in the end this love forced him to exuberate such hatred upon the murderer and himself. The object that I chose in correlation with this excerpt is a balloon. This balloon must be inflated yet not tied.

Personally, I thought the ending of this book was hurried and not completely thought out. In the story, our main character owns the local newspaper and is constantly faced with the pressure of deadlines. The ending of The Last Juror seemed as if John Grisham was needing to reach a deadline as well. I chose a balloon because the beginning of the story is very well thought out and premeditated. The balloon cannot be tied because I feel like once you wean your way towards the end of the book, this balloon, full of air and full of life, slowly begins to deflate.

The ending can be compared to me abruptly letting go of the full balloon and watching it as the whole story came to a crash. I was so excited for the twisted and exciting endings that John Grisham usually provides in his novels, but unfortunately all I was left with was an empty balloon..