Jury Speech Regarding Brother's Guilt

Jury Speech Regarding Brother’s Guilt William Armstrong, better known as Doodle, was a young child. Even though he was “all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled,” his innocence never failed to bring joy to his family. However, contrary to his brother’s morality, Brother’s pride blinded him from the more compassionate choices. He thought of his little brother as a “burden in many ways” and thus, victimised him. His constant twisted state of mind, led by his desire for dignity, has put the life of beloved Doodle in danger several times, as well. Shortly after Doodle was born, Brother “began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.” He loathed the thought of “having an invalid brother” due to Doodle’s disability because of his heart condition. This …show more content…
Doodle was too tired to swim, so Brother rowed their skiff, instead. After they “had drifted a long way,” Brother “made Doodle row back against the tide” as a storm began to form, despite the fact that Doodle was frightened, exhausted, and in no condition to row the skiff back to Horsehead Landing. When they finally arrived, the rain and lightning had already taken effect, and they had to sprint back home. Doodle had fallen behind, once again begging for Brother not to leave him, but Brother started to run faster. As a consequence to Brother’s selfish act of cruelty, Doodle had to suffer. Through no fault of his own, he collapsed from the over exertion of energy because of Brother’s demands. Even though Doodle was going to die sometime in the near future anyway, he could have experienced school and made new friends who would have treated him right. He could have passed away peacefully, instead of dying in a gory way. Brother had always felt the temptation to bring down Doodle’s self-esteem, and had been a major contributor to Doodle’s