Intolerance and Racism in "A Time to Kill"

Paper Summary:

This paper explores "A Time to Kill," by John Grisham, a story about the human intolerance our society still has to face at several different levels. The writer focuses on the themes of racial conflict between black and white and the conflict between citizens and the law. The writer defines racism and explains that the story shows racism as a distortion of values in the minds of those who are affected by it. The moral conflict between right and wrong, the moral conflict within the people who have to judge the accused, and the intolerance shown by the supporting groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, are also issues in the story. The writer concludes that the book's message is that intolerance is inevitable, and people must work hard to fight and defeat it.

From the Paper:

"The story happens in the south. This is not a coincidence: the author was trying to deliver a message to the receptive reader, by placing this particular story in a world where racial intolerance evolved into a culture. The southern states had a long history of black and white confrontations, going back to the slave era when each color of skin had a very specific role in society. By (violently) ending this clear separation, the conflict grew stronger, as they were being forced to live together, even against their own will."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "A Time to Kill". Amazon.com. 2 Aug. 2007 <http://www.amazon.com/Time-Kill-Matthew-McConaughey/dp/0790729660>
• Grisham, John. A Time to Kill. New York: Dell edition, 2004.

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