Essay About Inherit the Wind
It is common knowledge that winners write history. In Inherit the wind, by Lawrence and Lee, this is obvious by how they portray religion and sciences. Theology, the side that lost the case, is shown as a deleterious force, smothering all ideas that disagree with it without reason. The religious town of Hillsboro causes the setting to put a negative connotation on religion. When it is described as being a “sleepy, obscure country town” (Lawrence 3) it implies that this is what happens to places that are so passionate in their beliefs; they become stagnant and make little forward progress. Further evidence for this is given in the exchange between Howard and Melinda. When Howard begins talking about evolution, he is fervently repudiated by Melinda (Lawrence 4-5). This is indicative of how everyone feels in Hillsboro: rejecting sciences. Reverend Brown’s character, constantly being shown as eager to be cruel and uncaring to everything except his beliefs, is another unfair representation of religion. When first entering the play, he is described as “a gaunt, thin-lipped man… …, scowling” (Lawrence, 11). This, accompanied with him “shouting off” (Lawrence, 11) and him saying “We must show him at once what kind of a community this is” (Lawrence, 11) further describes Brown to be constantly impatient and angry, and only caring about his image. Furthermore, his line on page 27, “We won’t let him in town!” (Lawrence) and his ritual (Lawrence, 66) shows his irrationality in trying to prevent science from entering Hillsboro and expound on his extreme cruelty. Eliajh, who is also portrayed in a ridiculous manner, adds to the antagonistic exhibition of religion. He is described as “bearded, wild-haired, dressed tattered burlap smock” (Lawrence 14), immediately giving him a bad connotation. By “set[ting] up shop between the hot dogs and lemonade” (Lawrence 14), he gives himself the same significance as what he set up next to, making him and what he represents seem like