Assignments
and Student Writing:
Student
Responses to Inherit the Wind Scene Analysis Assignment
The Character Development of Inherit the Wind's Matthew and Sarah Brady (Portfolio Version) by Karen Helgeson
Films
with intense legal themes generally present very dry, professional characters
with occasional moments of character development. In the film Inherit
the Wind, the head legal counsel for the prosecution, Matthew Harrison
Brady, first appears as a dynamic man of the people. He and his wife,
Sarah, seem to be a perfect couple in the spotlight of American politics.
Both characters wear broad smiles, walk tall and proud, and sport conservative,
yet fashionable attire. Sarah proudly applauds in support of her husband
as he addresses the town of Hillsboro as their lead prosecutor. However,
the director and screenwriter of the film continue to develop the Bradys
as a couple with a long history full of emotion and love. In the scene
entitled "Rachel Visits the Bradys," the characters of Matthew
and Sarah Brady emerge as not only a political power couple, but as
two very emotionally connected people.
The director, Stanley Kramer, uses lighting, sound, and costuming in
the character development of Matthew and Sarah Brady. These staging
techniques accentuate the intense dialogue between Sarah and Rachel
Brown, the preacher’s daughter, and between Sarah and Matthew.
In this scene, Rachel pays a visit to the Brady's hotel room to confront
Matthew about his decision to put her on the witness stand against Bertram
Cates. Instead of speaking with Matthew, Rachel and Sarah have a powerful
exchange. Matthew then enters, half asleep, to hear Rachel exclaim that
she is no longer a child. After Rachel’s exit, Sarah and Matthew
discuss the case, Matthew’s integrity, and their relationship.
As the conversation progresses, specific lighting and sound draw the
audience’s attention to dramatic reactions or revealing exclamations.
The scene opens on the Bradys' dark hotel room. A strong, loud knock
on the door commences the action. Sarah Brady emerges from her bedroom
into the darkness and then turns on the light. The extinguishing of
darkness is a symbol of emerging truth. Kramer uses this technique repeatedly;
all trial scenes are filmed in bright light while the community prayer
gathering that breaks down into accusation is in the dark. Scenes that
include the revelation of information or ideas include bright light.
In contrast, scenes that display narrowness of thought are in darkness.
The rest of this scene is filmed in bright light to foreshadow revelations
presented by Rachel or Sarah about their feelings towards their loved
ones and their roles in the Cates trial.
After Sarah turns on the light and welcomes Rachel into the room, sound
and volume of their voices become an important part of their conversation.
Sarah, initially, reminds Rachel that Matthew is asleep in the next
room and suggests that their voices be lowered. However, by the end
of her conversation with Rachel, Sarah’s voice reaches high volumes
as well, as she declares her support for Matthew. Rachel begins the
conversation in a low voice as she explains her dream of being chained
to the witness chair, which acts as exposition and offers an allusion
to the past trial scene. As Rachel explains her disgust with Matthew
and the way he used her as a witness, her voice becomes steadily louder,
drawing attention to the urgency of her argument. Sarah occasionally
offers her opinion on her husband’s handling of Rachel’s testimony,
but she does not raise her voice. For example, her statement "Youth
can be so pure. What do you know of good and evil?" does not match
Rachel’s frantic tone or volume. Her character uses this low and
constant tone so as not to detract from Rachel. Then, as Sarah begins
explaining her point of view, she uses an equally loud voice. She assumes
the role of defender, acting dominant and persuasive like her husband
in a courtroom. Sarah reaches volume peaks when saying, "I am defending
the forty years I’ve lived with this man, and I believe in my husband.
What do you believe in?" It is here that the volume is loudest
in this scene.
Matthew Brady enters the scene and breaks the tension in the hotel room
between Rachel and Sarah. Rachel exclaims she is no longer a child and
storms out of the room. Matthew and Sarah are left alone in their hotel
room. At this point, costuming becomes an essential element in Kramer's
attempt to portray Matthew and Sarah as people other than their political
personas. Matthew and Sarah’s costumes for this scene are their
pajamas. The rest of the film has the couple dressed to impress Matthew
in a clean suit and Sarah in a conservative and elegant dress with a
matching hat. The casual attire in this scene reveals the Bradys as
normal people. They shed the garments of their public lives, like their
political image, for intimate clothing to reflect this private moment.
