| Product: |
A Time to Kill - John Grisham |
| Date: |
24/03/02 (997 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Excellent Characterization, Wonderfully Written, Thought Provoking, Inspirational
Disadvantages: Peoples May Be Deterred Because Of Child Rape Subject Matter
A Time To Kill is a truly compelling novel, which takes you into the exciting and devastating world of a father striving for justice in a world that breed's hatred for his kind. When reading A Time To Kill; I discovered one of the most powerful paragraphs I have ever frequented; it shows the immense literature prowess of John Grisham. A Time To Kill is all about the reader's ability to imagine devastating and world-shaking events in their minds just from the written word. Imagine you are a bystander to the rape of a black ten-year-old child. Two young, white rednecks have beaten, urinated, raped and assaulted her; she no longer resembles the child she was moments earlier; she cries softly so as not to arouse another thrashing. Now, detached from the event, imagine the child is your younger sister or relative. Would you know when the time was right to kill?
A Time To Kill is the remarkable retelling of the injustices in the Deep South. Based in Clanton, Mississippi; A Time To Kill takes the reader into a place where a black child, Tonya Hailey, has been raped by two rednecks, Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard. I found myself in the position of Carl Lee Hailey, the father of the child. Scared for life, unable to have children and memories that will haunt her for the rest of her life; Carl Lee Hailey feels he cannot stand by and watch the racist jury of Mississippi release the criminals in an unfair trial. The plot only starts to flourish after the death of Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard at the hands of Carl Lee Hailey's M-16.
The mark of a brilliant novel for me is the ability of the author to place the reader in the moment in time he or she is describing. John Grisham in A Time To Kill does exactly that; through not just gripping subject matter but the use of language and dialect; the close analysis of Carl Lee Hailey's madness, the effect this devastating event had on his mind and the after shocks which have triggered his
slow deterioration. The bold question arises, what are we without hope? Carl Lee Hailey has no hope in the law system in the notoriously racist Mississippi. What happens when a man has no hope after a terrifying situation?
The intervention of the Klu Klux Klan is an inevitable interaction. Throughout the novel it is clear that the town is separated; there are citizens who feel that what Carl Lee Hailey did was right and just, but these peoples do not speak up, not because they are necessarily cowards, but because they know its very unlikely Carl Lee Hailey won't be sentenced when 9 out of 10 jurors are racists.
As the tension in Clanton comes to a peak, emotions further climax when brilliant and just lawyer, Jake Brigance decides to adopt the case. Billy Ray Cobb's family encourages the intervention of the KKK and Jake's decision puts his entire family at risk, including his young daughter and wife Carla.
I have no doubt in my mind that A Time To Kill will have you seeing things in a whole new fresh light. It's crucial to realise that the novel is not just simply a history lesson, but rather a book, which invigorates thought and the attachment of emotions. I discovered myself pondering on the law system in America and here in England. It became apparent that all men in the eyes of the system are no created equally; I know some people on the site will disagree, but I have thought hours on end and have come to this conclusion. In retrospect, anyone who reads the novel shall also find himself or herself questioning the ethics and structures of society and the community.
Living in Liverpool, I have never ventured into the harsh underbelly of the Deep South, but I did so in my mind when reading A Time To Kill. What other novel can transport you hundreds of miles away and then back in time, while still retaining the horrific, terrific and definitive brilliance of the plot. I suppose the next question
is how does John Grisham do this, what techniques and strategies does he employ.
All I can say is that, John Grisham doesn't use techniques or styles and patterns of writing; instead in appears that he just lets his literature flow, not packed with metaphors and imagery but not a baron wasteland of creativity; somehow author John Grisham finds a happy medium which makes A Time To Kill a novel which one can fully believe and interact with.
In addition, the characters are almost real; close associates rather that people you simply read about. This is because John Grisham rather than just describing their characteristics and their exploits, we see life thought their eyes and this arouses different perspectives and ways of thinking. For me A Time To Kill was almost spiritual.
A Time To Kill is John Grisham' retelling the injustices of the Deep South a fresh, marvellous new fashion. The literature truly proceeds itself. Usually novels have meanings and truths hidden within their scriptures but I have never seen one before so true as that of A Time To Kill. John Grisham has caught the magic of human nature in this conclusive novel. Not only are the actions unpredictable and brilliantly described but also the characters are all individuals and have the potential for a novella of their own. Hope is a wonderful thing, and I think that in today's society we as a community take it for granted. For some people hope is money for a new car or I hope Liverpool will beat Everton on Saturday but I anticipate that hope is so much more that just these materialistic and idealistic things; when reading A Time To Kill, you will know exactly what I mean, and also acknowledge that we as humans only know the power of hope when it is gone.
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