JOHN GRISHAM’S
THE LAST JUROR
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DEVA BHARATA PROBO HANDOYO
Student Number: 044214070
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
JOHN GRISHAM’S
THE LAST JUROR
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DEVA BHARATA PROBO HANDOYO
Student Number: 044214070
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iii
iv
"The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt
with the heart."
v
vi
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama
: Deva Bharata Probo Handoyo
Nomor Mahasiswa : 044214070
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengeetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas
Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
“WILLIE TRAYNOR’S REACTION TO RACE DISCRIMINATION IN THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 1970’S REFLECTED IN JOHN GRISHAM’S
THE LAST
JUROR”
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada
Perpustakaan Univesitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk
media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan
mempublkasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu
meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan
nama saya menulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 30 September 2011
Yang menyatakan,
vii
This thesis has been improved by the help and comment of many people who are kind
enough to get involved during the writing of this undergraduate thesis. I would not be able to
complete this thesis without the help of other, both direct and indirect. Here my gratitude goes to
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum
. and
Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum.
for the valuable
assistance and patience in correcting and improving this thesis. I also thank to the administrative
staff of Department of English Letters of Sanata Dharma, especially
Mbak Ninik
who has been
so kind to help the writer during my study. Further, I also thank to all the members of lecturing
Staff of Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University, for the best education that has
been given to me.
I would like to express my special thanks to my beloved family, my father
Drs. RM.
Devananda, M.M
. and my mother
Sugiastuti Handayani, S.Sos.
, my brothers
Mahendra Dwi
Satrio Nugroho
and
Adhimas Chandra Aji Pamungkas
, for your supporting love,
enncouragement pray and your financial support. Then, thank to the member of Sastra
2004,
Bendot
,
Dinar
,
Diah
,
Fian
,
Shanti
,
Luminto
,
Ison
,
Deon
,
Dhita
,
Atiek
,
Troy
,
Irene
,
especially to my best friends
Efra Tania
,
Wahyu
,
Ayok
,
Rubin
,
Dino
,
Gunawan
,
Sigit
, and
Hoho
for giving your support in writing this thesis.
The last gratitude is dedicated to my very special person in my life, my girlfriend,
Reksiana Septiningrum
, who has helped me so much with huge support, and love during the
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI
...
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
...
vii
D.
Theoretical Framework ...
15
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY
...
17
A.
Object of the Study ...
17
B.
Approach of the Study ...
19
C.
Method of the Study ...
19
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS
...
21
A.
The Characteristics of Willie Traynor in the Story ...
21
B.
The Moments of Race Discrimination that Spotlighted by Willie Traynor in
the Story ...
32
C.
The Reaction of Willie Traynor upon the Race Discrimination as the Reflection
of the Real Situation of American Society in1970’s …………... 51CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
...
61
BIBLIOGRAPHY
... 66
APPENDIX .
... 68
x
Deva Bharata Probo Handoyo (2004),
Willie Traynors Reaction To Race
Discrimination in the American Society in the 1970’s Reflected in John Grisham’s The Last
Juror
, Yogyakarta: English Letters Study Programme, Sanata Dharma University.
There were some reasons why the writer writes this undergraduate thesis. The main
reason was stemmed from the writer’s interest in racism that was suffered by the blacks in
Southern America. The writer then found the interesting novel of John Grisham entitled
The Last
Juror
.
The Last Juror
was an interesting media to analyze further because the racial problems in
Southern were trully reflected in this novel. The sufferings and discriminations based on the race
were listed clearly in the novel.
The aims of writing this undergraduate thesis were to know further the life, the
sufferrings, and the race discriminations of the black in Southern; and also to highlight the
importance of main character of the story in reacting against the race discriminations that
happened in the society.
The writer conducted a library research in writing this udergraduate thesis. The writer
also used the theory of characterization, the theory of racism, the reviews of United States in
1970’s and the sociocultural-historical approach as the foundation in analyzing this
undergraduate thesis
xi
Deva Bharata Probo Handoyo (2004),
Willie Traynors Reaction To Race Discrimination
in the American Society in the 1970’s Reflected in John Grisham’s The Last Juror
,
Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Penyusunan skripsi sarjana ini ditulis dengan beberapa alasan. Alasan utama berasal dari
ketertarikan penulis terhadap penderitaan yang dialami oleh para kaum hitam. Ketertarikan
penulis diiringi dengan adanya buku berjudul
The Last Juror
atau dalam versi bahasa Indonesia
Anggota Juri Terakhir
karya John Grisham. Buku
The Last Juror
merupakan sarana yang
menarik untuk dijadikan sebagai objek penelitian karena buku ini sarat dengan
permasalahan-permasalahan ras di Kawasan Selatan. Penderitaan-penderitaan serta tindakan diskriminasi yang
disebabkan karena perbedaan ras benar-benar dijabarkan secara jelas di dalam buku ini.
Penyusunan skripsi sarjana ini mempunyai beberapa tujuan. Tujuan-tujuan tersebut
diantaranya adalah untuk mengetahui lebih dalam tentang kehidupan, penderitaan, dan tindakan
diskriminasi terhadap ras yang dialami oleh para kaum hitam di Wilayah Selatan; dan juga untuk
menyorot tentang pentingnya seorang tokoh utama dalam memerangi tindakan diskriminasi
terhadap ras didalam masyarakat yang ditemukan didalam cerita itu.
Penyusunan skripsi sarjana ini menggunakan metode penelitian pustaka. Penulis juga
menggunakan beberapa teori tentang
character
dan
characterization,
teori
racism
,
gambaran
tentang keadaan negara Amerika Serikat pada era 1970an dan menggunakan pendekatan sosial
budaya dan sejarah.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A.Background of the Study
Most people in the world are familiar with the word “literature”, but not
many of them understand the meaning of the word of literature is. It is a term
wich is used to describe written or spoken material.
In Theory of Literature, Rene Wellek and Austin Waren state that
literature must stand in recognizable relation to life in such a way that it is in any
case a selection from life (Wellek, 1956:212). In other words, literature must
indeed be true to life. However, it seems impossible, especially for those who
believe that literature is an imaginative, fictional piece of work; when peolpe
concern themelves with life, they deal with something real and factual.
Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. It
introduces us to the new world of experiences. People learn about books and
literature; they enjoy comedies and tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and
they may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.
Literature is an enjoyable performance in words, offering an unique
delight or satisfaction and a beneficial effecst on readers. Therefore, it is not
primarily a source of facts, but also offers truth. Rene Wellek and Austin Waren
stated that literature must stand in a recognizable relation to life in such a way that
in any case a selection from life (Wellek, 1956: 212). In other words, literature
believe that literature is an imaginative, fictional piece of work; whereas people
who concern with life, deals with real thing and factual. Therefore, the readers
make a judgement to literary works, particularly for those who agree that it is
considered true to life.
Literature in An Introduction to Study of Literature, offers pleasure and
satifaction to people who like literary works. Literature also gives them visions
and experience of living. William H. Hudson says that literature is a vital record
of what men have seen in life, what they have experienced in life, what they
thought and felt about life. All of those things have the most immediate and
enduring interest for all of us. It is fundamentaly an expression of life through the
medium of language (1958:10).
Literature can be a principal element, which is regarded so essential since
it contains the records of people, values, their thoughts, their problems and
conflicts and their whole way of life. “Literature is also the chief art of mankind
because it can effectively express one’s idea to others” (Little, 1981:1). He also
says that by regarding a work of literature people can add their understanding of
life in the world arround them because it embodies thought and feeling on matters
of human importance. Besides literature deals much with human nature, with
life’s most important issue love, hatred, peace, war, survival, death, ambition,
failure, idealism, compromise, and other things. (1982:2).
The writer would like to analyze the novel of John Grisham entitled The
Last Juror. John Grisham is an American author, best known for his popular legal
from Mississippi State University before attending the University Of Mississippi
School Of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade. He also
served in the House of Representatives in Mississippi from January 1984 to
September 1990.
The novel analyzed is The Last Juror (2004). It presents how the racism
happens in American society in 1970’s. The main character in the novel is also the
narrator of the story, he is the 23 years old, college drop-out boy, named Willie
Traynor. In the novel, the author invites the readers to look at events and realities
through the narator’s point of view. This novel is choosen because it shows the
reaction of a young journalist who defends an old black housewife woman who is
discriminated by the society. This happens because she is choosen as the only
black jury in the court of murder case that has been done by a member of the
notorious and scandalous Padgitt family named Dany Padgitt.
Since the topic of this undergraduate thesis is the reaction of the main
character upon the race discrimination that happens to the black in the society, it
is very important for the writer to give a brief definition about discrimination. It is
important to write the definition in order to reduce misunderstanding of
discrimination. According to International Encyclopedia of Ethics, discrimination
means diferential treatment based on physical and social affilation (Roth,
1995:156). This definition implies that discrimination is conducted by someone
who treat others by his or her physical appeareance only. In addition, Joan
discrimination is unequal treatment, whether intentional or unintentional of
individuals or group on the basis of group membership that is unrelated to merit,
ability, or past performance (1992:124). Ferrante tries to say that discrimination is
also a treatment that is unequal because it doesn’t have any relation to the
marriage status, the people’s ability and also their past experience. It can be said
that the discrimination is only a physical treatment.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the previous background, the writer finds some questions that
are interesting to study further. These interesting questions are formulated into
three problem formulations and can be discussed in this undergraduate thesis.
1. What are the characteristics of Willie Traynor described in the story?
2. How do Willie Traynor’s characteristics help him to spotlight the moments of
race discrimination?
3. How does Willie Traynor react to the race discrimination as the reflection of the
real situation of American society in 1970’s?
C. Objectives of the Study
This undergraduate thesis aims to analyze the characteristics of the main
character decribed in The Last Juror. The second objective is to know how the
main character’s characteristics help him to spotlight the moments of race
discrimination that happen in the society in 1970’s showed in the story, and the
third objective is to know how the main character reacts upon race discrimination
D. Definition of Terms
1. Racism
According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica, racism is a theory or
idea that there is a casual link between inherited physical traits and certain traits of
personality, intellect, or culture and, combined with it, the notion that some races
are inherrently superior to others. The term racism has no necessary relation to
biological or anthropological definition of race, a subdivision of species. Racist
ideas are often indiscrimately extended to apply to such nonbiological and
nonracial groupings as religious sects, nations, linguistic groups, and ethnic or
cultrural groups (1983:360).
2. Race-Discrimination
According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica, the term racial
discrimination denotes all forms of differential behaviour based on race. The most
notable form of racial discrimination is, of course,physical segregation by race,
but there are many others, such as rules of etiquette defining forms of addres
between racial “superiors” and “inferiors,” or choice of friend or spouses.(1768,
6
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The Last Juror is a novel that explores race relations and racism in the
American South of the 1970’s. The setting was placed in Clanton, Mississippi.
During the time, racial and class were the major problems that effect in almost all
aspects of life.
In this novel, it shows that black people were discriminated by the white
people. No matter how high the education and prosperity they have, the black
people always seen as the second class citizen.
Janet Blaylock stated in her blog, Willie and Callie spent time together,
and Callie also invited Willie to her house on Thursday for a meal with her
family. Willie enjoyed spending time with them eventough they were black and
he was white. Racism did not matter to him like it did to some of the other
characters. (http://www.helium.com, 2011).
By the quotation above Janet Blaylock tries to show that Willie does not
discriminate black people. He accepts the invitation for a meal from a black
family although in that era, racism was a serious issue in the American society.
The story is about friendship and touches the issues of a time of change in
American history. Moreover, it is a story of crime and criminal justice system that
The writer also gives other quotation to improve this undergraduate
thesis and in order to give the additional knowledge about the situation that
happened at that time.
Grisham does a fine job creating a believeble world to surround his vivid small town, tense by unchallenged racism and corruption and the pressures of the times. We know the rest of the world is out there – the effect of Vietnam creep in, for instance – but it was content to keep it at arm’s lenght, just like everyone else in Clanton. When the story rests there, in the small town where everyone knows everyone else and exactly what they are doing (http://www.thebeachcomber.org, 2011).
The quotation above, according to Breanne Boland in his blog, gives a
comment on the way Grisham’s struggle with the idea to deliver some crucial
issues such as racism and corruption in the era that is still influenced by the
Vietnam creep. The Last Juror shows the readers the chaos in a small town of
rural Mississippi where the homogenization of business and culture seeped across
America.
Kit Masters in his article says that although the story is a blend of themes
of the court case, the crime, the system and the important topic of racial equality,
the story never found confusing. Everything worked together and made sense. The
story never lost its pace and held the reader’s attention to the the end
(http://ezinearticles.com, 2011).
The passage point of the quotation above is that Grisham is successfully
make the story runs smoothly. The Last Juror is an intelligent novel which major
topic is the racial tolerance in 1970s Mississippi during an era of revolutionary
B. Review of Related Theories
Some theories are needed to support the analysis in this undergraduate
thesis. These theories are also used to show the writer’s research on the novel is
relevant to read and also to study. Since the undergraduate thesis studies about
main character’s reaction upon the race disrimination, the theories that are
appropriate to be used in the analysis are theory of character and characterization,
and the second theory is the the theory of racism.
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
Abram’s in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms (1981: 20) defines
character as “the person, in dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and
dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say—the dialogue—and
what by they do—the action.”
According to Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction, character has two
meanings. It means, the individuals who appear in the story, and it also refers to
the mixture of interests, desire, emotions and moral principles that shape each of
these individuals (1965:17).
According to Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr. in Reading and
Writing about Literature, characterization is the process by which an author
creates a character. There are two principal ways an author can characterize.
The first principal ways is he or she can direct means to describe physical
appearance, intellectual, moral attributes, and the degree of sensitivity of the
in situations to show what the character is by the way he behaves or speaks
(Rohrberger and Woods Jr., 1971:20).
According to Rohrberger and Woods (1972:20), characterization is a
process by which an author creates character. However, based on Henkle,
characterization is:
Characterization therefore is central to the factional experience, and the principle objective of the creation of characters in novels is to enable us to understand and to experience people. Characterization also appears to loose sight of fact (Henkle, 1977: 86-87).
Characterization is a helpful element of literary work for reader, besides;
it also supports the literary work itself to become alive and good as the work of
literature.
2. Theory of Racism
Robert Blaunner in his writing The Question of Black Culture, states that
racism is caused by the differentiation of colors.
Racism is crucial to the cultural process of Afro-Americans because a continuing racist social structure has served to fix rather that to race the distinctive experience of the past. He refers two key characteristic of American social structure. First, that (aside from age and sex). The division based upon colour is the single must important split within the society, the body politic, and the national psyche. Second, that values proceses and practices of exclusion and subordination based upon colour are built into the major public institution (Labor market, education, politics, and Law enforcements), with the effect of maintaining special privileges, power, and values for the benefit of the white majority (1970:124-125).
The second theory of racism is taken from a book entitled Racism in
American written by Harvey Sarles. In this book the writer points out that racism
Individual racism simply means that one has racist views according to its
definition. It is also supposed to be somewhat easy to eradicate so long as a
“good” human relation approach to educate the racist and thereby prove to him
that his fears and hostilities are unsound. However, institutional racism is far
subtler and very difficult to eradicate. It has been defined as the “operating
policies, priorities, and function of an on-going system of normative patterns
which serves to subjugate, oppressed, and force dependence of individuals or
groups by establishing and sanctioning unequal goals, objectives, and priorities
for blacks and whites, which forces inequality in status and in access to goods and
services”(1970:49).
Concerning with The Discovery of Humanity: An Introduction to
Anthropology, racism is:
“A simple (and simple-minded) phenomenon, while the problem of human “races” is considerably more complex. Stripped down to its unsavory essence, racism is the attribution of behavioral or cultural characteristics-usually negative ones-to people on the basis of what people look like.” (Oliver, 1981:10)
Racism exists when the following elements are fulfilled:
a. The differences between group-differences in body and in mind are full due
to hereditary biology, and nothing can change them. For example, Negroes
are not as intelligent as whites, this is due to their heredity and can no more
be charged than skin color.
b. Habits, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and all the things we learn are determined
for us before we are born. For example, Jews are born to be sharp
c. Al differences between minority and the majority group are thought to be
signs of inferiority.
d. If there should be biological crossing of the groups, the children will be more
degenerate than either of the parents’ groups (Rose, 1981:223).
C. Review of American Society in 1960s - 1970’s
The review of American Society is important as the preference in the
analysis because the story is set on 1970’s. However, the story has the setting of
time in 1970’s, most of the moments that told in the story have close relation to
the American Society condition in 1960’s. Most of the moments in the story are
influenced by the important moments that happen in American Society in 1960’s,
such as the war in Vietnam that was sparked off by JFK, the beginning of civil
rights movement, and so on.
Steve Wiegar in his book U.S. History for Dummies, states that the
decade of the 1960’s began with a defeat for Richard Nixon and ended in victory
for him. In between, America became mired in a war it never understood and saw
its citizens take to the streets in the name of peace, justice, and racial rage. By the
mid-1970’s, U.S. streets were clearing, Nixon had suffered the last - and worst –
defeat of his career, and America was trying to figure out just what the heck had
happened in the preceeding 14 years (2009: 293).
In February 1960, four African American students sat down at a
segregated lunch counter in Greenboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after
they were denied service. The “sit-in” become a strategy used across the country,
1961, black and white activists began “freedom rides,” travelling in small groups
to the South to test local segregation laws. The inspirational leader of the
movement was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a courageous and eloquent orator
who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and won the 1964
Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights work. But not all African Americans were
enamored of King’s non-violent-demonstration approach. They also did not
believe equality could be attained through cooperation among the races. Leaders
such as the Black Muslims’ Elijah Muhammad and Malcom X warned African
Americans to neither expect nor seek help from whites. “if someone puts hand on
you,” said Malcom X, “send him to the cemetery.” Both approaches eventually
put pressure on the federal government to act. President Kennedy and his brother
Robert (who was also his attorney general) used federal troops and marshals to
force the admission of black students to the state universities in Alabama and
Missisippi. In June 1963, JFK proposed a bill that would ban racial discrimination
in hotels, restaurants, and other public places and give the federal government
more authority to clamp down on state and local agencies that dragged their feet
in enforcing civil rights laws. Black organizers gathered 200,000 demonstrators
for a march in Washington, D.C., to support the Kennedy proposal (2009: 301).
After Kennedy’s assasination, JFK’s efforts were taken up by Johnson.
Despite his Southern roots, LBJ was committed liberal whose “Great Society”
programs mirrored the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930’s. In addition
to providing more federal aid to America’s down-and-outs, LBJ pushed the 1964
Kennedy had propsed. Johnson followed it with another bill in 1965 that
strengthened federal safeguards for black voter’s rights. But events and emotions
moved faster than politics. In early 1965, Malcolm X, who had softened his earlier
opposition to interracial cooperation, was murdered by Black Muslim extremists
who considered such talk traitorous. A few months later, a march led by Martin
Luther King Jr., from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama was viciously attacked
by state and lpocal police, while a horrified national television watched (2009:
301).
Tired of waiting for an equal chance at the U.S. economic pie, many
African Americans began demanding affirmative action programs in which
employers actively recruit minorities for jobs. “Black Power” became a rallying
cry for thousands of young African Americans. The anger manifested itself in a
rash of race riots in the mid-and late 1960s. The first was in August 1965, in Los
Angeles community of Watts. Before it was over, six days of rioting had led to 34
deaths, 850 injuries, 3,000 arrests, and more than $200 million in damages. Riots
followed in the next two years in dozens of cities, including New York, Chicago,
Newark, and Detroit, where 43 people were killed in July 1967 (2009: 301).
Then things got worse. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was
assassinated in Memphis, Tenessee. A white man named James Earl Ray was
eventually arrested and convicted of the crime. More riots followed across the
country, most notably in Washington,D.C. the riots, in turn, triggered a blacklash
by many whites. George Wallace, a racist and ardent segregationist, got 13.5
civil rights movement had dissipated by the time Richard Nixon moved into the
White House (2009: 301).
During the summer of 1962, the Soviets began developing nuclear
missile sites in Cuba. That meant they could easily strike targets over much of
North and South America. When air reconnaissance photos confirmed the sites’
presence on October 14, JFK had to amke a though choice: Destroy the sites and
quite possibly trigger World War III, or do nothing, and not only expose the
country to nuclear destruction but, in effect, concede first place in the world
domination race to the USSR. Kennedy decided to go tough. On October 22,
1963, he went on national television and announced the U.S. Navy would throw a
blockade around Cuba and turn away any ships carrying materials that could be
used at the missile sites. A hotline was installed between the leaders of the United
Staes and the Soviet Union to help defuse future confrontations, and in July 1963,
all the major countries except China and France agreed to stop aboveground
testing of nuclear weapons (2009: 295).
November 22, 1963, JFK went to Texas to improve his political standing
in that state. While riding in an open car in a motorcade in Dallas, Kennedy was
shot and killed by a sniper. America was stunned. The age of Camelot was over.
And a veteran politician ferom Texas named Lyndon B. Johnson was president of
the United States (2009: 296).
As president, Johnson inherited a host of problems, not the least of which
was a growing mess in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. Before World War
driven out, it reverted to French control. In August 1964, he announced that U.S.
Navy ships had been attacked in international waters near the Gulf of Tonkin.
Congress reacted by overwhelmingly approving a resolution that gave Johnson the
power to “take all necesary measures” to protect U.S. forces. Vietnam was
different. It was esseantially a civil war, which meant it was sometimes tough to
figure out who was on whose side. The communists in the south were called
Vietcong. There were conflicts between U.S. political leaders who wanted to
contain the war and military leaders who wanted to expand it. finally, the lack of
clear objectives and declining public support demoralized many American
soldiers (2009: 296).
D. Theoretical Framework
Reviews of related studies are needed in the analysis of this
undergraduate thesis to analyze the novel entitled The Last Juror by John
Grisham. It is important for the writer to know about the other people’s opinions,
especially those who also analyze the novel. By putting the reviews of related
studies, the writer can make comparison, so that the analysis in this undergraduate
thesis is different from other analysis. In addition, the reviews on related studies
are used as the supporting data that make this analysis develop. Theory of
Character and Characterization are used in the analysis in this undergraduate
thesis to answer the first problem formulation, because the first problem
formulation talks about the characteristics of the main character. Without the
impossible for the writer to analyze the first problem formulations based on the
novel. Theory of Racism and Review of American Society in 1970s are used to
analyze the second problem formulation that is about the moments of race
discrimination that happen in America society in 1970’s; and the Review of
American Society in 1970s is especially used as the reference of the real situation
in America society that reflected in the story. In addition, Socio-Cultural
Historical approach is also used as the direction to know that the time of the story
is the reflection of the true condition of American Society in 1970’s. Theory of
Character and Characterization are used to analyze the third problem formulation
that is about the main character’s reaction upon the race disctrimination that
happen in the American Society in 1970’s. In addition, the novel itself talks about
racism and justice in the South America society in 1970’s, however the writer is
only highlight the race discrimination, the moments that reflect the race
discrimination, and also the reactions of the main character’s upon the race
discrimination, as a result the theory of character and characterization, the theory
17
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. To
a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of
being a professional baseball player. Realizing that he didn't have the right stuff
for a pro-career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State
University.
John Grisham went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven
after his graduation from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, specializing in criminal
defence and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House
of Representatives and served until 1990.
Grishamtook time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return,
after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honouring a commitment made
before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer.
The object of the study is a novel entitled The Last Juror. This novel is
one of Grisham’s best selling novel. The Last Juror was published in New York
on 2004 by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. The Last Juror has 486
pages and it is divided into 44 chapters, also 3 pages of author’s preface.
The story began on one of Mississippi’s weekly newspapers named The
Ford County Times. The Times went bankrupt and then a 23 years-old college
hopeless. The Times began to prosper after a young widow with 2 children was
brutally raped and murdered by a member of notorious Padgitt family. Willie
reported all the detail of the homicide, and the selling of his newspapers
increasing.
Meanwhile, Willie interviewed Calia Ruffin, a local black woman, for a
human-interest story, Calia became the first black juror in Ford County and was
chosen as the jury during the murder trial of Danny Padgitt. After a series of
gripping courtroom scenes, and in spite of Danny's threat to "get" the jury, Danny
was convicted of murder. The jury then had to decide whether to sentence him to
life in prison or give him the death penalty. The jury could not come to a
unanimous decision because Danny Padgitt had threatened the juries if he was
sentenced to death and finally Padgitt was sentenced to life in prison. After 8
years Danny Padgit sat for his hearing in front of Parole Board in order to gain his
freedom. Willie as the journalist and the witness for Danny Padgitt’s case tried to
block Danny’s freedom in front of Parole Board because he was totally brutal and
danger for Clanton society. The story was ended with the murdering of Danny’s
Padgitt, the passing of Calia Ruffin, and the selling of The Ford County Times that
made Willie as the young millionaire as he wish when he bought The Ford County
B. Approach of the Study
The approach that is used in this thesis is Socio-Cultual Historical
approach. The main point of Socio-Cultual Historical approach is to reveal certain
literary work from its relation with social, cultural, and history of certain country.
This approach sees a literary work as a reflection of the society or the author’s life
and times in the work (Guerrin:1999:51).
Rohrberger and Woods (1971:9) in their book Reading and Writing
about Literature state that
Socio-cultural-historical approach puts the work of literature as a product of civilization here is defined as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and points out that literature takes these attitudes and actions as subject matter. It is important to investigate the social, cultural and historical milieu in which a work of literature is created so that the readers can find out the factors of motivations what the character behave and act in certain way. Literature embodies ideas significant to the culture that produce it.
It means that literature is influenced by everything that happens in the
society. Thus literature is a mirror of some society, because people can see many
scenes that almost similar with the events which happened in society.
C. Method of the Study
The method that is used in this undergraduate thesis is library research.
Library research is the primary source that is done by reading and collecting data
and information as much as possible from certain books and other writing or
findings which support the research in this study. In addition, collecting data or
browsing many websites which contents are relevance, valid, accurate and
appropriate.
Some steps were done by the writer in conducting this undergraduate
thesis. The first step was reading the the novel in order to get deep understanding
about the novel. The second step was deciding the topic of study and stating the
problem formulations. The third step was collecting data or information which
related to the work as the primary data in order to support the analysis of this
undergraduate thesis. The fourth step was collecting additional data such as some
theories and views from some sources which were also important in analyzing the
problems formulation because the primary data was not enough to analyse this
undergraduate thesis. The fifth step was analizing the problems with the theories.
21
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter presents an analysis to answer the previous problems that
have been formulated in the previous chapter. It starts with the descriptions on the
characteristics of Willie Traynor as the main character in the story, then the
moments that show the act of race discrimination are stated in the second part of
analysis to answer the second problem formulation, and the reactions of the main
character upon the race discrimination in the novel is going to be analyzed as the
third answer of the third problem formulation.
A. The Characteristics of Willie Traynor in the Story
The writer found some interesting characteristics of Willie Traynor when
he read the novel as the main character in the story. As a result, the writer tries to
describe the characteristics of Willie Traynor in this part. The characteristics of
the main character are described to answer the first question in the problem
formulations that has been formulated.
The main character of the story is Willie Traynor. His characteristics are
clearly described in the story. The story gives the descriptions of Traynor through
his actions and his conversations in the whole story.
1. Educated Person
The first characteristic of Willie Traynor that he is an educated person
Memphis where people of South call it as North. This fact is listed in quotation
below,
I was from Memphis and had gone to school up North for five years. I was careful not to wear my Ivy Leaguess on my shoulder, but at the same time I wanted this rural Missisippians to know that I had been superbly educated (p.13).
The fact that he is an educated person is also supported by his statement
that he studies journalism in Syracause in North for about 5 years and almost
finish his education on journalism that makes him expert on journalistic. It is
listed in quotation below,
I grew up in Memphis and studied journalism at Syracuse for five years before my grandmother got tired of paying for what becoming an extended education (p.8).
The first characteristic of Willie Traynor that he is an educated person
can be drawn based on the theory of characterization in Reading and Writing
about Literature. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr. state that
characterization is the process by which an author creates a character. There are
two principal ways an author can characterize.
The first principal ways is he or she can direct means to describe physical
appearance, intellectual, moral attributes, and the degree of sensitivity of the
character. Second way is he or she can use dramatic means and place the character
in situations to show what the character is by the way he behaves or speaks
(Rohrberger and Woods Jr., 1971:20).
According to the theory above, the way of John Grisham creates the
characteristic of Willie Traynor as an educated person is by describing the
is described by John Grisham is the first principal of Rohrberger and Wood’s
theory of characterization. In addition, Grisham as the author of the novel creates
the character of Willie Traynor by making Willie Traynor as the narrator of the
story and the main character who tells everything about his personal life and
described about himself. The way Willie Traynor tells about his personal life
shows that Grisham applies the second principal of theory of characterization.
2. Rich Person
The second characteristic of Willie Traynor as the main character that is
found from the novel is that Traynor is a rich person because he comes from the
prosperous family, especially his grandmother called BeeBee who is exactly a rich
widow and Willie Traynor will become the only heir of his family as well.