Matthew and Sarah appearing in their pajamas represents an unmasking,
a stripping of their external image.
To conclude the scene, Sarah explains to Matthew the reasons she loves
and admires him. She clutches his hand and pulls it to her heart. Matthew,
having just awakened, appears sleepy and a bit confused. Once again,
Kramer uses sound to make the moment very delicate. In Matthew’s
reaction to Sarah’s speech of love and questioning, he loudly states,
"I will make them understand. I will make them listen." The
scene once again peaks in volume, but this peak is followed by a dramatic
shift to Sarah’s quiet, comforting voice and Matthew’s whimpering.
The dramatic volume shift makes the conclusion of the scene more dramatic
as Matthew repeats, "Mother, they laughed at me," and Sarah
comforts, It’s OK, baby." Sarah assumes a motherly role as
a caretaker and comforter while Matthew is reduced to a scared child.
Matthew’s breakdown is surprising because the audience does not
expect it. Matthew plays the confident and cool lawyer who appears to
in control of all situations. His childlike sobs seem to undermine the
authority he exudes in the earlier scenes. That closing image contrasts
directly with Matthew and Sarah’s first scene together during the
welcome parade.
This scene shows characteristics of Matthew and Sarah Brady that are
different from their political images. In a public context, Matthew
presents himself as a leader with his wife in a passive role. However,
in the private dialogue between the couple, Sarah becomes forceful and
loud, assuming a dominant role that is typical of her husband when he
is in public. The final scene shows the couple exchanging roles, accentuated
by the rising and falling volume of voices to demonstrate tension. In
public life, Matthew appears strong and confident but in their private
life, Sarah acts as the source of reassurance. This role reversal suggests
that in a relationship, one person cannot always be the assertive partner,
but each person has to be strong at different times. In this setting,
the Bradys appear to comfort each other in a very intense way. Matthew
becomes vulnerable and Sarah rebuilds the image he presents in their
public life. The political display they present for the town of Hillsboro
is not an accurate representation of their life together. By establishing
this contrast, Kramer reveals the misperceptions that result when society
assumes that public life replicates private life.
Inherit
the Wind Scene Analysis
by Elizabeth Wells
Dear
Professor Viti,
The assignment asked us to analyze one scene in Inherit the Wind
and show how Kramer uses this scene to add to the character or plot
development. I chose the scene that introduces the audience to Matthew
Brady. I feel that Kramer uses this scene to illustrate to the viewer
that the people of Hillsboro have already chosen sides and they put
Brady on a pedestal because he is leading their side. They see him as
their savior and a defender of religion. Through the dialogue of the
mayor and Brady himself, the music, the camera angels, and the positioning
of characters and objects in the frame, Kramer establishes Brady’s
strong, leading character. This build up in character is important because
it emphasizes how confused the entire town is, because eventually Brady
is destroyed physically and symbolically.
The last paper I focused on constructing a thesis and supporting it
coherently. For this paper that part was a lot easier and it was harder
to focus on the smaller grammatical errors and proper style. I have
a lot of ideas and a lot to say and in this paper the hardest part was
expressing my ideas in the clearest way. I tend to have long rambling
sentences and there is no rhythm to my writing as you pointed out. I
tried to break apart my long sentences and make quick straight to the
point sentences. I also had a lot of passive voice and uses of the verb
to be, so I tried to get rid of all of those.
As usual, I found the peer editing very helpful. One of my main problems
is that some times I don’t articulate and express my ideas so that
the reader understands what I am trying to say and the peer editors
help to eliminate that problem. If they don’t understand something
I need to go back and reorganize my thoughts. They were both very good
at pointing out where I lose the audience as well as pointing out better
ways to construct my sentences. As you pointed out my sentence style
needs some improvement and both the peer editors pointed that out and
suggest breaking apart some sentences and reorganizing others so that
my ideas flow better throughout the paragraph. Other people criticism
is very beneficial because I don’t see the errors in my own work.
