The Story. A science teacher in a small Tennessee town defies the law when he teaches the theory of evolution to his students. His case prompts a renowned fundamentalist politician/lawyer, Matthew Harrison Brady, to offer his services as the prosecuting attorney. To combat this, Brady’s idealistic rival, Henry Drummond, arrives in town to ...
The infamous criminal-defense attorney Henry Drummond arrives in Hillsboro vilified as an atheist but leaves, after losing the trial, as a hero. To the audience—and to many of the townspeople—Drummond makes a convincing case for the right of a human being to think. He accomplishes this feat by exposing the contradictions underlying his ...
· Cates, like Scopes, is arrested for violating the Butler Law, which prohibits teaching evolutionary theory in public schools in Tennessee, effectively censoring what could be taught in public school classrooms. ... Did Bert win or lose Inherit the Wind? Q. Did Bert win or lose? He won. Even though he was found guilty, his sentence was very light.
The timeline below shows where the character The Judge appears in Inherit the Wind. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Act 1, Scene 2. The scene opens with the trial, which is the jury-summoning phase. The Judge is seated before the court: Brady sits with Davenport and Drummond sits with Cates.
The jury finds Cates guilty, and he is fined $100. Brady protests the minimal punishment. Although he won the case, his victory is a hollow one. The real triumph belongs to Drummond and Cates, who win a moral victory for freedom of thought.
The next day, everyone returns to the courtroom to hear the verdict, which is to be broadcast on WGN radio station. Cates is found guilty and is fined $100. In his statement to the court, he vows to continue to oppose the Butler Law. Brady has won the case but does not feel victorious.
Henry DrummondThe infamous criminal-defense attorney Henry Drummond arrives in Hillsboro vilified as an atheist but leaves, after losing the trial, as a hero. To the audience—and to many of the townspeople—Drummond makes a convincing case for the right of a human being to think.
The jury returns, and the judge asks for the verdict. Sillers hands the verdict to the judge, who pronounces Cates guilty. The crowd's reaction is loud but mixed. The judge calls for order and starts to announce a sentence, but Drummond cuts him off, citing the defendant's right to make a statement before sentencing.
Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away." Hornbeck calls Drummond a hypocrite and fraud and says he is more religious than Brady was— must "hammer out the story of an atheist who believes in God." What was the theme and symbolism of the two books being put together?
When Stebbins drowned in a local river, Rachel's father preached that the boy would suffer eternal damnation because his parents never had him baptized. Upset both by the death of the boy and the preacher's reaction, Cates stopped going to church.
Hornbeck is a chorus character. His wisecracks are comments on the action in the play, as well as a representation of progressive ideas and beliefs held by people from the North. He mocks the people of Hillsboro for their fundamentalist beliefs and their narrow-minded views about evolution.
prosecutor William Jennings BryanBrady is a caricature of the real-life prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. Like Brady, Bryan lost three presidential elections and died shortly after the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Bertram "Bert" Cates, a Hillsboro high school teacher in his 20s who has taught the theory of evolution in violation of a state law banning its teaching in classrooms. E. K. Hornbeck, a reporter for the fictional Baltimore Herald newspaper. He is young, sarcastic, cynical, and deeply opposed to religious belief.
Drummond is upset at Hornbeck because Hornbeck made rude remarks about Brady and his short life. To whom does the quote "Inherit the wind..." now apply? "Inherit the wind" now applies to Hornbeck. Hornbeck created chaos and trouble throughout the trial.
What was the jury's verdict? The jury finds Cates guilty. What was Bert's sentence? Bert's sentence is a fine of one hundred dollars.
Terms in this set (12) What does Drummond use his "Golden Dancer" story as analogy for? the trial looks like a defeat in the courtroom; however, it is really a victory for the cause.
Drummond’s thorough examination of his witnesses’ beliefs exposes complexities and contradictions in the same way that Cates’s microscopes reveal to his students complexities of life and matter not visible to the naked eye.
