The Testament

By John Grisham
Biography of The Author, John Grisham

John Ray Grisham Jr. is an American novelist,

attorney, politician, and activist, best known for his
popular legal thrillers. Born on February 8, 1955, in
Jonesboro, Arkansas, John Grisham worked as an
attorney and Mississippi legislator before becoming a
best-selling novelist with novels having been translated
into 42 languages and published worldwide.

The second-oldest of five siblings, he developed a

love for books early on. Grisham and his family moved
around for a while, due to job opportunities for his
father, who worked in construction, eventually settling
in Southaven, Mississippi. Initially thinking of a pro
baseball career and working a variety of jobs before
college, Grisham went on to study accounting at Mississippi State University and then law at the
University of Mississippi, graduating in 1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and
served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from January 1984 to September 1990.

Grisham wed Renee Jones in May of that year, with the couple going on to have two
children. After starting his law career as a tax attorney, Grisham set up a practice doing personal
injury and criminal defense work in Southaven, and in 1983 he earned a seat in the state
legislature on the Democratic ticket, serving through the rest of the decade.

During a trial in 1984, Grisham heard the horrifying details of a young girl recounting her
experience of surviving rape. This catalyzed the attorney to start writing a novel that examined
the issue, focusing on the actions of a fictional father and an attorney. The finished book, A Time
to Kill, would initially get a 5,000-copy printing from Wynwood Press.

After leaving politics in 1990 and closing his law practice, Grisham moved to Oxford,
Mississippi with his family and devoted himself more completely to his new calling. The galley
of his next novel, The Firm, ended up being circulated in Hollywood, and the film rights to the
book were bought by Paramount for more than half a million dollars. The novel was sold to
Doubleday. The Firm (1991) was on The New York Times best-seller list for nearly 50 weeks,
becoming the top-selling book of the year.

While writing his next novel, The Pelican Brief, Grisham took the words of a retail chain
executive to heart and made the commitment to complete a book a year. The Pelican Brief was
published in 1992 and became a No. 1 New York Times best seller. In the coming years, Grisham
followed with an array of hit titles, including The Client (1993), The Runaway Jury (1996), The
Testament (1999), Bleachers (2003), Playing for Pizza (2007) and The Litigators (2011), among
many others. His Time to Kill sequel, Sycamore Row, was released in 2013. More recent titles
include Gray Mountain (2014), Rogue Lawyer (2015) and The Whistler (2016).

Grisham has worked in other literary genres outside of the adult novel as well, as seen
with his nonfiction work The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town (2006), the
short-story collection Ford County and the young adult series Theodore Boone.

Grisham has continued to nurture his love for baseball, overseeing the construction of
multiple baseball fields around his home and becoming a Little League commissioner. He has
also provided funding for the Southern publication Oxford American.
Physical Level

The Testament focused on the struggle over the distribution of the will and estate of Troy
Phelan, one of the richest billionaires in America, to his six children and three ex-wives. Troy
Junior is the oldest among the Phelan Children. He has completely spent his $5 million before he
was thirty and was fired from multiple positions in his father's company. Succeeding Troy Jr. is
Rex Phelan. He runs a series of strip clubs, and owes more than $7 million. Libbigail Phelan
Jeter, the oldest daughter by Troy's first marriage is married to her third husband, an ex-biker
whom she met while in rehab. Mary Ross Phelan Jackman is the youngest child from Troy's first
marriage. She is considered the least volatile and most rational of her siblings, being the only one
without any arrests, addictions or expulsions. She and her husband live a wealthy lifestyle,
although are heavily in debt. Geena Phelan Strong is the sole surviving child of Troy's second
marriage. Geena and her husband are described as "two immature kids living a pampered life
with someone else's money, and dreaming of the big score." Along with her husband, she is
considered as the most dangerous of the heirs. Ramble Phelan is the youngest child of Troy, and
and hasn't received any money yet. He is notorious and does what he just feels like doing.

The family employed three psychiatrists to judge if he is of sound mind with the whole
procedure is taped. Immediately after the taping Troy Phelan presents his lawyers with a will he
has written himself, which supersedes the previous will, he signs it and jumps through a window.
His estate, all thirteen billion dollars is left to an illegitimate daughter who is a missionary-
physician tending Indians somewhere in Brazil's Pantanal region. Nate O'Riley, a litigator, is
released from rehab, not for the first time, and despatched by Phelan's law firm to find Rachel
Lane, Troy’s illegitimate child, and get her signature for the will.

The setting of The Testament alternates between Washington, D.C., and Corumbá, Brazil.
Washington, D.C. is the home of the Stafford Law Firm where Jost Stafford, Nate O'Riley and
other minor characters are employed. All of the court scenes were also held in Washington.
Whereas, Corumbá, Brazil is the major South American city that Nate flies into. From Corumbá,
he boards a boat to conduct his search for Rachel Lane. But, most parts of the story is set in the
Pantanal region of the Amazon. The Amazon was described as both beautiful and treacherous, it
was depicted through descriptions of the shorelines filled with jacares, snakes, tuiuius, and
captivaras.

Mental Level

The Testament was written from the third point of view, but focuses mainly on Nate
O’Riley’s journey towards finding Rachel Lane. Nate O’Riley is a 48-year old has-been litigator.
He was once willy and tough-nosed inside the courtroom, but years of alcohol and drug abuse
have made these attributes cease. Nate has been staying in a post rehab center when his old
colleague, Josh Stafford, assigned him to search for Rachel Lane. Nate is emerging from his
fourth stay in rehab, and he reluctantly agrees to go. A series of questions remain - Can Nate stay
away from alcohol? What will happen to Nate as he finally meets Rachel? Can Nate put back
together and fix his relationship with his children?

