Justice In Montana 1948 Essay

Montana 1948: Justice and the Rule of Law According to Merriam-Webster, “justice” means the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals. In the story of Montana 1948 the character David Hayden encounters many distinctive ways the law works than it would normally be displayed in the American Justice system. Montana 1948 tells the story of young David Hayden and his family living in Bentrock, Mercer County, Montana. In his time in Montana, his family is put in the situation of his Uncle Frank being charged with the murder of Marie Little Soldier. Throughout the book we go through the theme of justice and the rule of law. David is seen experiencing the mistaken ways the law should be interpreted, including

Readers come across the complication of Julian Hayden (Wes’ father) putting pressure on Wes for letting his brother go. Wes is torn between the decision of keeping his family name in office and following his wife and his gut in doing the right thing. David points out that his father “turn two ways at once” (Watson 18). One way being the pressure that Grandpa Hayden wants nothing more than Wes to let his brother go even if he had committed a crime and the other being Gail who wants her husband to be himself and do the right thing instead of following the footstep of his father. David also noted about his grandfather, “my grandfather, who wanted his son to continue the Hayden rule of Mercer County” (Watson 18). This line presenting the problem of having a distinctive position in the community is more serious than doing the legal thing for the people. In all cases, keeping a name for yourself or your family shouldn't be a main priority when it comes to wrongdoings of an

Through all the family circumstances that David had dealt with, he thinks the death of his Uncle Frank is a good thing. David stated, “I knew—I knew! I knew!—that Uncle Frank’s suicide had solved all our problems” (Watson 114). David’s reaction to his death was that it was work out all the problems they, including, his father not having to bring his brother to jail, no trials, no more pressure from anyone, no more guilt or embarrassment. “Things will be back to normal,” Wes remarked (Watson 105). It is bazaar to think that anyone’s death for that matter would ever be something positive. This being one of the illogical ways to see the law. No ones death will clarify a situation because there may be long time outcomes. According to the book, later in David lifetime when the topic of his brother was brought up about Frank, Wes’ reaction was that, “he slammed his hand down on the table so hard the plates and silverware jumped” (Watson 122). The law in this position was portrayed inaccurately. There was no way that someone’s death, especially a family member’s will ever be satisfactory. In either case, David’s idea of his uncle’s death has not been made clear to him, but when he faces the reality of the accident he will understand that the death was not anything to be glad