preview

Inherit The Wind Theme

Good Essays
Open Document

Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot solve the problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” This idea is present throughout Inherit the Wind. Inherit the Wind is a play that challenges both science and belief. Its plot surrounds an educator teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in a small town where the Bible is treated as the only book that explains where humanity came from. The play’s playwrights, Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence, is justifying, through Inherit the Wind, the perils of having a limited perspective and reveals that one should expand one’s horizons to continue progressing in life, prevent ignorance, and exclusion from the rest of the world through their character’s actions, dialogues, …show more content…

As Inherit the Wind puts it, “... Suddenly he notices Rachel’s copy of Darwin on the table… Then, Drummond notices the Bible, on the Judge’s bench. He picks up the Bible on his other hand; he looks from one volume to the other, balancing them thoughtfully, as if his hands were scales… Then Drummond slaps the two books together and jams them in his briefcase, side by side…” (Lawrence and Lee 129). This action by Drummond, a lawyer with decades worth of experience who comes to the small town where he helps Bert Cates— a teacher who violated a law that prohibits the teaching of evolution to public school students, is symbolizing his limitless perspective. He shows that one can accept both science and the Bible. By making his hands act like scales, he shows the audience to believe in not just a single idea, but to become open and consider other ones as well. As he carries the two book together, he symbolizes how he thinks that both books are important and incomparable. Furthermore, as Lawrence and Lee writes, “... Brady is fretful and …show more content…

Lee are present in their character’s dialogue. As Drummond puts it, “The Bible is a book. A good book. But it’s not the only book” (Lawrence and Lee 98). Drummond is referring to Darwin’s book when he says that the Bible is not the only book. This is also his way of telling the spectators and the jury that there is a world out there with boundless perceptions and by becoming intact with the sole idea of God’s creation, one misses that chance to meet that ever-so-changing world. Once one misses that chance, one does not progress to one’s full potential. At the same time, Drummond also states, “... It’s the loneliest feeling in the world— to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down” (Lawrence and Lee 51). Drummond is referring to the absence of mind and the presence of ignorance in Brady’s life due to his limited perspective. He is telling Brady that while everybody else has opened their minds and started reconsidering their own beliefs, he remains close-minded and that feeling of isolation and exclusion from the rest of the world is because of his ignorance. Brady’s ignorance has not only affected the way he sees the world, but also the way the world sees him. Correspondingly, Drummond states, “All motion is relative. Perhaps it is you who have moved away— by standing still” (Lawrence and Lee 67). Drummond is speaking about

Get Access
Related
Get Access