Guilty In A Time To Kill

There’s a great difference between being guilty and non guilty, but would you want to be in a trial where the verdict will most likely always be guilty no matter what the crime is? In John Grisham’s novel, A Time to Kill, two white men rape, abuse and leave Carl Lee Hailey’s ten year old daughter, Tonya Hailey, close to death. Carl Lee Hailey took the law into his own hands and murdered the men that did something so brutal to his little girl. Throughout most of the novel, two most intelligent lawyers have a quarrel on whether or not Carl Lee Hailey should be sent home to his family or face the unsettling Death Penalty. Although Carl Lee got his vengeance against the men that physically injured his daughter, he realized that there will always
be consequences for his actions no matter what defined them. Carl Lee Hailey grasped onto the fact that revenge is never the answer after he had already committed the crime.
Carl Lee knew the consequences he was going to face when he murdered Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard for the sake of Tonya. Jake Brigance said, “Don’t do it, Carl Lee. It’s not worth it. What if you’re convicted and get the gas chamber? What about the kids? Who’ll raise them? Those punks aren’t worth it.” Throughout the whole story, Carl Lee was on trial for his vengeful crime. Carl Lee wanted to get an eye for an eye but it didn't work out because he put, not only his life, but everyone’s life who believed he should be set free, at stake. He risked not being able to see his family ever again. Carl Lee said, “I have no choice, Jake. I’ll never sleep till those bastards are dead. I owe it to my little girl, I owe it to myself, and I owe it to my people. It’ll be done.” When he was in the act of committing his crime, he didn’t give a single thought about what he will risk if he got caught. As a result of Carl Lee’s actions, Jake wished he would have never took on the trial or even heard of him. Jake had been terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan because of how he was defending Carl Lee. Jake told Harry Rex, “You know, Harry Rex, I wish I’d never heard of Carl Lee Hailey.” Without Jake taking on the challenges of Carl Lee’s trial, Carl would have faced the Death
Penalty. In conclusion, Carl Lee might have done the right thing to some people by eliminating two drunken, annihilating men off the world; but he just taught his kids the wrong way to handle a situation like that. Carl Lee did what he thought was right and took the law into his own hands, not caring what would happen to him. In the end, Carl Lee Hailey had caused many conflicts in the novel because of his unspeakable actions.