in the heat of the night

in the heat of the night

‘In The Heat of the Night’ by John Ball

In the novel, ‘In the Heat of the Night’ by John Ball the character of Sam Wood is a prime example of a dynamic character. A dynamic character is a character that changes and grows during the progression of a novel. Throughout the course of the novel Sam changes from a person who is racist against black people to an individual who stands up for African-Americans. Ball demonstrates this change in Sam Wood through his own thoughts and words as well as through the thoughts and words of other characters in the novel. This growth in Sam’s character displays that he can show compassion and respect to black people after interacting and communicating more with them.
In the beginning of the novel Sam displays his disrespect and ignorance towards African-Americans. Sam Wood states that black people have a different nervous system and that they aren’t human; “They don’t feel is when they get hit the way you or I would…They haven’t got the same nervous system. They’re like animals; you’ve got to hit ‘em with a poleax to knock ‘em down, that’s all. That’s how they win fights, why they’re not afraid to get in the ring.” (pg.6). Here we see that Sam Wood expresses his thoughts on black people and why they win boxing matches. This shows the level of racism Sam Wood practices in the beginning of the novel. Sam Wood shows no signs of respect and has no thought of equality for black people; “Ordinarily he would not have permitted a Negro to precede him though a doorway, but this Negro did not wait for him to go first and Sam decide it was a bad moment to raise an issue.” (pg.22). Ball wants to establish a thought that Sam Wood is so heavily influenced with the thought of racism that he doesn’t like black people walking in front of him. Sam Wood can even be described as hating African Americans; “Virgil Tibbs started to hold out his hand and then, to Sam’s immense relief, shifted his coat to his other arm instead.” (pg. 31) Here,...

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