Montana 1948: Justice and the Rule of Law According to Merriam-Webster, “justice” means the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals. In the story of Montana 1948 the character David Hayden encounters many distinctive ways the law works than it would normally be displayed in the American Justice system. Montana 1948 tells the story of young David Hayden and his family living in Bentrock, Mercer County, Montana. In his time in Montana, his family is put in the situation of his Uncle Frank being charged with the murder of Marie Little Soldier. Throughout the book we go through the theme of justice and the rule of law. David is seen experiencing the mistaken ways the law should be interpreted, including …show more content…
Readers come across the complication of Julian Hayden (Wes’ father) putting pressure on Wes for letting his brother go. Wes is torn between the decision of keeping his family name in office and following his wife and his gut in doing the right thing. David points out that his father “turn two ways at once” (Watson 18). One way being the pressure that Grandpa Hayden wants nothing more than Wes to let his brother go even if he had committed a crime and the other being Gail who wants her husband to be himself and do the right thing instead of following the footstep of his father. David also noted about his grandfather, “my grandfather, who wanted his son to continue the Hayden rule of Mercer County” (Watson 18). This line presenting the problem of having a distinctive position in the community is more serious than doing the legal thing for the people. In all cases, keeping a name for yourself or your family shouldn't be a main priority when it comes to wrongdoings of an …show more content…
Through all the family circumstances that David had dealt with, he thinks the death of his Uncle Frank is a good thing. David stated, “I knew—I knew! I knew!—that Uncle Frank’s suicide had solved all our problems” (Watson 114). David’s reaction to his death was that it was work out all the problems they, including, his father not having to bring his brother to jail, no trials, no more pressure from anyone, no more guilt or embarrassment. “Things will be back to normal,” Wes remarked (Watson 105). It is bazaar to think that anyone’s death for that matter would ever be something positive. This being one of the illogical ways to see the law. No ones death will clarify a situation because there may be long time outcomes. According to the book, later in David lifetime when the topic of his brother was brought up about Frank, Wes’ reaction was that, “he slammed his hand down on the table so hard the plates and silverware jumped” (Watson 122). The law in this position was portrayed inaccurately. There was no way that someone’s death, especially a family member’s will ever be satisfactory. In either case, David’s idea of his uncle’s death has not been made clear to him, but when he faces the reality of the accident he will understand that the death was not anything to be glad
Montana 1948 - Larry Watson Steph Pinker There are a few good ideas about David's loss of innocence and adulthood that are worth learning about in the novel ‘Montana 1948’by Larry Watson. The three main ideas the stuck out for me are David’s sexual shame, growing up mentally and the choices and decisions. These stuck out to me as the three main worthy ideas because they all hold a significant part of the story , and as a teenager reading the book I can feel i understand some of them as they relate to the universal experience of growing up. The first idea that is worth learning about is David’s sexual shame.
The choices you make will always have consequences and those consequences can always affect your most loved ones in the novel Montana 1948 , the Hayden's boys take advantage of their last name, the choices that Frank the doctor of Bentrock made ends ups leading a big events of family problems, the event that happened that summer in that small town will forever hunt David childhoods and the Hayden's family. There is sometimes a person that can no longer remain loyal even to a family member. Wesley the sheriff of the county who loves his brother a lot and had a lot of respect for him, he couldn’t remain loyal to his brother because of the crime he had committed, he had to arrest his own brother " Franks down there..." (109) Wes finally arrest his brother frank after doing research and finding out the crimes he has committed this event causes a lot of drama in the family and breaks down the loyalty they have had for years, this shows how a person has a certain point of which they can remain loyal, and people keeping secrets away from someone can make this
Consider the following, staying a devoted fan to the patriots or staying allegiant to your best friend. When he gets down to the despicable core of tough times one can see who 's truly loyal. Justice works the same way. For instance, one can be guilty and be granted freedom or vise versa. In the novel, Montana 1948, Larry Watson reveals conflict between two necessary values loyalty and justice which is exemplified throughout.
