CONTENT
ANALYSIS
CHARACTERIZATION
Tonya
Hailey –
a character that is 3D in form, at the start of the story, it all gyrated how
this little innocent black girl was molested and beaten. For the first
chapters, Tonya became the center of the novel. On the other hand, every chapter
unleashed new issues that as the story progresses; it led to the reviewers’
realization that it was not Tonya that was at the center of the novel. Instead,
the author fashioned the character of
Tonya become the igniter or main ingredient for the society to tackle several
issues that bombard human understanding.
Carl
Lee Hailey – Carl Lee’s character was 3D in form. The author emphasized
parenting and family ties issue with Carl Lee’s character and depicted him as
all natural and human, wherein any father who has a child who experiences the
same struggle as Tonya had, will also do the same. The character of Carl Lee
also unbridled several issues and revealed a societal concern present during
that time: “will a black father and
white father have an equal chances with the jury?”
Jake
Briggance – the reviewers pinpointed that it is the character of Jake
Briggance that the author places himself. Like Jake, it may be noted that John
Grisham is also a lawyer practicing criminal defense prior becoming a renowned
author. Looking at it, though at the start of the story it was the Haileys who
were at the center, Jake Briggance eventually became the protagonist covering
almost 70 percent of the subsequent chapters and leaving the rape and shooting
incidents as supporting facts on the course of the story.
Moreover, Jake’s character was 3D in form who was seen as an
unorthodox white and lawyer. It was shown that though Jake’s zeal to defend
Carl Lee was there, his mind of using the case to become popular in that side
of the United States must not be discounted. Nevertheless, it is with Jake
Briggance where John Grisham emphasized that the existing situation in Clanton
or in Mississippi per se during the 1970s did and do not compliment with the
changing time. It was also with Jake’s character that supports the issues on
cultural differences, racism, gender equality and politics.
Ellen
Roark –
Through Ellen, the author portrayed that being a woman is not deterrence on
becoming a good lawyer and that the picture of a woman being weak actually
became her strength. With Ellen, the issue of feminism specifically in court
proceedings was accentuated.
Fred
Cobb –
Meanwhile, the character of Fred Cobb depicted the perfect definition of racist
and sexist. It is with him that the author placed the antagonist role, which
became very methodical in presenting another antagonistic body that was
actually present in some parts of the United States during the 1970s, the Ku
Klux Klan. Aside from the racism and feminism issues presented by Fred, a
family tie was also portrayed, wherein no matter how crooked your siblings
lived; Bill Ray was still his brother. Indeed, just like Carl Lee, Fred
depicted that “blood is thicker than water.” At some point, he was just also
avenging what happened to his brother though he was blinded that Bill Ray did
not rape Tonya for the reason that the latter did not admit guilt about the
crime.
SETTING
Grisham made it perfect for the
reviewers to really visualize the critical locations in the story: from a
nearby forest area to foggy creek to a small ravine line with kudzu in Lake
Chatulla (site where Tonya was dumped after being raped); from janitorial
locker to the courtroom’s backdoor stairs (where Bill Ray and Willard were
shot); from Jake’s Office/Wilbanks’ Law Office to Lucien Bank’s beach house;
from Jake’s prominent house to Carl Lee’s own dwelling and the whole of
Clanton, Ford County, Mississippi. It was like Clanton, Ford County Mississippi
itself was also a “character” in the novel and not just a mere setting.
In our discernment, Grisham chose
Mississippi as the setting of the story since being a resident of said state, he
did see how that same place “grew” with regard to accepting the “blacks” and executing
impartial civil rights in the society. Likewise, it may be noted that Mississippi
plays a vital part in the history of US civil rights breakthroughs and the
setting depicted in the novel was on the 1970s, the exact period when racism
(white as superior race), cultural differences and feminism were at its peak.
With this, it may be then be
appreciated that the scenic quality delivered by the author was timely perfect
and is deeply close to the situation present during the time the said novel was
written, released and distributed.
PURPOSE
As stated in the thesis, “A Time To
Kill” addressed:
Racism: That the jury must not magistrate based on the
color of the skin but on the grounds, evidences and
justifying/mitigating circumstances why a person commits a crime;
Parenting: That a father
has the responsibility of defending his children;
Politics: That
organizational politics is already part of the system (from Jake, gaining a
great publicity on his side being the legal council of the most phenomenal
case, which was even tagged as the “trial
a lawyers’ dream”; prosecutor’s side, gaining his own share of publicity as
well; church pastors/reverends using Carl Lee’s situation to gain money; and
again, racial injustice); and,
Feminism: Gender
prejudices specifically in the courtroom wherein in the 1970s, limited number
of women take a stand in Mississippi as legal councils.
The purpose why this book was written was quite explicit,
which maybe connected to the fact that this was the very first book written by
John Grisham and because the abovementioned concerns were also the same issues
that kept inundating his thoughts as a lawyer and citizen/resident of
Mississippi/USA.
STRENGTH/WEAKNESSES:
With
respect to the reviewers’ perception, being parents ourselves, we saw that one
of the strengths of the novel was its emphasis on family relations; the blood
is thicker than water idea. Second is the “compassion” of the law; that there
is justice after all, given the fact that at the end of the day, Carl Lee was
declared a free man. Third and the most significant of all, was the ability of
the writer to interconnect the prevalent issues encircling feminism, racism and
multiculturalism.
On the
other hand, the cited weakness of this novel was on the part where it was
unveiled how Jake Briggance won the case. The reviewers were able to compare
the book with the movie and we saw that the “A Time To Kill” movie adaptation’s
ending was more endearing because it was the lawyer Jake Briggance who won the
case and not any other jury, which was depicted in the book. Though it is true
enough that in Mississippi/US, the verdict lies on the jury, it would have been
appealing if it were Jake Briggance’s closing argument that made the jury say
“not guilty.”
