Inherit The Wind Henry Drummond Character Analysis

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Many people are quick to jump to conclusions on people 's personalities due to their appearance and their backstories. The townspeople of Hillsboro made assumptions of Henry Drummond by saying that he is a horrible agnostic, they even call him “the devil” and they want to restrict him from entering the town just because of the stories they hear about him. In Lawrence and Lee 's Inherit The Wind it is shown that Henry is actually a praiseworthy character throughout the play even though the townspeople labeled him as a terrible person. Throughout the play, all his motives had intelligence behind it, he is considerate to Bertram Cates and gives Bertram a sense of pride and hope, and Henry shows respect and stands up for Matthew Harrison Brady even though he is his opponent. Firstly, Henry is a bright character that uses his intellectual brilliance to accommodate obstacles, humiliate Matthew and sway the people of the courthouse from their biased …show more content…

When Matthew is taken to the doctor, Hornbeck starts to insult and denigrate Matthew. After a fex exchanges between the two of them Hornbeck says that Henry is too soft-hearted because he is sad about the death of Matthew. Henry then replies, “Why? Because I refuse to erase a man’s lifetime? I tell you Brady had the same right as Cates: the right to be wrong” (Lawrence and Lee 114). Henry Drummond believes that Matthew has the right to be wrong and that no one should judge him for his beliefs. Also, when Henry is informed that Matthew dies, he says, “ I can’t imagine the world without Matthew Harrison Brady.” (Lawrence and Lee 111) and “There was much greatness in this man” (Lawrence and Lee 112), this shows that Henry has the utmost respect for Matthew even when Matthew is his opponent. Furthermore, Henry is a man of dignity even for the people of opposition and is not hesitant to show