The Admirability of Henry Drummond from Inherit The Wind

“It's the loneliest feeling in the world to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down.” (Lawrence & Lee 51). Drummond chooses to stand up for what he believes in rather than disregarding real value and blindly inheriting others opinions. For this reason, Henry Drummond, the defence attorney for Bertram Cates, came into Hillsboro as one of the most hated men in town, however, he left as a respected attorney. From the perspective of the citizens of Hillsboro, Henry Drummond was a threatening and evil man facing their greatest hero, Matthew Harrison Brady. At the beginning of the trial, if the average person from Hillsboro was asked who the most devilish man was, there is a very high chance that they would say Henry Drummond. As a result of his ‘agnostic mind’, the townsfolk saw him as the devil himself, a godless sinner who deserved to rot in hell along with Cates and anyone else who opposed the Lord. Despite the hatred towards Drummond from Hillsboro, it is obvious to the readers that he displays admirability through his sensibleness, determination, and morality.

Foremost, Drummond’s admirability is shown through his sensibleness, his ability to judge situations and ideas with an unbiased and intelligent mindset. An example where this trait is evident is towards the end of the play, as he tells his story of the Golden Dancer to Cates. The story is about his childhood, when he desperately wanted a beautiful rocking horse that he had seen in a shop window. When he finally received this gift, it broke immediately after being ridden. Drummond promised himself that from then on he would try his best to see the true value in everything, by looking at what is beyond the surface. Drummond explained to Cates, “All shine, and no substance! Bert, whenever you see something bright, shining, perfect-seeming, all gold, with purple spots, look behind the paint! And if it’s a lie, show it up for what it really is!”. This quote displays Drummond’s sensibleness as a character because it shows his strong beliefs in having good judgement inside and outside of the courtroom, as well as to believe in real meaning. Moreover, he displays this trait at the very end of the story, when he walked out of the courtroom with both the Bible and Darwin’s Origin of Species balanced in his hands. This scene is one of the most significant and impactful parts in the entire play because it displays Drummond’s open mind and his respect for different perspectives. Unlike Brady or countless others in Hillsboro who refuse to contradict the Bible, Drummond made his decision after weighing both viewpoints equally and carefully finding the value in each, thus composing his sensibility. Drummond’s sense is very crucial to Inherit the Wind and in return makes him very admirable.

Secondly, the determination and work ethic and that Drummond possesses is admirable. For instance, this trait is shown predominantly during the beginning of the play when he first arrived in Hillsboro. He saw banners hung, songs being sung and a delicious feast all for Brady, their religious hero. Drummond received nothing but hate from the citizens, in the form of yelling, threats and angry mobs of people. Despite this, he still stuck with the case until the very end and fought hard the entire way through. His determination is evident in this scene because without the drive to win, Cates would have received a greater punishment, the townsfolk would still worship Brady and people would still be afraid to think for themselves. In addition, Drummond’s determination is so significant and commendable during the trial after countless science and evolution experts were denied to be witnesses, such as the zoologist, anthropologist and archeologist. Even with everyone against him and his beliefs, Drummond’s determination allowed him to keep going and think of new ideas. Subsequently, this led to the event that made the biggest impact on the case and Hillsboro, where Drummond spoke the words, “I call to the stand one of the world’s foremost experts on the Bible and its teachings, Matthew Harrison Brady!”. Even through his difficulties, Drummond was able to use the resources he was given to prove his point. He called his praised competitor Brady onto the stand and put the odds in his favour, all because of his perseverance. The determination that Drummond possesses is so admirable because he does not give up easily unlike countless others, but rather he fights with all his power to prove something to others.

Lastly, Drummond’s embodiment of morality is an immense factor in his admirability. For instance, at the end of the play, Drummond talked about how he takes challenging cases that do not necessarily pay well rather than easy ones that pay significantly more. He chooses cases that he believes in, ones where he feels that he can really make an impact. His moral beliefs were well shown in this scene because, despite Drummond’s awareness of his major disadvantage, he came to Hillsboro after realizing the circumstances of an unjust law and a bias case. If he did not have such a strong urge to do the right thing, he would not have come all the way to Hillsboro to defend someone who opposed religion in a place that idolized it to such an extent. Furthermore, Drummond displays his morality near the end of the play, as the group remaining in the courtroom hears of Brady’s passing. As Hornbeck begins to insult Brady and his religious beliefs, Drummond steps in to defend his competitor by saying, “You smart-aleck! You have no more right to spit on his religion than you have a right to spit on my religion! Or my lack of it!”. This line shows his morality because not only is he defending a man who had opposite opinions than him and who was known as his enemy, but he is once again defending everyone’s right to think. Brady had opinions that were far from Drummond’s and that were not necessarily accurate, however, Drummond looked past their differences in order to do the right thing. These moral acts that Drummond displays in Inherit the Wind are not only commendable but are highly valued.

To conclude, Henry Drummond has shown countless meritable efforts throughout the play Inherit the Wind written by Lawrence and Lee. Nonetheless, Hillsboro’s opinion of him was primarily negative because he possessed very different opinions than they did. Their narrow mindedness exonerated the ability for them to understand or make an attempt to understand his perspective. They did not look beyond the surface and see his admirable traits including sensibleness, determination, and morality. These characteristics all go towards showing Drummond’s good heart and his value, but primarily his admirability.