At this point I am pretty happy with my paper. I really worked more
on eliminating the passive voice and the verb to be in order to make
the style a little bit better. I also worked on my sentence construction
as a whole. I hope that that part has improved a little. If I had more
time I would work on it even more because I know that there are still
some major problems with it. I am happy with my ideas and think that
I expressed them as clearly as I can but again if I had more time I
would have some more people read it to see if the could understand what
I was saying.
The audience that our paper was addressed to was a key part of this
paper and I actually found it very easy to accommodate to an audience
that hadn’t seen the movie. I tend to give to much background and
extra material in normal papers and now that the audience hasn’t
seen the movie I can leave a fair amount of that background information
in the paper. As I was writing every time I mention a new character
I made sure that I included a phrase that linked them to the plot of
the film that I already introduced in the first paragraph. This helped
to make sure the audience knew how that character fit into the point
that I was making. I actually like having an audience who doesn’t
know anything about the subject matter because it forces you to be as
clear as possible in your analysis.
I did have one other area that I wasn’t sure how to address in
this paper. Some of my supported evidence relied on the techniques that
Kramer. An example is his positioning of a dominant character among
a group of people who are shorter, or by increasing the space between
the characters around the dominant character in order to make the dominant
character pop out at the audience. He uses this technique several times
to display Brady’s strong character but he also uses it with in
the same scene to illustrate Rachel and Hornbeck’s role in the
film. My problem was whether or not to include the examples of Rachel
and Hornbeck because it adds to the credibility of the Kramer’s
technique but it doesn’t relate directly to Brady. I decided to
keep it in but my peer editors and Karen didn’t think that I needed
it.
Inherit the Wind is a good film and I enjoyed studying it. I particularly
enjoyed analyzing Kramer’s development of the various characters
and ideas. Half way through this assignment I realized that through
the development of Brady’s character, which is crucial to the film,
Kramer also forces the audience to question some ideas about our society.
He brought up issues about religion in politics and the idea that in
a small town the majority has complete control. These ideas are very
controversial and disturbing in a way because they point out major faults
in our society. Kramer does an excellent job of displaying these ideas
through Brady as well as the rest of the characters and their actions.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Wells
Inherit
the Wind Scene Analysis
The scene that introduces the audience to Matthew Harrison Brady, in
Inherit the Wind, (Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Frederic
March, and Gene Kelly. MGM. 1960) uses dialogue, composition, camera
work and music to develop Matthew Brady. Kramer reveals important information
about the plot of the film in this scene. The scene opens with a bird’s
eye view shot of the town of Hillsboro, and focuses in on the movement
of the parade below. The camera comes to rest on the convertible that
transports Brady and his wife. The town of Hillsboro welcomes the well-known
politician. He will serve the town by being the prosecutor in a trial
about evolution, similar to that of the historical Scopes Trial. This
scene, where we first meet Brady, reveals his strong character, and
the role of savior that the town expects him to play. Through the development
of Brady, Kramer also introduces us to the issues of religion and politics.
Stanley Kramer, the director, introduces the audience to two key ideas
in the very first shot of the scene. He does this through the use of
background tools, like music and scenery. As the camera fades in from
the previous scene, music begins to play, and a group of women sing
a religious hymn, "Give me that old time religion." The extremely
loud music continues for the duration of the parade. At first the audience
doesn’t know the source of the music, but as the parade comes to
an end, the camera focuses on a group of militant looking women, who
march and sing. This song draws the audience into the impending controversy
over religion. It expresses the entire town’s point of view on
the issue. The audience can see that religion affects the social stability
of the town. The song impacts the audience so much that after the film
the audience can’t help but continue to sing it. Kramer wants the
audience to realize the importance that religion has to these towns’
people. When a threat against religion appears, the people will stand
ready to fight for their religion.
Kramer likes to use unexpected methods to impose more of his ideas on
the viewer. Kramer uses the scenery or background props in order to
establish the influence and power that Brady has over the town. The
opening shot contains a banner, draped in the trees, that reads "BRADY
BRADY." This banner reaches from one end of the frame to the other.
