Inherit the wind was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee in the early 1950's. It is a very moving story about a man named Bertram Cates, who fights to prove that everyone has the right to think. He is arrested and is being tried for teaching evolution. Inherit the wind refers to the proverbs 11:29, which in the King James Bible reads: "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart." This basically means that whoever causes trouble for themselves or others, will gain nothing. In the play, Brady, the townspeople, and the Reverend Brown inherit the wind.
Brady inherits the wind leading him to his death in the end. He is an arrogant leader. As the trial begins, "Brady sits grandly at another table, fanning himself with benign self-assurance." (ITW, 37) In the beginning of the play, Brady is over-confident about the outcome of the trial. Even if his opposing attorney is Drummond, he never considers failure. Brady gets his power from his beliefs of the Bible and from the support of the people of Hillsboro. The townspeople's admiration fills Brady with vanity. Later, when he loses their support, his calmness crumbles along with his character. This leads him to be a dynamic character in the play. As the trial progresses, Brady is questioned by Drummond at the witness stand. His character changes because a conflict arises when he is forced to admit that he doesn't know the Bible literally. His loyal supporters, the townspeople, laugh at him and they ignore him. When people don't listen to him, he says to his wife," Mother. They're laughing at me, mother!...I can't stand it when they laugh at me!" (ITW, 102-103) Brady's true character is brought out, he feels useless and ashamed. He transforms from a confident leader to a tragic character, who because of his ordeal, dies.
The townspeople of Hillsboro inherit the wind because they are narrow-minded people who also discriminate between...