Neha Maddali Doing What you did not Intend to Do

English: Slot B

For a long time, creationism was considered an explanation for the origin of humans. This idea changed drastically during the Scopes Monkey Trial, in which evolution and creationism went head to head. After the trial, creationism was no longer considered the origin of humans, but merely a theory. The Scopes Monkey Trial was later written as a play, Inherit the Wind, by Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence, to describe the conflict between the two theories. In the play, the prosecutor, Matthew Harrison Brady, represents creationism and uses the Bible to support his case, and the defendant lawyer, Henry Drummond, represents evolution. The two lawyers battle for the verdict of Bert Cates, a school-teacher accused of teaching his students evolution. The play discusses not only the two theories, but also the freedom to choose ones beliefs. In the courtroom, the people are caught between evolution or creationism. Brady tries to force the people to believe in creationism, the main and popular theory in the play for his own good. Matthew Harrison Brady wants to narrow the minds of the courtroom audience; instead he encourages freedom of choice by being foolishly dogmatic. Bradys screaming and pounding on the witness stand in court shows his inability to understand anothers ideas different from his own. He disputes anyone who does not share his ideas. As Drummond gets more manipulative later on in the case, Bradys attitude changes; the way the conversation is going frustrates him and it forces him to remove his calm mask. In the beginning, Bradys false mask shines, making the audience favor him and the prosecution. But, as the case goes deeper, Bradys mask falls, showing his intolerant side. When Brady contradicts himself in court on the witness stand, and the people start to favor Drummonds side, Bradys reactions are, [trying to find the loyal audience which has slipped away from him](101). The whole courts ideas are changing except for him. After

his plea to bring his followers back, Drummond excuses him, but instead of leaving peacefully, Brady screams and pounds on the witness stand saying, (Brady)[Unheeding] I believe in the truth of the book of genesis Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua(101). By shouting, Brady tries to convince the crowd of his point. Instead, Bradys screaming pushes the audience to the other side because of his intolerance. The shooting down of Drummonds smart comments during the court case shows Bradys obsession to be right and makes him look foolish in front of the audience. After Drummond says something to prove one of Bradys comments wrong, Brady steps up and says something not as intellectual as Drummond did. When Drummond asks how long was the first day from the Bible was, Drummond and Brady state, (Drummond) Or a hundred years!... (Brady) Ill tell you what he is trying to do! He wants to destroy your belief in the Bible, and God!(98) For Brady, calling him a sinner is useless because, earlier, the people in the courtroom refer to Drummond as the devil. Brady is using the Bible and is stalling in order to save his loyal audience. As the audience moves over to Drummonds side, Brady becomes hopeless and his actions are, [Bradys hands are outstretched, palms upward, pleading](74) When the courtroom audience sees how desperate he is, they move to Drummonds side, even though they considered him to be the devil earlier. The people do not want their leader to beg; this shows Brady as insecure. Because Bradys contradicts himself in court, it makes the people in the courtroom understand the different choices a person can make. In the beginning of the play, Brady is seen as the godlike person because of his faith in god and his powerful reputation. As result, the townspeople respect him for his confidence, and also because he is the prosecutor against Henry Drummond, the agnostic devil. The people in the courtroom follow every single one of Bradys wishes. When Brady first comes to town, the townspeople prepare a special picnic, especially for him. Even though the picnic was not Bradys wish, the

people follow him around, respecting him. Bradys main wish is to try to make Bert Cates get the sentence he deserves for not having any faith in the Bible and for teaching evolution. Even though this wish does not happen, the audience still favors Brady and they try to solve his wishes. During the court case, when he contradicts himself, he states, No! No! Each man is a free agent-(100) The audience, following every single word Brady says, believe him and switch not people, but ideas. The people still choose Brady, but they do not choose his idea; they choose Drummonds idea of the freedom of choice. Therefore, Brady accidently convinces his followers to take the other side. Because of Bradys incompetence to fulfill the sentence for Bert Cates, Bradys gesture of storming to the microphone, even after winning the case, shows in Bradys outrage. Soon, most of the people in the courtroom disrespect him. After Brady wins the court case, the remaining few of his followers are cheerful that Bert Cates was sentenced a fine of one hundred dollars. But, unlike the other people, Brady, enraged with the minimum sentence, storms to the microphone to make a speech about Cates to anyone who would listen. The angry feeling towards Cates led the people away from Brady; they thought he had won the case and should be happy with it. Brady storming to the microphone represents his anger towards everyone who believes in evolution and his arrogance. Even after Brady wins, he is still unhappy. The actual steps, not the speech, represents the people drifting away from him because the people are still happy and satisfied, but not Brady. The several ideas slowly drift the audience and Brady apart until the final steps Even though the people in the courtroom started with the same ideas, they had eventually separated from Bradys ideas. Brady makes a fool of himself on several occasions by rudely interrupting in a civilized court and he also contradicts himself. The loss of his reputation ruins his confidence. Drummond achieves a higher reputation by the very end of the case, and Brady could not stand someone being better than him. The authors, Robert E.

Lee and Jerome Lawrences show that peoples self centered plans backfire. Even though Bradys plan was to convince the people Cates was a sinner, his plan backfired and instead he supported Drummond. One of the flaws in Bradys plan is his arrogance. Instead of paying attention to his audience shift in choices, his arrogance gets the best of him and he fails to understand the people. Evil plans such as Bradys always have a defect; they constantly backfire.