Short summary
The novel entitled “Half the man, twice the lawyer” was written by John Grisham. The novel artistically presents the American judicial system and law. This is about a murder case and how criminal cases are put forward in the court. Therefore, it is likely to aim at introducing American judicial system in a literary form. Theodore Boon, a thirteen years old boy is the main character of the novel who knows the truth of the murder case.
In the small city of Strattenburg, there were many lawyers and Theodore Boon himself thought one of them. Theo dreamed of being a famous trail lawyer, one who handled the biggest cases and never lost before juries. Sometimes, dreamed of being a great judge, noted for his wisdom and fairness. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk and a lot about the law. Theo is an intuitive boy who is also known as kid lawyer in this novel. He is an impulsive character as he wants to take risks. He was called kid lawyer because he was only thirteen years old boy but he knows about the law a lot and spends much of his time in the court. Besides, there are some scenes in the novel as well where Theo acts himself as lawyer. Hence, in this novel, ‘kid’ means a young boy.
Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. He was dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial where a cold-blooded killer is about to go free. Myra Duffy was killed in her own house at Waverly Creek. The cause of death was strangulation but no one knows who killed her except Bobby Escobar. The problem was Booby couldn’t be testified in the court because he was an illegal immigrant from EI Salvador. He didn’t know who Pete Duffy was but he could say a person entered the house at the time of murder and he further could say what he wore and what he did as he worked at the golf course near the Duffy’s house.
Mr. Peter Duffy was charged as the murder mainly because the relation between him and his wife Mrs. Duffy was not good and partly because there were no other people during the time of murdering in their house and it looked as if she was killed by a familiar person. But in the lack of proof and witness, the prosecutor, Mr. Hogan had to play the ‘Maybe Game’. Mr. Peter Duffy was testified but he was about to be proved innocent as he said that their relation was terrible but it was improving and he further said that he was grief stricken as she was his wife. Moreover, there was no crime – scene, proof and witness. But, in fact, she was killed by her husband Mr. Peter Duffy for her insurance.
In the lack of evidence, proof and witness, Mr. Peter Duffy was about to go free. Jurors were sure that he was innocent. Theo finally told his parents about Bobby Escobar who was the only witness of the crime. Theo’s parents gave him the words to help him proving Peter Duffy as the murder. So, they immediately put forward the process to legalize Bobby Escobar. They talked to judge Gantry and told the truth. Finally, judge Gantry declared the mistrial thanking the jurors and stating that the charge against Peter Duffy was dismissed but the charges would be filled again with a different jury.
The novel ‘Half the man, twice the lawyer’ is blend of law and literature. A novel is generally defined as a long fictional narrative written in prose. It is organized under a plot or theme with a focus on character development and action. This novel as literary fiction presents the vivid scene of American judicial system as if it is a real story. It is much about law as it clearly shows how criminal court proceeds in America. It talks about judges, lawyers, prosecutor, defendant and other clerks as well as jury system. The novel is full of the activities that are likely to happen and carry out in criminal court. The thirteen-year-old boy, Theo is shown as an intuitive character who is aware of Law and order, and the legal system. He is the in the role of protagonist (main character in the Novel). Mr. Peter Duffy is the second husband of Myra Duffy. He is the antagonist (the villainous character) of the novel. Peter Duffy murdered his wife and left the house very cleverly without leaving any evidence. No one knew the fact that Myra Duffy was murdered by her own second husband Peter Duffy except Bobby Escobar, but Bobby couldn’t be testified in the court as a witness because he was an illegal immigrant. The police were after hem. Bobby was afraid of losing his job, his money, being sent back home and being sent to jail. Bobby was, finally, Theo’s parents took steps to sponsor Bobby Escobar to be a legal person so that he could be testified in the court as a witness and so did they. After the presence of Bobby at the court, Mr. Duffy; the cold-blooded killer, would be sent to prison. As the novel is literary genre having crime scene and the court system, it is said to be a perfect blend of law and literature.
[Note to the students: - it is just a draft, not a final summary. Try producing similar ones.]
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