blog




  • Essay / The Uncertainty of Brady's Character in Inherit The Wind

    The play Inherit the Wind presents contrasting characterizations of its major and influential characters. Yet in this contrast of personalities, each distinct role is presented to the audience in a slightly ambiguous manner and, as a result, the congregation views it with slight ambivalence toward some of the playwright's dominant figures. A prime example of this complex dramatization is the loud-voiced, high-status Mathew Harrison Brady. At certain points in the production, Brady is often pompous and displays hubris with his grandiloquence, but at other times he displays pathetic emotions and a fragile state of mind, leading us to perceive him with empathy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayOur first impressions of Brady are that the social charisma and pretension he displays when the townsfolk greet him are affected by an underlying vulnerability he has, which we seem to eat, “Brady is a big eater.” In retrospect, his greed seems all the more gratuitous in the sentence which reveals that not only had he just feasted on the produce of the Hillsboro community, but that he had already had a meal before: "But you see, we had a lunch box on the train. The satire of the moment juxtaposition of him reassuring himself that he had the support when he ran for president, possibly showing electoral corruption, with Davenport stepping in and introducing himself to Brady, then Brady possessing a condescending attitude towards the district attorney. , undermines the magisterial patriarch: “I hope it was in three separate elections?...Sir, my name is Tom Davenport...Of course. District Attorney. We'll be a team, won't we, young man! A whole team! » We feel that Brady, very near the beginning, displays his pride; his pride before the fall, and his fatherly strategy on Rachel to try to obtain information about her lover, Cates. He is friendly and caring: “I understand your loyalty, my child.” This title of "my child" is haughty and religious and is an example of Brady's power play to create an aura of false security. “He easily alienates her from others.” This shows that he can easily manipulate; touching the person he is "interviewing", and in this case, Rachel is passive and can do nothing to oppose it. The mouthful of food he takes while addressing her makes the situation even grosser. Once again his tainted pride manifests itself with his gradation, or growth in the perspective of the great Henry Drummond as his opposition in the courtroom, "Henry Drummond stalked the courtrooms of this country... When he fights, the headlines follow. The whole world will watch our victory over Drummond. Cosmetically, this is then contrasted with the offer of more food: "Would you like to finish the pickled apricots, Mr. Brady?" of a premises. His grandiloquence of speech far exceeds that of the townspeople, seemingly portraying him as out of place, and so he resorts to sanctuary and the comfort of food: what he knows he can trust. We understand that Brady loves attention and enjoys the adulation he receives; he is wise in the art of public speaking, “Brady assumes the familiar oratorical pose” (for a photo). It would seem like it would be a spontaneous action but he does it without conscious thought; presenting him as a prominent figure with charisma and authority. However, as at so many other moments in the play, his stature is pathetically eroded: "Howard stuck his head, gaping, into the picture." This contrastssimply Brady's formality and seriousness about the whole situation with the eccentric, disbelieving (to Brady's prestige), and ignorant community around him. As the production progresses toward Cates' trial for teaching Darwinism, the more professional Brady appears. At the prayer meeting, Brady's arrogance and concern about his profile is displayed with "he loved the feel of the board under his feet." This is the squared circle where he fought so many battles against the English language and won them; he loves the stage and will have it. However, at times we get the impression that Brady is trustworthy and basically knows what needs to be done under the whole evangelical/Christian ethos he follows for most of the book. He warns Reverend Brown not to alienate his daughter entirely: “He that troubleth his own house…shall inherit the wind.” (He gestures with his open hand to indicate nothingness: the empty air, the wind brief and forgotten.) "This wisdom is a rarity on Brady's part and is shown in a moment of tense calm as Brown " dizzy" comes out of the hysterical, hypnotic trance he has fallen into, which is not a good sign and shows the extremities of his belief - at this point we overlook the idea of ​​Brady's pretentious values ​​and are warm towards his true father figure of benevolence and rationality. a moment of reflection where the two great enemies, once friends, reflect on how they grew apart. Drummond sheds light on the subject with a paradoxically strong and incisive statement after all the hysteria and excitement of the prayer meeting: “All movement is relative. Maybe it was you who walked away, staying still. The sentimentality of this line forces Brady to bear the burden of blame, which may lead the audience to feel sympathy for him – "slowly the lights go out on the silent man." This calm and reflection about Brady, observed in the previous scene, could arguably be found again in the trial, when Howard, a young boy; ignorant and innocent, is called to the witness stand by Brady, it is obvious that he is simply exploiting the boy's lack of knowledge to make his case more credible. It shows the interview with its stereotypical complexity. He plays on naturalistic sentiments, using bad puns such as "Evil-ution", which seem heavy-handed and unnecessary. His emotive and metaphorical language alienates Howard, "the lawgiver...the sovereign...the peddlers of poison...to think that he has risen from the filth and mud beneath...unaware of it." This last quote is an example of understatements that Brady uses unconsciously and once again shows his hubris. This haughty language is impersonal for the boy; unrelated to witness: “Howard swallowed. Brady points the finger at the boy: he uses the boy simply to deny his integrity; it is an intentional set-up to address him as the humiliating and derogatory “boy” to create a feeling of distance between them. “The Faithful All Over the World” is hyperbolic and shows just how dramatic Brady is creating his argument. There is “applause from the spectators,” as if the seriousness of the court case has been lost, as in a procedural event. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Drummond is different in the way he addresses Howard; much more composed and comes down to the level where Howard is able to understand what is being thrown at him. He cleverly uses Howard's daily life to contradict the Bible. “A harmonica following a symphony orchestra” is the description of.