In Haret the Wind

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

The play takes place in Hillsboro. It is a small fictional town that is meant to resemble Dayton, Tennessee, where the Scopes trial was held in 1925.

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Major Characters

Matthew Harrison Brady - a politician and lawyer. He is the prosecuting attorney for the state against Bertram Cates and a three-time presidential candidate.

Henry Drummond - the lawyer for the defense. He is famous for taking the cases of unpopular clients.

Rachel Brown - the daughter of Hillsboro's minister and the girlfriend of the defendant, Bertram Cates. She is a teacher.

Bertram Cates - the defendant, who is a teacher. He taught his students about Charles Darwin's Origins of the Species in spite of the fact that it was against the laws of his state.

E. K. Hornbeck - a reporter for the Baltimore Herald. He comes to Hillsboro to cover the Cates trial. He considers the people of Hillsboro thoroughly backward in their thinking and looks on at the trial in amused contempt.

Reverend Jeremiah Brown - Hillsboro's minister. He is a hard- hearted man who feels no qualms about convincing the town to condemn Bert Cates and his daughter as incorrigible sinners.

Minor Characters

Melinda - a girl of the town who thinks evolutionary theory is the devil's work.

Howard - a boy of the town who was in Cates' class and half- believes the theory of evolution.

Meeker - the clerk of the court.

Mr. Goodfellow - a storeowner. He refuses to take a stand, for he says it is bad for business to have an opinion.

Mrs. Krebs - a woman of the town who is perfectly in line with the normative beliefs of the Hillsboro.

Corkin - a worker who paints the banner.

Bollinger - a member of the band that plays for Brady's arrival.

Platt - a man who is happy to see the town the object of so much attention.

Mr. Bannister - one of the men of the town who admires Brady greatly. He is chosen to be on the jury because he does not know how to read.

Mrs. McClain - a woman who tries to sell Hornbeck a fan from the funeral home.

Mrs. Blair - Howard's mother.

Elijah - a man who comes in from the countryside to be in town for the trial. He condemns evolution and sells Bibles, even though he does not know how to read or write.

Timmy - a boy who announces Brady's train.

Mayor - a man who follows the normative beliefs of the town and will bend the laws to suit the popular tastes. He tries to find a way to ban Henry Drummond from Hillsboro.

Mrs. Brady - a woman who is both wife and mother to her husband.

Tom Davenport - the town lawyer. He is represents the prosecution and assists Brady.

Judge - a man who is closed to the process of deliberation. He refuses to let Drummond call witnesses to testify about evolutionary theory. He judges the court with an obvious bias towards the state's case.

Jessie H. Dunlap - a man who is rejected from being on the jury because he believes in the Bible and in Brady in the same breath.

George Sillers - a man who is chosen to be on the jury because he leaves religion to his wife.

Harry U. Esterbrook - a radio man seen in the last act of the play

CONFLICT

Protagonist:

The protagonist is Henry Drummond, the lawyer for the defense of Bert Cates. He represents independent thinking and freedom from censorship.

Antagonist:

The antagonist is Matthew Harrison Brady, the lawyer for the prosecution. He represents censorship and lack of independent thinking.

Climax:

The climax occurs when Drummond puts Brady on the witness stand and proves the narrow-mindedness of the state and Brady's thinking. When Brady is made to look ridiculous, Drummond gains the support of the audience in the courtroom. Brady is visibly upset over the turn of events and can barely speak.

Outcome: