| Plot Summary of A Time To Kill |
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"The daughter of an African-American is beaten and raped by two white men. The father of the girl kills the two men and is on trial for murder."
Amarjot Biring, Resident Scholar
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"The book is based in Clanton, Mississippi. Two drunk rednecks decide to rape a ten year old black girl. Her dad, Carl Lee Hailey, decides to kill the two rednecks. He gets his justice. He kills the two rednecks with an M-16 Automatic. He also accidentally hits one of the security guards. The security guard's leg has to get amputated. Carl Lee has to find a good lawyer. He finds a white man named Jake Brigance. The KKK comes back to Ford County for the first time in a long time. Carl Lee and Jake almost get killed many times throughout the book. At trial, Jake says that anyone with a daughter would kill the person that raped her. Carl Lee and Jake use an insanity defense. The case goes to the jury."
Geoff Pears, Resident Scholar
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"Grisham's first novel centers around a white lawyer fresh out of law school and struggling to pay the bills comes to be council for Carl Lee, the father of a young girl, Tonya, who was sexually assaulted, raped, beaten, and left for dead by two backwoods hicks. Carl Lee decides to take the "law into his own hands" and eradicate the two criminals who are white and will most likely be let out with a small tap on the wrist. Throughout the novel, Jake and Carl Lee must overcome the stigmas of the times centering around race, fight attacks from the KKK, and other such personal attacks."
Vineet, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Time To Kill |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Legal Thriller
Yes
Legal Plotlets
- finding out whether someone is really guilty
Crime Thriller
Yes
Crime plotlets:
- vigilante getting revenge
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here?
- hunted by BAD vigilante getting revenge
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
The antagonists are:
- racists/KKK
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Deep South
- California
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- dumb rednecks, like Gomer Pyle
Style
Sex
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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