The Difference Between Inherit The Wind (book) And The Real Scopes Trial

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 12th grade March 2002

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Have you ever been taught the bible in school? Have you ever been taught evolution in school? Even if you haven't been taught these things in school you probably know that they don't agree with each other. These two have been colliding in the court of law for decades now. The beginning of this happened in a small town in Tennessee. It was called the Scopes Trial (also known as the Monkey Trial.) Decades later a book was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. This book was called Inherit The Wind. The book and the real trial both have the same idea with a few changes. There are a couple of differences between the real Scopes Trial and the book Inherit The Wind.

One difference and the most easiest to pick out was that the names of the characters were different. In real life the prosecutors attorney was William Jennings Bryan was played by Matthew Harrison Brady in the book.

The defendants attorney, Charles Darrow was played by Henry Drummond in the book. In real life John Scopes was put on trial and in the book Bertram Cates was put on trial. These were the changes in the main characters in the book.

Another difference was that during the real trial the jury were almost all members of church. No one really cared and no one really made a huge fuss about it. In the book this was almost completely different. In the book the defendant's attorney made sure the person wasn't religious. The prosecutor's attorney made sure that the person didn't even know the theory of evolution. This was another major difference.

There is another interesting difference between the book and real life. In real life William Jennings Bryan did die. He died five days after...