Matthew Harrison Brady And Henry Drummond example essay topic

Inherit the Wind The main theme of Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee is taking a stand. The play begins in Hillsboro, Tennessee when a man named Bertram Cates breaks the law by teaching the forbidden Darwin's Theory. The most famous orators of the time, Matthew Harrison Brady and Henry Drummond came to this small religious town of Hillsboro. Brady is prosecuting against Cates and Drummond is defending him. After days of battle, the verdict is finally decided and Bertram Cates is found guilty. Many people take stands for different reasons.

Some take stands to send a message out that needs to be sent. That is what happened in this play. A man named Matthew Harrison Brady did exactly that. A gray-haired man, he believes strongly in the Bible took the stand. Although his partner Tom Davenport strongly disagreed with Brady's actions. Brady thought that this would benefit his trial.

"Your Honor, this is preposterous!" (page 75) said Davenport as he tries to object to Drummond's witness (Brady). The judge believed the actions of Drummond to be highly unorthodox and claimed to have never known a prosecuting attorney to be called as a witness. Brady agreed replying, "Your Honor, this entire trial is unorthodox. If the interests of Right and Justice will be served, I will take the stand". (page 75) Brady, at times, can be quite ignorant and the decision he made to take the witness stand proved it.

Brady did not know how much Drummond knew about the Bible but instead he believed all the rumors he heard about Drummond be agnostic. Brady thought everything in the Bible should be taken literally and Drummond knew that. That is why he asked questions that were impossible to answer. Brady was a very self-centered man and thought that he would shut Drummond down with his answers. He was wrong.

- 2 - Everything he thought was wrong except for one thing: the interests of Right and Justice was served for Bertram Cates. Many more things could have happened to Brady for taking the stand. Some things that did happen were that people began to side with Drummond and Cates. Brady began to have a nervous breakdown because he knew that Drummond got the better of him. It is too bad, I thought that Drummond would have won the case. That is not what happened though.

Brady won and Bertram Cates was found guilty and fined $100.00 which was soon to be changed to $500.00 due to Drummond and Cates' actions and attitudes toward the judge. The trial's turning point was when Brady took the stand. I believe that was a horrible decision because if Brady never took the stand many people would still see his side. I do not think that what Brady did was correct. Many of his answers were horrible especially when he said that God speaks to him and tells him what to do and what not to do. He tells him what is good and bad.

I know that it made Brady look like an absolute fool although listening to a higher power is admirable. He should have kept these inspirations to himself because that may sometimes have a negative effect on what people think.