Even before the audience meets this character, the banner establishes
his influence over the town. By positioning this banner here and focusing
on it, the viewer immediately sees that the town views Brady as their
savior. They believe that Brady will save their town from the threats
made by the devil, or Darwin, and his theory of evolution. As the camera
continues through the parade, posters and signs that praise Brady fill
nearly the entire frame. This public display expresses the towns support
for Brady and his campaign. Kramer also uses this device later in the
film to tear down the character of Henry Drummond. One of the newspapers
brought in Drummond to defend Bertram Cates. In the middle of the trial
the town protests against Drummond and they all carry signs that insult
and criticize him. Kramer uses the same method to praise one character
and criticize the other, and illustrates the irony that the viewer tends
to connect with the criticized character. Kramer uses signs here to
display the town’s opinions of the various characters without actually
having them say it.
As the scene continues Kramer forces the audience to see his view of
Matthew Brady by using the camera. The camera follows the parade through
town and every so often it focuses on a close up of Brady and his wife.
The camera shows a straightforward medium height shot that looks the
two straight on. These shots show him waving to the crowd and establish
him as a very public figure, a key point to his personality. As one
will see later in his speeches, Brady relies on publicity. Once Brady
and his wife have reached the center of town, the camera jumps to show
the mayor on a platform. The camera then moves to establish Brady’s
position just next to the mayor. Throughout the mayor’s speech,
Brady stands below in a position of weakness. He stands below the mayor,
but more space appears between him and the people around him. This causes
the viewer to focus in on him even when he stands in the crowd. Kramer
uses this technique two other times in the same scene. Both Rachel Brown
and E.K. Hornbeck stand near children, or short people so that they
stand out of the crowd. This technique establishes the importance of
the character’s position.
At the conclusion of the mayor’s brief speech Brady changes position.
He takes over the podium and becomes the dominant character. Through
out the rest of the scene, Brady stands above the crowd reflecting how
he becomes the voice of the town by the end of the speech. He has literally
and symbolically taken over leadership of the town. The people now look
to Brady to lead them against the great evil, evolution. As the scene
continues the camera reveals how important Brady sees this leading position.
He continues to take up the entire frame as the camera focuses on him
and he appears to dominate the rest of the action. The camera positions
Brady as the central focus of the scene and reveals his role in the
community.
The dialogue that occurs at this point in the scene adds to the establishment
of Brady’s position with in the community. He begins his speech
with the words, "Matthew Harrison Brady." These are the first
words that the audience hears, other than music in this scene. The impact
of these words relates to the affect that the signs through out the
parade had on the audience. Hearing Brady’s name glorified for
the whole town, makes his position of power more clear. After this introduction
the mayor gives Brady the honor of deputy colonel in the state militia.
This act symbolizes the political connections that Brady has and at
the same time illustrates the fuzziness of the lines between politics
and religion. In order to defend religion, Brady prosecutes Cates. Through
out the trial, the political authorities of the town support Brady in
condemning religion. Brady’s character resembles that of William
Jennings Bryan and Bryan was a very public political figure. He ran
for president several times. Mixing religion in politics creates a very
complex situation. Both Bryan and Brady make it clear that they defend
religion, and wish to use their political power to stand up for religion.
Once the mayor finishes glorifying Brady, Brady rises to the podium
and speaks to the town. Instead of presenting a formal speech, he presents
himself like a preacher and gives a sermon to the town. By inviting
the town preacher to stand by him, Brady connects to the town community
and to their ideas. Brady begins discussing the reasons why he came
to Hillsboro. He then identifies with what they want, saying, "To
teach the righteousness and the ways of the lord," is all the people
of Hillsboro want. He believes they should be allowed to do this and
commends them for their efforts. Once again Brady goes deep into the
ideas of religion and shows his personal connections to religion and
its authority. He also uses the word we to refer to himself and the
town, emphasizing his equal position with them, where as he refers to
the opponents as "them", or "the others". This tactic
appears through out political campaigns. The candidate appeals to the
people as one of them, and states that he has the people’s interests
at heart, because he has the same interests. We know that Brady lives
in the political arena and this act indicates how he operates as a politician
and a person.
