A Time to Kill is a 1989
legal suspense thriller by
John Grisham. Grisham's first novel, it was
rejected by many publishers before Wynwood Press eventually gave it
a modest 5,000-copy printing. After
The Firm,
The Pelican Brief, and
The Client became bestsellers, interest in
A Time to Kill grew; the book was republished by
Doubleday in hardcover and, later, by
Dell Publishing in paperback, and
itself became a bestseller. In 1996 the novel was adapted into a
film of the same name,
starring
Matthew McConaughey and
Samuel L. Jackson.
Setting
The story takes place in the fictional town of
Clanton in Mississippi, which has also featured in
other John Grisham novels. Two of the characters, Harry Rex Vonner
and Lucien Wilbanks, later appear in Grisham's 2003 novel
The Last Juror, which is set
in Clanton in the 1970s. Harry Rex Vonner also appears in the 2002
Grisham novel,
The
Summons.
Inspiration
In 1984 at
the De Soto County courthouse in Hernando
, Grisham witnessed the harrowing testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim. According to Grisham's official
website, Grisham used his spare time to begin work on his first
novel, which "explored what would have
happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants." He
spent three years on
A Time to Kill and finished it in
1987. Grisham has also cited Harper Lee's "To kill a Mockingbird"
as an influence
Plot summary
In Clanton, Mississippi, 10-year-old Tonya Hailey is viciously
raped and beaten by two white
racists --
James Louis "Pete" Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. Shortly thereafter,
Tonya is found and rushed to a hospital, while Pete and Billy Ray
are heard bragging in a roadside bar about what they did to
Tonya.
Tonya's distraught and enraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, recalls a
similar case from the year before, in which four white men
raped a black girl in a nearby town and were
acquitted. Carl Lee is determined not to allow that
to happen in this case. Consequently, while Deputy DeWayne Powell
Looney is escorting Pete and Billy Ray up a flight of stairs inside
the courthouse, Carl Lee emerges from a nearby closet with an
assault rifle and kills Pete and Billy Ray and wounds Looney,
resulting in the amputation of his leg. (During the trial Looney
forgives Hailey, saying he has a daughter himself, and that if
someone raped her, he would gladly do the same as Carl Lee.)
Carl Lee is later arrested at his home by black
sheriff Ozzie Walls (who must uphold the law but
privately supports what Carl Lee did and gives him special
treatment while in prison) and charged with capital murder. Despite
the efforts of the
NAACP and his old military
friend Cat to persuade Carl Lee to retain their high-powered
attorneys, Carl Lee elects to be represented by his friend Jake
Tyler Brigance. Helping Jake on the case are his former boss Lucien
Wilbanks (who has since been disbarred for his involvement in a
fight resulting from a union strike, but still consults and aides
Jake from the background), his friend, the sleazy divorce lawyer
Harry Rex Vonner, and law student Ellen Roark, who has prior
experience with
death penalty cases.
The prosecuting attorney is a man named Rufus Buckley, a corrupt
shark with no concern or respect for ethics and with sky high
political ambitions, hoping to win the case so as to gain the
publicity that a win would generate, in hopes of being elected to a
higher public office (governor). To annoy Buckley and call
attention to this fact, Jake often addresses the D.A. as "governor"
in pre-trial conferences. The judge who will preside over the
trial is white (but generally impartial) judge
Omar "Ichabod" Noose. It is implied, however, that Noose has been
intimidated, both politically and criminally, to the point that he
refuses Jake's perfectly reasonable request for a change of venue,
further handicapping the defense, as the racial make-up of Ford
County virtually guarantees an all-white jury.
At the same time, Billy Ray Cobb's brother, Freddy Lee Cobb, is
seeking revenge for Carl Lee's killing of his brother. To this end,
Freddy enlists the help of the Mississippi branch of the
KKK, which is led by Mississippi grand dragon Stump
Sisson. Subsequently, a KKK member attempts to plant a bomb under
Jake's porch (at which point Jake sends his wife and daughter out
of town to his wife's parents' home until the trial is over and
begins spending most nights either in his office or at Lucien's
house), and Jake's secretary Ethel Twitty and her frail husband Bud
are attacked by the
KKK, killing Bud. On the day
the trial begins, there is a riot outside the court building
between the KKK and the area's black residents, and Stump Sisson is
killed by a
molotov cocktail.
Believing that the black people were at fault, Freddy and the KKK
increase their attacks. They begin to burn crosses throughout
Clanton, and Jake's house is burnt down while Jake is sleeping at
Lucien's. As a result, the
National Guard is called
to Clanton to keep the peace during the trial. Undeterred, Freddy
continues his efforts to get revenge for Billy Ray's death.
The case proceeds, and in the end, Jake presents a powerful closing
statement. After lengthy deliberations during which a massive
pro-acquittal demonstration is held, the jury acquits Carl Lee by
reason of temporary insanity. Carl Lee returns to his family, and
the story ends with Jake drinking margaritas with Lucien and Harry
in his office, then descending to face the mob of reporters waiting
for him.
One major difference between the novel and the film adaptation is
the powerful closing argument. In the film, the visual and graphic
story is told by Jake Brigance. However, in the book, Jake and
Harry Rex discover through a post trial interview that a woman in
the jury made that speech during jury deliberations.
Adaptations
References
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