Drummond Inherit The Wind

At times, it is necessary to go against society’s beliefs, as seen in the play Inherit the Wind written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Cates, the protagonist, is suffering the consequences of teaching evolution to his science class in a creationism based society. He is arrested and his trial brings attention to their town of Hillsboro. His attorney, Henry Drummond, uses his open-mindedness, stubbornness, and optimism to defend and help others in times of need. To begin, Henry Drummond remains open minded throughout Cates’ trial. During the trial, Howard is giving his testimony. In the response of the prosecution’s objection, Drummond states to the Judge “I am trying to establish, Your Honor, that Howard-or Colonel Brady-or Charles Darwin-or anyone in this courtroom-or you sir, has the right to think!” (Lawrence and Lee 71). Drummond …show more content…
Since the jury are the ones who decide the final verdict, Drummond refuses to allow a biased potential jury member. Cates then is able to obtain a fair verdict based solely on the evidence and testimony given. Later in the trial, Brady objects to Drummond bringing in a scientist as a witness. Drummond responds “The Defense has brought to Hillsboro-at great expense and inconvenience-fifteen noted scientists! The great thinkers of our time! Their testimony is basic to the defense of my client” (Lawrence and Lee 83). Drummond refuses to back down to Brady’s objections. He insists on having a scientist provide testimony for the trial. This causes Drummond to call up Brady to give testimony. While Drummond is cross examining Brady, he asks numerous questions about the Bible and its accuracy. Brady, however, provides many answers from the Bible that are scientifically not possible. This leads to the prosecutor’s downfall, and essentially Drummond earns a “win” over