The trial does not begin with an assumption that Jefferson is just a suspect, whose guilt should be proved by the appropriate evidences. Rather, it focuses on what reasons the white men have not to execute Jefferson. The defense lawyer, at first, argues properly that there is no proof against Jefferson. However, he changes his logic while he speaks for Jefferson. He gives the juries the reason why they do not need to kill Jefferson. Jefferson is innocent because he is as ignorant as a hog and not useful as much as a hog. Then, he asks for "mercy." The lawyer shows what "justice" actually means in a racist society. He asks, "What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this" (8). Justice is not for a "hog" but only for the (white) men. At the end of the trial, the Judge reveals what the trial actually has been by saying that he "saw no reason that he [Jefferson] should not pay for the part he played in this horrible crime" (9). For him, there is no reason to let Jefferson live at all. The absurdity of legal justice is amplified when Grant, hearing about the decision of the execution day, cynically asks what justice is: "Twelve white men say a black man must die, and another white man sets the date and time without consulting one black person. Justice?" (157). All white male men at jury decide one's life and death, and the governor, as if he were God, decides when one must
The trial does not begin with an assumption that Jefferson is just a suspect, whose guilt should be proved by the appropriate evidences. Rather, it focuses on what reasons the white men have not to execute Jefferson. The defense lawyer, at first, argues properly that there is no proof against Jefferson. However, he changes his logic while he speaks for Jefferson. He gives the juries the reason why they do not need to kill Jefferson. Jefferson is innocent because he is as ignorant as a hog and not useful as much as a hog. Then, he asks for "mercy." The lawyer shows what "justice" actually means in a racist society. He asks, "What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this" (8). Justice is not for a "hog" but only for the (white) men. At the end of the trial, the Judge reveals what the trial actually has been by saying that he "saw no reason that he [Jefferson] should not pay for the part he played in this horrible crime" (9). For him, there is no reason to let Jefferson live at all. The absurdity of legal justice is amplified when Grant, hearing about the decision of the execution day, cynically asks what justice is: "Twelve white men say a black man must die, and another white man sets the date and time without consulting one black person. Justice?" (157). All white male men at jury decide one's life and death, and the governor, as if he were God, decides when one must