BeeBee’s first husband had died of some colorfull ill-ness in 1924. She then married a divorced cotton merchant and they had one child, my poor mother. The second husband, my grandfather, died in 1938, leaving BeeBee with a nice bundle. She stopped marrying and had spent the last thirty-old years counting her money, playing bridge, and travelling. As the only grandchild, I was set to inherit all she had, though I had no clue as to the extent of her fortune (p.293).
Another fact that show Willie Traynor as the rich person is that before he
decides to go to Clanton to work he always spend his grandmother’s money to
study in Syracuse and fulfills the need of his life. The quotation above support the
fact that he is a rich person,
She, BeeBee, had plenty of money, hated to to spend it, and after five years she figured my opportunity had been sufficiently funded. When she cut me off I was very disappointed, but I did not complain, to her anyway,. I was the only grandchild and her estate would be delight (p.8).
Willie Traynor as a rich person is reflected the theory of character by
character as “the person, in dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and
dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say—the dialogue—and
what by they do—the action.” Based on Abram’s theory, a rich person is the
natural qualities of a person’s character. It has a meaning that being rich is the
natural qualities of Willie as the only heir of the rich family.
The second characteristic of Willie Traynor that he is a rich person can
be drawn based on the theory of characterization in Reading and Writing about
Literature. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr. state that characterization
is the process by which an author creates a character. There are two principal
ways an author can characterize.
The first principal ways is he or she can direct means to describe physical
appearance, intellectual, moral attributes, and the degree of sensitivity of the
character. Second way is he or she can use dramatic means and place the character
in situations to show what the character is by the way he behaves or speaks
(Rohrberger and Woods Jr., 1971:20).
According to the theory above, the way of John Grisham creates the
characteristic of Willie Traynor as a rich person is by describing the wealth of
BeeBee, Willie’s grandmother, as the description on physical appearance of the
character. The description on physical appearance of Willie Traynor as the
character who comes from the wealth family described by John Grisham is the
first principal of Rohrberger and Wood’s theory of characterization. In addition,
the way Grisham creates the character of Willie Traynor is also by making Willie
about his personal life and description of himself. The way Willie Traynor tells
about his personal life through what he says along the story about his
grandmother’s wealth shows that he is a rich person. In addition, the way Grisham
describes the characteristics of Willie Traynor through what he says shows that
Grisham applies the second principal of theory of characterization.
3. Innovative Person
The third characteristic that can be found from the novel is that Willie
Traynor is an innovative person. Innovative here means that he always has new
ideas to reach what he wants in his life related to what happens in society. The
whole things that happen around, inspire him to writes articles because he is a
journalist. This fact is found in quotation below,
I studied journalism with a hangover. In the early days at Syracuse, I aspired to be an investigative reporter with the New York Times or the Washington Post. I wanted to save the world by uncovering corruption and environmental abuse and government waste and injustice suffered by the weak and oppressed (p.8).
The suppoting fact that Willie is an innovative person who always has
new ideas to get the better life is also supported by the statement that he smelled
an opportunity when Times is going to sell to avoid the bankcrupty. In addition, he
is also a young journalist, unmarried, the only heir on his family and has a lot of
time to make his life meaningful and becomes a rich man. He proves that in the
quotation below,
I immediately thought of two people – Nick Diener and BeeBee. Nick’s family had become rich off their county weekly. BeeBee was already loaded and she had only one beloved grandchild. My heart began pounding as I smelled opportunity (p.16).
The third characteristic of Willie Traynor that he is an innovative person
can be drawn based on the theory of characterization in Reading and Writing
about Literature. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr. state that
characterization is the process by which an author creates a character. There are
two principal ways an author can characterize.
The first principal ways is he or she can direct means to describe physical
appearance, intellectual, moral attributes, and the degree of sensitivity of the
character. Second way is he or she can use dramatic means and place the character
in situations to show what the character is by the way he behaves or speaks
(Rohrberger and Woods Jr., 1971:20).
According to the theory above, the way John Grisham creates the
characteristic of Willie Traynor as an innovative person is by describing Willie’s
dream on journalism and what he will do to raise the social issues and make
changes on the paradigm of society upon the oppression and suffering through
journalism. This condition also becomes as the descripiton on the degree of
sensitivity of the character. The description on the degree of sensitivity of Willie
Traynor as the character who wants to raise the social issues and make changes on
the paradigm of society upon the oppression and suffering through journalism that
is described by John Grisham is the first principal of Rohrberger and Wood’s
theory of characteization. Besides, the way Grisham creates the character of
Willie Traynor is also by making Willie Traynor as the narrator of the story and
the main character who tells everything about his personal life and description of
along the story about his dream on journalism and what he wants to raise and
make changes shows that he is an innovative person. In addition, the way Grisham
describes the characteristic of Willie Traynor through what he says shows that
Grisham applies the second principal of theory of characterization.
4. Ambitious Person
In the first part of the story, there is a conversation between Nick and
Willie Traynor. Nick is a best friend of Willie and he comes from a wealthy
family because his father is the owner of local weekly and a bussinessman. In
addition, Nick’s father get $6,000 per month from his weekly. This condition
stimulates Willie Traynor to be a rich weekly owner too and he wants to make his
dream comes true because he has a tallent as a journalist. The idea of having a
weekly company shows the ambition to be a succeed man, it also can be said that
he is an ambitious person. That Willie Traynor is an ambitious person is the fourth
characteristic of him. This condition is supported on the quotation below,
...It was a gold mine, he said. Just local news, wedding announcements, church socials, honor rolls, sports coverage, pictures of basketball teams, a few recipes, a few obituaries, and pages of advertising. Maybe a little politics, but stay away from controversary. And count your money. His father was a millionaire. It was laid-back, low-pressure journalism with money growing on trees, according to Nick.
This appealed to me. After my fourth year, which should’ve been my last but wasn’t close, I spent the summer interning at a small weekly in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. The pay was peanuts but BeeBee was impressed because I was employed (p.9).
According to the theory of characterization by Rohrberger and Woods,
the way of John Grisham creates the characteristic of Willie Traynor as an
ambitious person is by describing Willie’s desire to be a rich man, as the
degree of sensitivity of Willie Traynor as the character who wants to be rich
through the journalistic as the media that is described by John Grisham is the first
principal of Rohrberger and Wood’s theory of characterization. In addition, the
way Grisham creates the character of Willie Traynor is also by making Willie
Traynor as the narrator of the story and the main character who tells everything
about his personal life and description of himself. The way Willie Traynor tells
about his personal life through what he says along the story about his desire to be
a rich man shows that he is an ambitious person. In addition, the way Grisham
describes the characteristics of Willie Traynor through what he says shows that
Grisham applies the second principal of theory of characterization.
5. Charitable Person
The fifth characteristic that is found indicates that Willie Traynor is a
charitable person. He always helps people who are poor or in need by making the
article and publishes it in his weekly. This fact is supported by the quotation
below,
Baggy had some reservations about the Ruffin story. “It’s really not news,” he said as he read it. I’m sure Hardy had alerted him that I was considering a large, front page story about family of Negroes. “This stuff is usually on page five,” he said (p.139).
The quotation above shows that Willie Traynor writes the profile of
African American family in the front page in order to make Clanton knows about
this family, because at that time it is very difficult for African American to get the
equality with whites. The African American family that is written in the profile of
the news is Calia’s family, the family who loose their last child because of the
Traynor tries to help Calia and her family to find the son by writing the profile of
her family and to make the people of Clanton know that Calia family is a succeed
African American family in Clanton.
Based on the theory of characterization by Rohrberger and Woods, the
way of John Grisham creates the characteristic of Willie Traynor a charitable
person is by describing Willie’s kindness upon the black family, as the descripton
on the moral attributes of the character. The description on the moral attributes of
Willie Traynor as the character who is kind to the black family and wants to make
best friendship with them without differentiate them to another as described by
John Grisham, the first principal of Rohrberger and Wood’s theory of
characterization. In addition, the way Grisham creates the character of Willie
Traynor is also by making Willie Traynor as the narrator of the story and the main
character who tells everything about his personal life and description of himself.
The way Willie Traynor tells about his personal life through what he says along
the story about his kindness upon all black family it shows that he is a charitable
person. In addition, the way Grisham describes the characteristics of Willie
Traynor through what he says shows that Grisham applies the second principal of
theory of characterization.
6. Affectionate Person
As the sixth characteristic of Willie Traynor as the main character of the
story is that he is an affectionate person who really loves his grandmother called
BeeBee more than his own father. Willie never forget his grandmother after
that he loves BeeBee. He also sends his mother a letter to tell his condition in
Clanton. The quotation below help the writer to convince that he is an affectionate
person,
After five years at Syracuse my grades were irreparable, and the well ran dry. I returned to Memphis, visited BeeBee, thanked her for her efforts, and told her I loved her. She told me to find a job (p.10).
By the theory of characterization by Rohrberger and Woods, the way of
John Grisham creates the characteristic of Willie Traynor as an affectionate
person is by describing Willie’s love and careness on BeeBee, as the description
on the moral attributes of the character. The description on the moral attributes of
Willie Traynor as the character who loves and cares BeeBee as described by John
Grisham is the first principal of Rohrberger and Wood’s theory. In addition, the
way Grisham creates the character of Willie Traynor is also by making Willie
Traynor as the narrator of the story and the main character who tells everything
about his personal life, feeling and description of himself. The way Willie Traynor
tells about his personal life and feeling through what he says along the story about
his love and careness to BeeBee shows that he is a charitable person. In addition,
the way Grisham describes the characteristics of Willie Traynor through what he
says shows that Grisham applies the second principal of theory of
characterization.
7. Unpretentious Person
Willie Traynor never tries to dress-up as a richmen in the county
although he is a rich person and bussinessman, the young and educated journalist,
what he wants and be what he wants to be. This condition shows that he is an
unpretentious person and this idea is the seventh characteristic of Willie Traynor.
This condition is supported by the fact below,
I was wearing my ususal garb-faded jeans, rumpled cotton button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves, loafers, no socks. I was then twenty-four years old and because I owned a business I was slowly turning my thoughts away from college and toward career. Very slowly. I had long hair and still dressed like student. I generally gave little thought to what I wore or what image I portrayed (p.248).
According to the theory of characterization by Rohrberger and Woods,
the way of John Grisham creates the characteristic of Willie Traynor as an
unpretentious person is by describing Willie’s atrribute that he does not try to
appear more special than who he really is, as the description on the moral
attributes of the character. The description on the moral attributes of Willie
Traynor as the character who does not try to appear more special than who he
really is as described by John Grisham. This finding is suitable with the first
principal of Rohrberger and Wood’s theory of characterization. In addition, the
way Grisham creates the character of Willie Traynor is also by making Willie
Traynor as the narrator of the story and the main character who tells everything
about his personal life, feeling and description of himself. The way Willie Traynor
tells about his personal life and feeling through what he says along the story about
his atrribute that he does not try to appear more special than who he really is
shows that he is an unpretentious person. In addition, the way Grisham describes
the characteristics of Willie Traynor through what he says shows that Grisham
These quotations and explanations above show the Willie Traynor’s
characteristics as the answers of the first question on the problem formation in this
undergraduate thesis.
B. The Moments of Race Discrimination that are Spotlighted by Willie
Traynor in the Story
Willie’s Traynor characteristics help him to spotlight the race
discrimination moments in Clanton. There are some moments show the race
discrimination that are spotlighted in the story. The moments of race
discrimination in the story are going to be listed and analyzed with the theories of
racism in this part in order to answer the second question in problem formulation.