Another incident involving slavery that contributed greatly on the conflict between the north and the southern states was the DRED SCOTT DECISION. The Dred Scott decision is described by (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford) as “A landmark decision by the United States supreme court, in which the court ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or not, could not be first class American citizens and therefore had no right to sue in Federal court and that the Federal governments had no power to regulate slavery. Dred Scott was an African American slave, taken by his master from the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois and then the free state of Wisconsin. The master was moved back to Missouri, the slave state and he took Scott with him and later on the master died. The question at hand was should he be set free?
Following the death, his mother decides to move them into their grandparent’s house in New York, hoping this will make things a little less challenging. However, the neighborhood was not how she remembered. Wes was now witnessing more drug activities and dealing with being enrolled into a new school with a divergent environment. Dissatisfied with his life, he began to care less. His attitude caused his grades to drop and eventually he was placed on academic probation.
Larry through this novella makes us to realize that the law does not or cannot always provide justice. Montana repeatedly bring to the light how the practice and enforcement of law is susceptible to public opinion and abuses of power.
Let us break down what justice is; justice is behaviour that is just or fair. So the justice system is the system that enforces the law which involves apprehending the accused, prosecuting the accused, defending the accused, sentencing and punishing the guilty. The justice system makes sure that every citizen is heard for and is helped according to what has happened to them. The criminal justice system today When a person commits a crime there are different levels of punishment and decision making if a person has committed a minor crime like speeding, littering, shoplifting, prostitution, vandalism being drunk, possession of drugs etc.
State vs. Mayfield Trial On December 27th, 1989, State Police Officer Edward Mayfield pulled over Donna Nugent to a shady area where he strangled her and threw her body off of a bridge. We don’t know why he pulled her over. He then proceeded to strangle her with a rope. I believe State Police Officer Edward Mayfield is guilty of murder in the first degree because he had and hid the murder weapon, pulling over specifically blonde women, and he changed the activity log.
Injustice versus Justice in And Then There Were None Everyone has varying opinions on the definition of justice and injustice, and acts of which may be seen as fair or unfair to different individuals. A dictionary says that justice is the quality of being just; righteousness; equitableness; or moral rightness.
Honestly what is loyalty? One can’t even begin to define such a word. It’s one single seven letter word yet, it has a deep profound definition. Typically one does not use loyalty until they are put to the test. The test can be anything, like staying loyal to the patriots or staying loyal to your best friend.
Throughout the history of mankind, society has defined itself by law and the order that law creates. “Laws are the binding rules of conduct or action which the vast majority of the society has to abide”. Justice on the other hand is rather an abstract concept. There is no right or wrong definition of justice, but is rather agreed upon the concept of being fair and equal. Many would assume that the sole purpose of law is to establish justice, which seems like a wonderful philosophical theory but is slightly difficult to follow.
Wishing for death is contrary to living with her child, and the disparity between those ideas is strong enough to ‘rip out’ her heart. Even so, the woman still chooses suicide, demonstrating the complete and utter hopelessness she felt. Next, the man’s last conversation with the boy before he dies shows hope manifesting the sake of survival. Here, the man’s health is failing substantially and he knows he will soon die.
Justice is something that everyone seeks, and wants to see be given to all. These are statements that I wish were true. In fact, as Americans, justice is something people want to see given only to those believed to be deserving of it. Justice is fairness, can only be reached within the confines of equality, and is, as Americans, part of our pledge for all be given the right to it. Fairness has been sought for by mankind since the beginning of time.
The concept of justice varies depending on the country, their cultures, and on individual people. Justice and mercy are important themes in The Merchant of Venice and are supported by quotes in the play; it is clearly seen that these two virtues cannot be achieved simultaneously. Justice calls for “an eye for an eye” and mercy asks for forgiveness and compassion towards the one who did wrong. Using examples from The Merchant of Venice, it can clearly be seen that these two human virtues can not be pursued at the same time. There are various definitions as to what justice truly is.
Warn Me! A silent and drizzle night lies in front of me. I think stars will shine brightly soon, because stars usually appear after the rain. My long hair also beautifully shines bathed by the moonlights.