Analysis Of H. L. Mencken's The Hills Of Zion

Reporter and author, H.L. Mencken, in his essay, “The Hills of Zion,” recounts a trial In Dayton Tennessee and his experiences there with the townspeople. The trial involved the state and a substitute teacher named Mr.Scopes who was accused of violating a law at that time prohibiting any teachings of evolution.This is the reason he wrote “The Hills of Zion”. This trial is why H.L. Mencken went to Tennessee; he had to cover it. Mencken’s purpose was to convey coverage that was biased against the prosecution and persuade the people to side with the defense in the trial. He also shows evidence of the strictly religious town, in order to appeal to the people and show that maybe the trial wasn't so fair.

Mencken begins his essay to the trial and his first impression of the town by acknowledging …show more content…
“That is to say, it was predominantly epicurean and sinful”().H. L. Mencken experiences people following strict religious rules about how to live.There were people from all directions coming to watch this trial and see the end result. When he went to Morgantown and came back to Dayton, he saw the masses of people and realized how different the towns were. Mencken uses imagery by creating a picture in the reader’s head of each different part in the essay. There was never a part in this essay that does not describe, in full detail, the convulsions of the religious people. His purpose is to show how the religion of Dayton is seen as entertainment and does not think that they truly believe in their religion. He achieves his purpose because he shows that he does not believe that they are really religious. It seemed like more of a circus to him, which is not a topic that is tied in with religion that often. He believes that the genuinely religious people are the people in the