Inherit the Wind
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee write the play, Inherit the Wind. It is based upon the Scopes (monkey) trial of 1925. Henry Drummond is the defense attorney for Bertram Cates. While Matthew Harrison Brady is the prosecuting attorney. Cates was on trial for teaching the theory of evolution, rather than the popular majority choice of creationism, to his sophomore class. When speaking to Brady, Drummond says, "An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral." This best demonstrates the theme of the play by showing the importance of thought and progress. The theme of Inherit the Wind is democracy, the right to think. When Drummond wasn't allowed to call any of his witnesses to the stand, he was hopeless. And in his desperation he came up with an idea to bring "the Pr
So in conclusion, this quote best presents itself as proving the theme of this play, the importance and right to think. Drummond is merely stating that a cathedral or a Biblical story is nice, but an idea is far more important than anything is. "An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. If the people as a whole completely and utterly devoted their entire lives to religion and accepted nothing else, where would we be now? We would be so far back in the natural chain of evolution that it would almost be backwards. To be able to design a thought process complicated enough to change society now, as we know it, didn't come from counting on religion; it came from evolving as a species. People should not have to teach, or speak, in fear that what they say, may be illegal. Freedom of speech may be in the constitution, but obviously, as proven in this case, a freedom of opinion can be a far worse fate. "You figure a tractors sinful, because it isn't mentioned in the Bible?" If we were to directly follow the Bible there would be no tractors, or even telephones for that matter. A thought can change mankind; it produced fire, and created the telephone. The quote, "An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral", simply states the magnitude that thought holds on the play. " What Drummond means is that an idea can move mankind ahead in their struggle for adaptation to the ever-changing world. In the midst of explaining his reasoning for belief in Darwin, the Origin of Species, he says something that illustrates the significance of thought. Evolution was the purpose of this trial, but thought is the reason. Meanwhile, religion is a nice thing when it can comfort and soothe, but to rely solely upon it will hold you back.
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Acceptance Essays
