Light and Silence to Reinforce Truth and Justice in Larry Watson's Montana 1948

Both Reginal Rose and Larry Watson shows the importance of achieving justice in their stories. However, what they achieved is different; justice was attained in 12 angry men, while it doesn't in Montana 1948. The prohibiting factors that makes the justice harder to achieved are the prejudice, bias and misuse of power. They also shows the relationship between power and justice, just in contrasting way.

The Emmett Till murder shined a light on the horrors of segregation and racism on the United States. Emmett Till, a young Chicago teenager, was visiting family in Mississippi during the month of August in 1955, but he was entering a state that was far more different than his hometown. Dominated by segregation, Mississippi enforced a strict leash on its African American population. After apparently flirting with a white woman, which was deeply frowned upon at this time in history, young Till was brutally murdered. Emmett Till’s murder became an icon for the Civil Rights Movement, and it helped start the demand of equal rights for all nationalities and races in the United States.

The Novel Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey revolves around a young boy named Charlie Bucktin living in the small Australian town of Corrigan in the 1960’s. Charlie is exposed to the confronting issues of racial prejudice, injustice and moral duality. He is challenged to question right from wrong, has to come to the realization that law doesn’t always uphold justice and we as readers are positioned to understand that people are capable of holding two conflicting values and remain in confortable harmony. The ideas are portrayed through Silvey’s use of narrative conventions that are used to either challenge or reinforce our values, attitudes and beliefs on the issues explored.

In his story “The Lakota Way; Joseph Marshall III adequately convinces the reader to persevere through a series of stories that allows the reader to develop a personal connection with characters. Marshall achieves this by informing the reader and using formal diction. This allows his readers to experience how perseverance can have a positive impact on one’s life. Marshall teaches us that Perseverance represents a quality in human beings that allows us to be steadfast despite the difficulty. In the folk tale “The Story of the Giant,” perseverance is abundant; Marshall utilizes the skill of teaching to persuade his audience to persevere through the story. Marshall‘s unique way of writing allows the reader to take lessons from a story and influence them to use it in their own lives. From lya the giant terrorizing people to Indians having to leave their land because of the government to Marshall’s grandfather’s stories of hardship, Marshall shows his audience how the Native Americans have always had it rough but more importantly how they persevered.

Visual plays a great factor in the passage, Marquarts want to describe how the Midwest gets looked down. Marquart uses visuals “ .. through the state of North Dakota, you’ll encounter a road so lonely, treeless and devoid of rising and curves in places that it will feel like a long-held pedal steel guitar note”. The visuals are used to print a picture in the reader's mind showing the reader that long rides are boring and driving through the Midwest is boring because there is nothing to see. She also used a simile to describe how it just one big long road of nothing. The long guitar note is used to show the reader that a single note is dull when a single note is playing the audience waits in suspense to find out what is happening next later to find out nothing going to happen. By focusing on what the visual mean Marquart is able to how the reader an understanding of what the Midwest means to her as well a in showing the characteristics of the Midwest.

McKay emphasizes that his deep hatred for the “White City” is due to the oppression he receives from white-skinned people for being African American; however this hatred is hidden from the world as he is perceived as an isolated minority in this “White City”. The intensity of McKay’s hatred is displayed in the personification of the “dark Passion that fills [his] every mood”(6). The first letter in the diction “Passion” is capitalized, thus personifying it to be representation of the

In the novel, Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey provides us the audience an insight into the characters’ pursuit of truth by exploring overarching ideas such as Fear, Racism and Scapegoating and linking them with character dialogue as well as narrator descriptions. The main truth presented by Craig Silvey is the investigation of Laura Wishart’s death, by pursuing this truth Charlie uncovers truths about his family and town. I believe that by using these overarching ideas, silver is able to offer us a deep insight into the characters’ pursuit of truth.

