48 pages • 1 hour read
John GrishamA Time to Kill
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1989A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaSymbols & Motifs
Burning Crosses
The Ku Klux Klan intimidates through the use of burning crosses—a perverse inversion of a symbol sacred to many of the Christian characters in the novel. To worship at the foot of a cross is common, but the sight of a burning cross is a threat, typically used to inspire terror in blacks, or in the whites who help them. Jake and 19 of the prospective jurors are recipients of this intimidation tactic. When Ellen is abducted and tied to the tree, the Klan members light a burning cross in the pasture where she can see it. Another cross is lit when they burn Mickey Mouse to death after learning that he is passing information to the police.
Carl Lee
Carl Lee is a man, but he and his case also become a symbol that many different groups eagerly use for their own gains. Reverend Isaiah Street tells Carl Lee that his acquittal will be a victory for black people everywhere, while a conviction will be another win for the white racists that have plagued black people for centuries. For Stump Sisson and the Klan, Carl Lee is a symbol of black savagery and the need to keep black people subservient to white rule. The attorneys in the book—Buckley, Marsharfsky, and even Jake—all view Carl Lee as a way to earn themselves fame. The black protestors who march on the courthouse near the end of the novel use Carl Lee as a symbol for all oppressed blacks. Reverend Agee uses Carl Lee’s name to raise, and possibly steal, money from his church parishioners. Carl Lee also serves as a symbol of fatherhood, justice, and protection.
Tonya/Daughters
When Jake begins his closing argument, he talks about daughters and how special they are. He makes a patriarchal argument that girls need a type of protection different from what boys need—namely, the strong protection of their fathers. Tonya’s hallucination in the aftermath of the rape, that Carl Lee is coming to save her in the forest, supports Jake’s point. Buckley, Ozzie, Jake, and many other characters in the book declare that they have daughters, and that, if their daughters were raped, they would also want to kill the rapists. The jurors also discuss the subject of daughters and the need to protect them. A society that does not prioritize the protection of its daughters is a broken, savage society, the novel suggests. So Tonya becomes a symbol of daughters everywhere, the fragility of children, and of the devastating loss of innocence. Not only does the rape cost her a chance at an unblemished childhood, it also steals her ability to have her own children.
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