He accomplishes this feat by exposing the contradictions underlying his witnesses’ inherited religious beliefs. During the case, Drummond demonstrates that people know less than what they believe themselves to know. His greatest triumph in the name of free thought is getting Howard Blair to admit that he has not made up his mind about evolutionary theory. When we hear this admission, Drummond’s point becomes clear: freedom of thought becomes the freedom to be wrong or to change our minds. The world, viewed in this light, is full of possibilities.
Although Drummond typically exposes the shortcomings of his subjects’ beliefs in gentle fashion, his cross-examination of Matthew Harrison Brady causes humiliation and hysteria.
Unlike Brady, Drummond does not conceive of truth as a set of fixed rules that can be read from a book and imposed on society. His wonder about the world, which he shares and encourages in Cates, allows him to “look behind the paint,” to interpret events for more than their obvious meanings.
A shy but practical politician, the Mayor is initially awed by Brady’s presence in Hillsboro, but later asks the Judge to pass a light sentence on Cates, in order to make Hillsboro seem like a relatively moderate, and not a “medieval,” place.
A religious man called to the jury, Bannister is approved by Brady because he is a religious man, and by Drummond because he cannot read—meaning he has read neither the Bible nor Darwin.
A former high-school biology teacher in Hillsboro, Bert Cates is indicted and imprisoned for teaching evolution, which violates the state’s no-evolution teaching law. Cates, represented by famous progressive lawyer Henry Drummond, is showed to… read analysis of Bertram Cates
Tommy Stebbins. A young boy whom Cates taught, and who demonstrated a great aptitude for science, Stebbins died of drowning, but was not given a formal funeral by Reverend Brown because Stebbins was not baptized. Cates found… read analysis of Tommy Stebbins.
George Sillers. Another religious man called to the jury, Sillers admits that his wife does most of his “religious” thinking for him— Drummond approves him, as do Brady and Davenport initially. But the latter two worry that… read analysis of George Sillers.
Henry Drummond. A famous progressive, agnostic lawyer, one known for being able to win cases for his defendants, some of whom appear very much to be guilty, Henry Drummond works Cates’ case pro bono, and comes from… read analysis of Henry Drummond. Get the entire Inherit the Wind LitChart as a printable PDF.
Rachel Brown. A dear friend and love interest of Cates’ , Rachel Brown, daughter of Reverend Brown, Hillsboro’s “religious leader,” believes that Cates should not have broken the state’s no-evolution law, no matter how silly it… read analysis of Rachel Brown.
Brady moves, to the Judge, to ask if men in the court can take off their jackets, since it is ... (full context) When Brady is referred to by the Judge and others as Colonel, Drummond again objects, stating that it is prejudicial that Brady was... (full context)
A radio man asks the Judge if the verdict can be broadcast live from the courtroom, and the Judge agrees. The... (full context)
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The judge grants Drummond the right to appeal the case to a higher court. Brady asks permission to read a statement, but Drummond objects. The judge instructs Brady to read his remarks to the crowd before declaring the court adjourned. The courtroom becomes chaotic with screaming children and food vendors.
Cates asks Drummond whether he won or lost. Drummond tells Cates he won a moral victory by bringing national attention to his case. Cates submits himself to Meeker to be returned to jail, but Meeker says that Hornbeck and the Baltimore Herald have put up $ 500 for Cates’s bail.
A radio reporter sets up a microphone. The mayor tells the judge that state authorities are worried about the press coverage surrounding the case. The mayor cautions the judge to “go easy” on Cates should the jury hand down a guilty verdict.
Character Analysis Henry Drummond. Henry Drummond, the deuteragonist, or character second in importance in Inherit the Wind, can be considered the hero of the play. Functioning as the mouthpiece for Lawrence and Lee, Drummond fights for man's right to think as well as "the right to be wrong.". He saves the townspeople of Hillsboro ...
