Comparing Inherit The Wind By Jerome Lawrence And Robert E. Lee

It takes a powerful man to captivate and change the minds of an entire town. In Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s Inherit the Wind, Henry Drummond is this man. Bertram Cates is accused of illegally teaching evolution, and Henry Drummond is called in to defend him against the prosecution, Matthew Harrison Brady. Ultimately, Cates is convicted, but the town becomes more open-minded and supports free thinking. Henry Drummond’s virtue, eloquence, and kindness enable him to make a case for man’s right to think. Because of Drummond’s sense of justice and fairness, he is completely devoted to his cause. When Rachel and Bert approach him and ask him to call off the case, he responds, “Cates, I’ll change your plea and we’ll call off the whole

When Howard is on the witness stand, Drummond asks him if the idea of evolution has done any harm to him. Drummond then asks, “You figure a tractor’s sinful, because it isn’t mentioned in the Bible?” (Lawrence and Lee 74). By comparing a tractor to evolution, Drummond portrays them as equally harmless and makes the point that evolution may not be sinful. Furthermore, Drummond makes the subject of evolution seem less foreign by comparing it to something the townspeople are familiar with. As a result of his analogy, the townspeople are forced to think from a different perspective and consider his argument, which begins to change their minds. In addition, by asking Brady, a supposed expert on the Bible, specific questions, he is able to prove that Brady’s way of thinking is flawed. Drummond makes the argument that because God did not make the sun on the fourth day, the first day could be not exactly 24 hours.. Brady agrees with him. He then expands his point by saying “Oh. You interpret that the first day recorded in the Book of Genesis could be of indeterminate length… it could have been thirty hours! Or a month! Or a year! Or a hundred years! Or ten million years” (Lawrence and Lee 98). Drummond first persuades Brady to agree with his convincing, vague claim, then connects it to evolution, forcing Brady to also accept that evolution could be possible in the Bible. Moreover, by proving that the Bible could in fact support evolution, Drummond destroys the opposing side of the case. Through Drummond’s superlative arguments, the townspeople slowly begin to consider his points as