The first moment is the race discrimination that happens toward black on
the statewide elections of Clanton in 1967. Willie Traynor as the narrator and also
an educated journalist who observes the statewide elections pays his attention on
the racial problem of people in Clanton. Clanton is the town in the South where
the people inside are 26 percent black and 74 white. The blacks are discriminated
when the statewide election happens in this town. The discrimination toward
blacks is showed by the fact that only 12 percent of 26 percent of black in Clanton
who vote for the statewide election. There are about 14 percent black who are not
allowed to vote because some staffs of statewide election annoy some blacks
when they have to register or sign up in the election. As a result, not all of the
condition because not all black have the same opportunity as the whites ones. This
idea is supported by the quotation below,
In 1970, Ford County was 26 percent black, 74 percent white, with no fractions for Others or those who weren’t certain. Six years after the tumultuous summer of 1964 and its massive push to register blacks, and five years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, few bothered to sign up in Ford County. In the statewide elections of 1967, almost 70 percent of the eligible whites in the county had voted, while only 12 percent of the blacks did so. Registration drives in Lowntown were met with general indifference. One reason was that the county was so white that no black could ever be elected to a local of fice. So why bother? (p.149).
The race discrimination that happens toward black when the statewide
election was held is also supported by the fact that white use tricks to hinder
blacks when they want to register for the vote of statewide election. The white
want to make the black tired of the process of registration before they can vote.
This condition shows that the white try to limit the black’s opportunity to convey
their voice for the government. In other words, the white treat the black not as
equal citizen as them. This idea is supported by the quotation from the novel
below,
Another reason was the historical abuse at the point of enrolling. For a hundred years whites had used a variety of tricks to deny blacks proper registration. Poll taxes, literacy exams, the list was long and miserable. Yet another reason was the hesitancy by most blacks to be registered in any manner by white authorities. Registration could mean more taxes, more supervision, more surveillance, more intrusions. Registration could mean serving on juries (p.149).
Mr. And Mrs. Ruffin also experience the race discrimination when they
are going to register as the voter of statewide election in Clanton. The race
Ruffin as the black voter is discriminated by the question that is asked. This is the
quotation,
The clerk, assuming that Mr. And Mrs. Ruffin were illiterate as most blacks in Ford County, said,”Can you read this?” (p.150).
From the quotation above, race discrimination is showed by the clerk
with the underestimating Mr. And Mrs. Ruffin. The are supposed to be illiterate
ones. They have to read the laminated card with the words “Declaration of
Indepence” across the top. The text was written in Germany.
The quotations above, that are quoted from the novel, show the
race-discrimination when the statewide election was held. The race-race-discriminations
above show the practice of racism that happens in Clanton. According to Robert
Blaunner in his writing The Question of Black Culture, states that racism is caused
because of the differentiation of colors.
Racism is crucial to the cultural process of Afro-Americans because a continuing racist social structure has served to fix rather that to race the distinctive experience of the past. He refers two key characteristic of American social structure. First, that (aside from age and sex). The division based upon colour is the single must important split within the society, the body politic, and the national psyche. Second, that values proceses and practices of exclusion and subordination based upon colour are built into the major public institution (Labor market, education, politics, and Law enforcements), with the effect of maintaining special privileges, power, and values for the benefit of the white majority (1970:124-125).
The white’s ways to limit the registration for the voter, especially for
black, show the first characteristic of Blaunner’s theory of racism that the division
of black and white is based upon colour; and also show the second characteristics
upon colour are built into the major public institution. The difficulties for black
voter to register the statewide election trully show the practice of racism that
happens to them.
The supporting theory that shows the practice of racism in the statewide
election is taken from a book entitled Racism in American written by Harvey
Sarles. In this book the writer points out that racism can operate on two levels: (1)
Individual and/or group and (2) institutional. Individual racism simply means that
one has racist views according to its definition. It is also supposed to be somewhat
easy to eradicate so long as a “good” human relation approach that is used to
educate the racist and thereby prove to him that his fears and hostilities are
unsound. However, institutional racism is far subtler and very difficult to
eradicate. It has been defined as the “operating policies, priorities, and function of
an on-going system of normative patterns which serves to subjugate, oppressed,
and force dependence of individuals or groups by establishing and sanctioning
unequal goals, objectives, and priorities for blacks and whites, which forces
inequality in status and in access to goods and services”(1970:49).
The race-discrimination that is showed in the statewide election above
shows the practice of racism because Sarles’ theory of racism states that racism
can operate in two systems. First is individual and/or group, and second is
institutional. The difficulties faced by the black when they register the statewide
election for being the voters show the individual and/or group racism system that
is done by the white committee of statewide election, and this racism system
result of the black voters is only 14 percent from the total of black in that county
that is about 26 percent.
Willie Traynor as an ambitious person who has high ambition to know
everything about the juror in Clanton, asks Harry Rex to explain about it. Then
Harry Rex’s explanation becomes the spotlighted-race-discrimination moment.
The moment that is presented in the story is when Harry Rex, a lawyer and friend
of Willie Traynor, gives short explanation on the racial issue connected to the law
court or justice in Clanton to Willie Traynor. In his explanation Harry Rex tells
that blacks are rarely become the juror in the court. It happens because the
procecution believe that blacks will symphathize to the accused. So, whites are
not objective in judging blacks as the jurors in a court. As a result, it is better for
the blacks not to be juror. This condition is reflected the race discrimination
toward blacks in the story because blacks are underestimated by whites just
because blacks are considered as people who cannot think as well as whites. The
paradigm of society at that time is that blacks are too generous to others’ money.
They are uneducated and unskilled. These conditions are supported by the novel’s
quotation below,
According to Harry Rex, who was a slightly more reliable courthouse source than Baggy, there had been a black juror in Ford County. Since potential jurors were selected from the voter registration rolls and nowhere else, few showed up in a jury pool. Those who survived the early rounds of questioning were routinely excused before the final twelve were empaneled. In criminal cases, the prosecution routinely challenged blacks under the belief that they would be too sympathetic to the accused. In civil cases, the defense chalenged them because they were feared as too liberal with the money of others.