Throughout Brady’s entire speech, the camera focuses on him and
he dominates the entire frame. He uses arm motions and moves around
stressing his dominance over the frame and the people. The blurred background
behind Brady causes the audience to focus on him and nothing else. The
only time the camera leaves Brady, illustrates the crowd’s response
to his words. The camera spins to show the confused expressions of Rachel
Brown, as well as the mocking expression of the newspaper reporter.
The rest of the crowd remains in awe of the amazing Brady and on two
occasions, as Brady takes the podium and as he concludes his speech,
the crowd bursts into song, singing, "If its good enough for Brady."
This song plays off of the words from the song during the parade, "If
its good enough for Jonah." Illustrated in a saintly manner, the
town establishes Brady’s position with religion.
Brady continues his speech and toward the end the reporter interrupts
him. He says that the newspaper hired Henry Drummond, the high-powered
defense lawyer, to represent the defendant. As Brady hears this, the
camera focuses in on his facial expression and the audience can see
the sudden uneasiness. The crowd responds to this news by criticizing
Drummond and threatening to run him out of town. As Brady hears the
crowd’s response, the camera focuses in on his face so the audience
can observe the impact that the town’s support has on him. He realizes
that the people support him. At this realization a large smirk appears
on his face. He then continues to preach, "If St. George had killed
a dragonfly instead of a dragon who would remember him?" Brady’s
victory will seem even more glorious and bring more publicity, now that
Drummond has been brought in as the defense attorney. "When he
(Drummond) fights, headlines follow. The whole world will watch our
victory over Drummond." Brady loves attention and this case not
only gives him that, but it also enables him to express his ideas and
stand up for religion. By preaching to the people, and comparing their
struggle to that of David and Goliath he stresses the power and importance
of religion and increases his support.
This short scene provides crucial information about the character of
Matthew Brady. A very strong, opinionated and powerful man, Brady has
many ideas and methods that this scene illustrates. Through the process
of developing Brady’s character, Kramer questions whether it is
possible for religion to exist in politics. Brady can’t balance
the two, as his ultimate collapse illustrates. Kramer also points out
the detrimental, oppressive affect that a small town can have on the
truth. The narrow mindedness of the town enabled Brady to take control
and prevent any alternative point of view to be considered. Is it possible
for a small town to equally consider both sides of an argument? Brady
appears to the town as a very strong self-assured man who believes in
his ideas. At the climax of the film, Drummond places Brady on the stand,
and questions his ideas. This serves as a major theme for the film and
as a result it becomes necessary to have a strong development of Brady’s
character, so that the viewer can better understand his fall.
Inherit
the Wind: Religion vs. Science
by Ashleigh Arledge
Stanley
Kramer’s film, Inherit the Wind, examines a trial based
on the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee. Often referred to
as "The Trial of the Century" (Scopes Trial Web Page),
the Scopes trial illuminated the controversy between the Christian
theory of creation and the more scientific theory of evolution.
John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was arrested for illegally
teaching evolutionism to his class. "The meaning of the trial
emerged because it was seen as a conflict of social and intellectual
values" (Scopes Trial Web Page). Kramer’s film dramatizes
this conflict between the Christian believers and the evolutionists
in "Hillsboro, heavenly Hillsboro, the buckle on the Bible
belt" (Inherit the Wind). Prosecutor Matthew Brady represents
the values of fundamental Christianity while defense attorney Henry
Drummond is the voice of reason and science. Although the two men
have been good friends and partners in the past, the case in Hillsboro
illuminates the difference in their values. Through the scene on
the porch with Matthew Brady and Henry Drummond, director Stanley
Kramer illustrates the incessant tug-of-war between religion and
science. More specifically, camera angle and Drummond’s metaphor
of the "Golden Dancer" help deliver Kramer’s belief
in evolutionism.