Both Montana 1948 and Twelve Angry Men exemplify that justice provides rules and powers and the complex consequences of misusing this in the society. Although they do so in diverse ways. Twelve Angry Men, written by Reginald Rose, demonstrated the misuse of power, when most of the jurors failed to use the different principles of the justice system. In the beginning of the play, eleven out of twelve jurors voted “guilty” towards a crime that had no sufficient evidence. However, after much debate, and the heroic effort of the 8th Juror who gave a “not guilty” verdict, prevented the punishment being wrongfully applied. Similar ideas were explored in Montana 1948, a novel written by Larry Watson. The misuse of power is evidently portrayed by the Hayden’s Family, as they used their good reputations to manipulate the town of Montana and operate above the law. They took advantage of the people who had no influence within the society which resulted in the distortion of facts and the corruption of justice. Whereas each text exhibited that many, but not all characters had shown broad prejudice and tendentiousness against the people who had little power that leads into sophisticated effects such that miserableness, suffering, family breakdown and especially ruining the justice system.

Larry Watson’s 1993 novella ‘Montana 1948’ tells a tale of loyalty and justice through a young boy living in a town where the justice system is corrupted by family ties and racism. Likewise, in Reginald Rose’s 1954 teleplay ‘Twelve Angry Men’, twelve jurors determine the fate of a boy accused of murdering his father. Although the stories are quite different, Montana 1948 having a strong family dynamic and Twelve Angry Men being a short courtroom drama, ultimately they both explore justice as a theme and how justice can be very subjective and moulded to

In the novel Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey provides us the audience an insight into the characters’ pursuit of truth by exploring overarching ideas such as Fear, Racism and Scapegoating and linking them with character dialogue as well as narrator descriptions. The main truth presented by Craig Silvey is the investigation of Laura Wishart’s death, by pursuing this truth Charlie uncovers truths about his family and town. I believe that by using these overarching ideas, silver is able to offer us a deep insight into the characters’ pursuit of truth.

Additionally, the subject of this novel is stated through various viewpoints of information and is understood by all audiences. In addition, the mood of the story is mysterious, unsettling, and chilling. In particular, when the author describes the murder of Emmett that is enough visualization to send chills down the reader's spine. Also, the tone of the author throughout the novel is solemn and gloomy. Lastly, not only is the novel informant: it’s also educational at the same time.

Within the play, there are a variety of ways that the people of Laramie and those outside of Laramie frame Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, the murderers of Matthew Shepard. I find the fact that the play is able to present how the American people were able to frame them as outliers from society, yet still, acknowledge that the two were manifestations of society surprising. In most texts aimed at the public, the perpetrators of the Matthew Shepard murder are framed as being outliers, not connected with the majority of society. The Laramie Project is able to demonstrate that the pair are a reflection of societal prejudices through the use of contradictions of characters. The playwrights would present a character that used language suggesting that the behavior and attitudes of McKinney and Henderson were abnormal, then contradict those statements using members of Laramie who were either scrutinized by these prejudices or experienced similar ones. In creating these opposing narratives, the play is able to share all the perceptions of Laramie, while still holding the town of Laramie and the audience accountable for the murder.

In the novel, Montana 1948, written by Larry Watson, a story of a young boy named David and the events of a cataclysmic summer holidays are recounted. Set in the heart of North America in the 19th century, when Native Americans were considered B class citizens and persecution was inevitable ever since the Europeans first arrived on the continent. David matures in a short span throughout the text from naivety to maturity as a result of the series of horrendous events he experiences. The murder and sexual assault of Marie Little Soldier evokes a case in which Wes, David’s father and sheriff of the county must re-moralise his choices as his brother Frank is to

In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” one of the most pertinent themes throughout the story is the contrast and duality of light and darkness. More specifically, the author explores this theme by using light and darkness to explain the characters coming to terms with their realities and the realities of many people who live in their community. The theme also is key in explaining the relationship between Sonny and the narrator. In this paper, I intend to explain the significance of the tension of identifying one’s reality in “Sonny’s Blues,” by exploring the many instances that Baldwin uses light and darkness to explore one’s reality.

McKay uses literary devices such as similes to make a comparisons expressing how the African-Americans were being treated. He does this to show the people what the oppressors view them as and what they should be viewed as. This forces the people to