The Brown Pelican
The brown pelican is an interesting bird that plays a vital role in the plot of The Pelican Brief. It’s a large bird with a near extinction event behind it. It was one of the main causes of the Louisiana trial that caused two judges to end up dead along with two lawyers, a hitman, a CIA operative, and and a law school professor. It is also just an interesting American bird.
In the book it is referenced once or maybe twice besides the fact that the brief is named after it. It was referred to as “the hero of the Louisiana trial”. It was brought up in the case that the dig site should be marked as a conservation area, because of the small population of brown pelicans that lived there. The book also mentioned it's near extinction event in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I will quote “The pelican became the hero. After thirty years of insidious contamination by DDT and other pesticides, the Louisiana brown pelican perched on the …show more content…
They lay the eggs in flimsy nests made of twigs and trash. If they are on an island with no predators, they will just lay their eggs on the ground. They travel together in groups and fly in a V formation or in a line (Marine Station & F.P.). They will often fly over the ocean and “dive bomb” fish and scoop them up in their bill. Afterwards they drain their bills of water and eat the fish. Sometimes seagulls will try to steal the fish from the pelicans while their draining them. Even though it is mentioned on the title the pelican was not really the most important part of the book. In fact it was more or less just there to have a reason for the trial to be put on standby. Researching, there was nothing about John Grisham having any personal connection to the pelican. But he did state that the Pelican Brief took him about six months to write and that he rushed the book. That being said the brown pelican could have just as easily been replaced by a bird like the
The brown pelican is an interesting bird that plays a vital role in the plot of The Pelican Brief. It’s a large bird with a near extinction event behind it. It was one of the main causes of the Louisiana trial that caused two judges to end up dead along with two lawyers, a hitman, a CIA operative, and and a law school professor. It is also just an interesting American bird.
In the book it is referenced once or maybe twice besides the fact that the brief is named after it. It was referred to as “the hero of the Louisiana trial”. It was brought up in the case that the dig site should be marked as a conservation area, because of the small population of brown pelicans that lived there. The book also mentioned it's near extinction event in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I will quote “The pelican became the hero. After thirty years of insidious contamination by DDT and other pesticides, the Louisiana brown pelican perched on the …show more content…
They lay the eggs in flimsy nests made of twigs and trash. If they are on an island with no predators, they will just lay their eggs on the ground. They travel together in groups and fly in a V formation or in a line (Marine Station & F.P.). They will often fly over the ocean and “dive bomb” fish and scoop them up in their bill. Afterwards they drain their bills of water and eat the fish. Sometimes seagulls will try to steal the fish from the pelicans while their draining them. Even though it is mentioned on the title the pelican was not really the most important part of the book. In fact it was more or less just there to have a reason for the trial to be put on standby. Researching, there was nothing about John Grisham having any personal connection to the pelican. But he did state that the Pelican Brief took him about six months to write and that he rushed the book. That being said the brown pelican could have just as easily been replaced by a bird like the