As the scene opens, Matthew Brady approaches Henry Drummond, who
is rocking peacefully on the front porch of their hotel. The tone
between the two men is light and friendly and the bland music playing
in the background helps to portray the easiness of the scene. The
opposing lawyers converse in a genteel manner, unlike their relationship
in the courtroom. In response to Brady’s observation that the
two old friends have drifted apart, Drummond says, "…maybe
it’s you who have moved away by standing still" (Inherit
the Wind). Drummond implies that Brady’s religious beliefs
are narrow and stagnant, preventing him from considering any of
the scientific discoveries of the twentieth century. As the two
men continue to talk on the porch, the audience can see that they
are rocking in their chairs at opposite tempos, pulling against
each other as religion and science often contradict one another.
At this point the camera angle is at face level, allowing each man
half of the screen space. This equal division suggests Kramer’s
belief that society is based on a balance of religion and science.
Both Brady and Drummond agree that creationism is not a proven theory,
and although Brady is a religious man himself, he places the people
of Hillsboro in a class lower than himself. He explains, "These
are simple people, Henry, poor people. They worked hard and they
need to believe in something, something beautiful. They’re
seeking something more perfect than what they have" (Inherit
the Wind). By this, Brady concedes that religion is like a fairy
tale; it is not real, yet it makes some people feel better about
reality. Drummond’s fear regarding religion is that people
have blind faith in something that is not real. He mockingly refers
to this type of faith as, "Window shopping for heaven,"
while Brady calls religion the "golden chalice of hope"
for the residents of Hillsboro (Inherit the Wind). Here, Kramer
presents his question most clearly: is believing in something that
is not part of reality, a cover for the less glamorous truth or
a display of hope?
Through Drummond’s metaphor of his Golden Dancer and the angle
of the camera, Kramer suggests that reason and science carry more
weight than faith and religion, but not overwhelmingly. Drummond
tells Brady of a rocking horse, the Golden Dancer, that he wanted
so badly when he was a child, but that his parents could not afford.
After going to great lengths to save money, his parents gave young
Henry Drummond the rocking horse for his birthday but it broke the
first time he tried to ride it. Through Drummond, Kramer equates
this story of a child’s wishes with Hillsboro residents’
faith in Christianity. Just as Drummond did not see past the glamorous
facade of the rocking horse, neither do the people of Hillsboro
see through religion. Kramer implies that religion is merely a façade
and those who depend on it are as simple as young children. Drummond
sums up his feelings, which are shared by the director, by saying:
All shine and no substance…All glitter and glamour; you say you’re giving the people hope? Ah, as long as the prerequisite for that shining paradise is ignorance, bigotry, and hate, I say to hell with it! (Inherit the Wind).
The camera angle during Drummond’s "Golden Dancer" speech changes so that the audience sees the profile of the two men. Drummond stands in front of Brady, almost hiding him completely. Brady must stretch his neck out to expose his face to the camera’s eye. This use of camera angle insinuates that Drummond’s belief in evolutionism is more prevalent in society, outside of Hillsboro, and that which is supported by the director. When Drummond gets up to go inside, leaving Brady alone on the porch, the background music changes to the tune of "Give Me That Old Time Religion," almost mocking Henry Drummond’s values. This musical implication reminds the audience that no matter what the rest of society believes, the trial is in Hillsboro, where creationism is the overwhelming belief. Kramer’s decision to include a chorus from "Give Me That Old Time Religion" demonstrates his awareness that religion is the only accepted ideology in Hillsboro, which typifies small, rural, southern towns along the Bible Belt.
Kramer uses Henry Drummond to illustrate his hesitation regarding religion and his faith in science. The placement of the camera while Drummond and Brady are on the porch demonstrates Kramer’s bias towards the Drummond’s values. As the camera physically turns towards Drummond, Kramer leans towards evolutionism. Not only does this scene confirm Kramer’s belief in the theory of evolution; it also expresses reason for Kramer’s reservations regarding Christianity. With Drummond’s metaphor of the "Golden Dancer, " Kramer enlightens the audience with some of the shortcomings of religion, such as susceptibility to corruption of the church. The porch scene in Inherit the Wind is not completely one sided though. It acknowledges the existence of both theories, resolving that the debate between creationism and evolutionism will continue forever.
Works Cited
Inherit the Wind. Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Fredrick
March, and Gene Kelly. MGM. 1960.
Scopes trial web page. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/evolut.htm.
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