Inherit the Wind — Zhuoya Li
Inherit the wind is a play about how two different groups of people react to Darwin and his theory. One group of people is called evolutionist and the other is called creationist. The first group accept the theory that humans have the same ancestor with apes, and the second group believes the creation story written in Bible. The debate between these two groups lasts for centuries.
There are several themes that are under the surface. Drummond arrives at Hillsboro to be an atheist at first, but then he changed people’s mind and he himself becomes a hero. He exposes the contradictions that people have in their religious beliefs, and demonstrates that people know less that what they think themselves know. He does more than simply being an attorney. He shows that the point is not just about whether creationist or evolutionist is right. He demonstrates that it is more important to give everyone the freedom to disagree with existing ideas and the freedom to change their mind. Drummond can see that the problem in this town is really about resistance and suspicion to new ideas. Even though new ways of transportation and communication technology are getting used in America, there are a lot of places in America that is still inaccessible to modern technologies. The lack of information makes these small towns not easy to accept new ideas. Another reason is that they receive traditional christianity education for too long. In their perspective, the world is all based on fundamentalism and conservatism. The old people need more of obedience and unconditional belief of old doctrines than of free thinking. Drummond changed their way of think about the world and made them realize that the only way to promote progress is to embrace and encourage freedom of thought.
There is another theme in this play that is worth discussing. Cates, as a protagonist in this town, have to face the disapproval and angry from his own people. He is isolated by his people and be regarded as “even worse than murderer”. However, he sticks to his belief and not let others destroy him. Drummond is quite similar to Cates in this sense. He can empathize with Cates in that both of them favors the minority side of the world, and it is very lonely to be on that side. There is a line in the play that I have the resonance : “It’s the loneliest feeling in the world—to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down. It is the individuals like Drummond that stand up against the mainstream society and spoke their own voices. They challenge the social norms and make people reconsider their previous thoughts and assumptions. They are great in that they have the courage to stand up. Some other people are not that brave and distinct like Drummond and Cates. For instance, Brown and Brady are all charming characters, but they just use religious beliefs as a pretense to do what they need to do. They want to maintain the order, to keep everything as usual. They are not just that kind of hero like Drummond.