When the judge tells Drummond that he cannot call his witnesses, the audience sees Drummond's quick mind, his ability to function under pressure, and his creativity. Changing tactics, he calls Brady, the prosecuting attorney, to the witness stand as an expert on the Bible.
He reveals his integrity when he defends freedom of thought, even for those he disagrees with. When Hornbeck criticizes Brady and Brady's fundamentalist beliefs, Drummond tells Hornbeck that " . . .
Both Darrow and the character of Drummond are similar in appearance, defend the underdog, put the prosecuting attorney on the witness stand, and lose the trial only to immediately appeal the verdict. Darrow, however, unlike Drummond, had a hostile demeanor and was sarcastic and condescending.
He is idealistic and claims to be an agnostic, believing that knowing whether God exists isn' t possible. Drummond has been sent to Hillsboro at the request of the Baltimore Herald to defend Cates. He is an intelligent, shrewd, and skilled courtroom attorney, well known for defending notorious criminals.
The Judge . The judge presiding over Cates’s trial. The judge conducts the trial impartially, although his personal views about the Bible’s legitimacy are in line with those of the rest of the townspeople of Hillsboro. At the mayor’s prompting, the judge gives Cates a lenient sentence after the jury’s guilty verdict.
A member of the jury. Bannister has read neither Darwin nor the Bible because he is illiterate.
A soft-spoken and humble man, Cates has been arrested for teaching his students the theory of evolution from a biology textbook. His outlook on human knowledge is skeptical, and he wonders about the nature of the universe.
A farmer and cabinetmaker. Dunlap stands as a potential juror, but Drummond dismisses him because of his enthusiastic support of Brady.
The owner of a store across the square from the courthouse. The storekeeper professes not to have convictions about creation because they are not good for business.
The bailiff at the Hillsboro courthouse. Meeker lets Cates in and out of his jail cell and jokes that Cates is a threat to the community.
Tom Davenport. The local district attorney. Davenport assists Brady during the trial. He attempts to stop Drummond’s humiliation of Brady at the end of the trial, but by the time he objects, Brady has already made a fool of himself.
At the funeral, Pa preached that Tommy didn’t die in a state of grace, because his folks had never had him baptized . . . . Tell ‘em what your father really said! That Tommy’s soul was damned, writhing in hellfire! “God created Man in His own image—and Man, being a gentleman, returned the compliment.”.
The state law banning teaching of evolution regards the Bible as the sole vehicle of incontrovertible truth. But the America of the early to middle 20th century was not stuck in what some characters call a “medieval” view of learning—this America did not regard the Bible as the ultimate authority in all matters.
Justice in the play takes two forms. The “justice” served by the court is, technically, an injustice; Cates is tried and convicted based on a state law that is, as Drummond argues, silly and outmoded. The Judge seems to recognize this, and therefore only fines Cates $100. This smaller injustice is framed by the larger “justice” reached in the end of the play: that Cates is not imprisoned but allowed to go free, and that, as Drummond indicates, Cates will be an example to others who dare to speak their mind, to follow their own conscience as regards truth, and to push back against authorities who would force one unified religious theory on all inhabitants of a varied, complex country. The playwrights seem to recognize that, although the progress of justice is sometimes slow, halting, and imperfect, humans nevertheless tend to recognize that believers can be allowed to believe, and practitioners of science can be allowed to do their work, without either camp silencing or excommunicating the other.
Cates teaches human evolution in class because this is the best scientific theory humans have to explain the existence of humans on earth. Members of the local school board, however, consider that Cates has done something irreligious—that his teaching of Darwin goes against Christian moral precepts. The state law banning teaching of evolution ...
Hornbeck is diametrically opposed to Reverend Brown: a progressive, agnostic reporter, Hornbeck believes that anyone who ascribes to religious teachings is an imbecile, one not accord with modern views. Drummond and Cates, however, fall between Hornbeck and Brown.