Throughout the course of the finding Rachel, Nate had a mental struggle to stay sober,
and keep away from temptations of alcohol. As Nate arrived in Corumbá, Brazil the day before
Christmas, he is greeted by Jevy, an amiable fellow hired to be Nate’s guide. Flashing some cash,
Nate persuades a reluctant Cessna pilot to take him and Jevy on a flight over the area in which
they plan to look, by boat, for Rachel. A strong storm blows in, and the plane crashes on an
isolated farm. Nate befriends the farmer’s children, marveling at the simplicity of their life. After
a helicopter ride back to the city, Jevy secures a boat, the Santa Loura, for their river journey into
the wetlands. Wrestling with his inner demons, Nate surrenders to his cravings for alcohol, and
only with Jevy’s assistance does he stagger on to the boat the next morning.

Attracted by her inner strength, Troy divulges his self-destructive history to her. She
inspires him to pray and to trust in God’s love and mercy, which gives him a foundation on
which to build a new life. Having returned to Corumbá, Nate contracts Dengue fever and, in his
delirium, sees Rachel at his side. He recovers, but there’s no sign of Rachel.

Like Troy, Nate has ex-wives and estranged children. Feeling compelled to atone for his
failures, he flies across the country to reconnect with his kids. His journey to the Pantanal has
greatly influenced his outlook on his life, making him reflect and atone for his neglected
responsibilities

Moral Level

In healing Nate’s self, Nate must overcome evil in two aspects. He must find Rachel in
order to help undo the wrong committed by Troy Phelan. In Troy’s death he has deepened the
pain for his so-called family by leaving his fortune to a daughter whom he has ignored all his life
alive. Nate himself has committed this as well by choosing his addiction and vices over his
devotion to family. With this, it can be inferred how common Nate is to to Troy. Both men have
neglected the personal side of their lives - wives and children, to pursue their aspirations. Both
have done little for their families but done so much for work.

Nate got lost in the maze of waterways after another storm struck. But it didn’t go
downhill from there, Nate, Jevy and their cook, Welly, got back on track with the help of local
tribespeople, and finally found Rachel among the Ipica people.

Rachel refuses the inheritance and rejects the documents Nate offers her. Having lived 11
years with the Ipicas delivering the Gospel and medical care, Rachel is perfectly content with her
life, “happy with simplicity, certain of her place in the world and the hereafter.” Attracted by her
inner strength, Troy divulges his self-destructive history to her. She inspires him to pray and to
trust in God’s love and mercy, which gives him a foundation on which to build a new life.

Back in Virginia, Nate stays at Josh’s cottage, where he serendipitously meets a spiritual
mentor, Father Phil Lancaster. Father Phil Lancaster is the pastor of the Trinity Church, and he
enables Nate to continue the spiritual work he began with Rachel. Father Phil Lancaster put
Nate’s life back on track through leading him back to God.

Psychological Level

The Phelan Children, six children that were born to three different women. All of them,
despite being given a gift of $5 million at the age of 21, are either broke or heavily in debt. They
are desperate for a cut of Troy's wealth and employ even greedier lawyers. In order to have the
will to their favor, they have bribed Troy’s manservant, Snead, to falsely testify that Troy was of
unsound mind, but Nate brilliantly exposes the lies of Malcolm Snead, Troy Phelan’s servant for
30 years whom expected gift from the inheritance. Ultimately, the lawyers agree to a settlement
of 50 million for each heir, leaving the bulk of the money to Rachel.
 In the end, Rachel died from Malaria, a disease transmitted through the bite of an infected
mosquito. She left a handwritten will, requesting that her inherited fortune be put in trust for the
World Tribe Missions.

This novel plays on the double meanings of its title, Testament, to contrast the ruthless
jungle of corporate America with the simple life of the Pantanal. To the spoiled Phelans,
“testament” means a guarantee they get Troy’s money, but to Rachel, it’s her spiritual guide to
goodness. The theme “good conquers evil” was depicted through the disparity between Troy’s
rapacious children, and Troy’s greathearted illegitimate child, the lone heir to his assets.

Philosophical Level

The Testament concerns several important social issues, not the least of which is Nate
O’Riley’s ability to recover from alcohol addiction. The story highlighted Nate’s viewpoint as an
alcoholic through discussions of his background, his stay in a treatment facility, his attempts,
through Rachel Lane and Father Phil Lancaster, to put his life back on track.

It also focuses on the environment in The Testament. This novel pointed out the
ecological damage being done to the Amazon by outsiders, and how those who seek to profit
from Brazil’s natural resources are mistreating the area. This aims to inform readers, especially
the U.S. citizens about their role in depleting the resources of the Amazon. It was shown in the
novel how Nate learned this ecological gem is threatened by chemical run-offs from farms, as
well as plans for Hidrovia that will link Brazil and its neighbors, but will drain the Pantanal.

The author, John Grisham, also depicted the plight of Indian tribes in Brazil - an issue
seldom explored in popular culture. After being exposed to the reality that the Indians face, it
was shown how Nate began reading books about the demise of the Brazilian Indians. He started
to think about the world absorbed around him in new, less egoistic ways.

The Testament seeks to show that there are other human beings - Rachel and eventually,
Nate - are capable of more than the standard set by all the Troy Phelans in the world. Rachel
seeks personal peace through the kind acts and attention to her spiritual life, where Nate will
follow her lead.