Topic > Analysis of Brady's complex personality in Inherit The Wind

After watching Inherit the Wind, the audience leaves Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee's work with such a conflict of emotions due to the constant changing of the audience's perspective on the character of Brady by the playwrights, and through the transformation of his personality from arrogance to delusion, and finally to a sense of broken accomplishment, the audience leaves the show with such a wheel of opinion that it is difficult to interpret Brady's character in the together during the work. The playwrights convey Brady to the audience, in the early parts of the play, as arrogant and proud; this initial sense of grandiloquence and self-confidence creates an elevated aura about Brady, thus making his fall from greatness even more pronounced, while maximizing the contrast of his personality in the first and last parts of the play. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Playwrights achieve such effects by creating anticipation for Brady's arrival through the citizens' anxiety and excitement, manifesting in their conversations, such as "Imagine." Matthew Harrison Brady comes here... I saw him once", thus immersing the audience in the almost divine opinion that the citizens have of Brady, conveyed by the pride and disbelief of having "seen him once". arrival, citizens' opinions of Brady appear to be confirmed by the eloquence and charm of his speech, described as "When Brady speaks, there can be no doubt of his personal magnetism", made more vivid by the contrast of the clumsiness of the speech of the mayor: "Mr. President Wilson would never have made it to the White House", using the narrow-mindedness of double negatives and colloquialisms to paint Brady in an even greater light. Brady is presented from the beginning as conceited and self-obsessed by the playwrights due to his belief that he will undoubtedly win the trial, in contrast to the sympathy the public feels for the modest and shy Bert Cates, whose language, '(Trying to cheer up [Rachel]) You know something funny... you'd do better to not tell anyone how beautiful it is down there, otherwise we'll have a crime wave every summer," is light-hearted and humane, despite being in a troubling situation, thus providing a stark contrast to the self-centered and arrogant Brady Despite the public's initial opinion of Brady's strong reputation and skill as an orator, the bombast and arrogance of his fighting claims that "the whole world will watch our victory over Drummond", is somewhat undermined by his overindulgence. in food - "it would be a shame to see them go to waste," - leaving the public's high view of Brady's charisma and reputation as an orator, and an impression of the materialism and dramatic irony of his hypocrisy and that of the Bible suggested, how he draws scene 1 As the narrative progresses, the trial itself sees the public's support for Drummond and Cates increase due to the former's consideration and morality while in court, compared to the condescending and cunning methods employed by Matthew Harrison Brady . The immediate personality contrast is shown in the opening stage directions of Scene 2 between the modesty and candor of "Cates sits next to Drummond at a lawyer's table", versus "Brady sits grandly at another table", immediately showing his arrogance, while "waving himself with benevolent self-assurance," uses dramatic irony to paint a picture of Brady's false confidence and haughtiness, thus making the public's opinion of Brady's stupidity more pronounced. The trialit manifests Drummond's humility and kindness and Brady's lack of it. When Howard is called to the witness stand in Act 2, Scene 1, he is described as "miserable in a starched collar and Sunday suit", and therefore nervous about appearing in court. Brady's mannerisms and speech when speaking to the Howards are, especially when compared to Drummond, shrewd and tough. Brady twists Howard by saying, "Along with the dogs and cattle in the field: did he say that?" thus putting the words in Howard's mouth, much to Drummond's disapproval - "about to protest the incitement of the witness", - but Brady's cunning further manifests itself in "(Howard swallows. Brady points to the boy.) I'm telling you, if this law isn't upheld, this kid is going to be one of a generation," which adds to the audience's view of Brady with a sense of ruthlessness and callousness through his "targeting" of a small, terrified child, all just to try to make his case in court. This view is strengthened when compared to Drummond's mannerisms with Howard – "He playfully punches Howard's right arm" and "Drummond addresses the boy in a pleasantly familiar way" – providing a stark contrast between the kind and pleasant Drummond and the tough, immoral Brady. The latter stages of the show see Brady fall from pride and arrogance, and the transformation of the public's opinions of him from contempt of his arrogance, to a sense of sympathy for his exposed weakness and mental frailty. This change in the portrayal of Brady to the audience is the main factor in the conflict of feelings in the audience's mind between a sense of justice for Brady's emotional loss and a pathetic light for obvious internal problems. When Drummond calls Brady to the witness stand, the playwrights have him adopt an aura of further grandeur in his mannerisms, as exemplified by "His air is that of a benevolent and cultured mathematician who is about to be interrogated by a schoolboy on matters of short division". combined with the confident chiasmus of "I'm more interested in the rock of centuries than the age of rocks", thus describing his supposed arrogance and superiority over Drummond. Thus the playwrights evoke in the minds of the audience a greater desire for Brady to fall from his horse, thus making Brady's wary admission that there may be flaws in the Holy Bible - "It is... possible..." - more significant than through the use of the ellipsis provides a stark contrast to Brady's apparent self-assurance and eloquence to signal the beginning of the collapse of his case and his emotional strength, while the audience is eager to hammer the final nails into Brady's coffin. As Drummond proceeds to refute and dismiss Brady and his case, the latter, in his emotional breakdown, desperately clings to the list of books of the Bible before ending the scene in a pathetic, dim light: "I can't stand it when they laugh ". to me'... Mrs. Brady rocks gently back and forth, as if she were rocking a baby to sleep' - leaving the audience in a conflict of feelings of justice and simultaneously a sense of sympathy for the injured Bradys is evoked. As the court resumes the next day and the sentence is handed down, Brady, "in relative shadow," protests the sentence and begins another Bible-fueled speech, "from the holy hills of Mount Sinai," his words trailing off: "the his lips move, but nothing comes out,” and as he falls to the ground, Brady, “in a strange and unreal voice,” begins his unspoken inauguration speech – “as the new president, I can say what I've said all along my life", so the playwrights, in Brady's final vision.