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Lisa Williams
He was a black boy in the Jim Crow South. No further explanation needed. There would not have been any opportunity for anyone to stand up for him, nor would they even try to get involved. If you have to ask this question, you probably aren't going to "get" the story at all.
Rebecca Elizabeth
I also think it helps us understand Elwood - because he probably doesn't understand either. The trial and his sentencing must have seemed like a horrible blur, or like a bad dream because it so surreal, unfair and not even close to what his life was like before.
To me, it really added to the shock of how a good kid with genuinely good intentions could end up in a place like Nickel.
So I actually think it helps us understand what Elwood is going through - and what it must feel like to be tossed into a new life you didn't really know existed.
To me, it really added to the shock of how a good kid with genuinely good intentions could end up in a place like Nickel.
So I actually think it helps us understand what Elwood is going through - and what it must feel like to be tossed into a new life you didn't really know existed.
Anne
When I read it, I didn't feel like it lacked explanation. The novel is really mostly about the 'school', both in a public and personal sense. Public as an example of how terrible racism & segregation is, and personal as how it affected Elwood and Turner's lives during their time at Nickel and afterwards. I think details of the judicial process would lead the focus away from that.
I don't remember exactly, but I think you'll have some stuff coming up about a lawyer that Elwood's grandmother Harriet hired, and how that played out.
And since his boss is described as someone "savvy to the economics of segregation" I don't really see why he would stand up for Elwood.
Also, the novel points out several times that ludicrous charges like "reckless eyeballing" and "bumptious contact" could lead to harsh consequences. I think Elwood's being innocent but in the wrong time and place is also an example of suffering at the hands of racism in the judicial process.
I don't remember exactly, but I think you'll have some stuff coming up about a lawyer that Elwood's grandmother Harriet hired, and how that played out.
And since his boss is described as someone "savvy to the economics of segregation" I don't really see why he would stand up for Elwood.
Also, the novel points out several times that ludicrous charges like "reckless eyeballing" and "bumptious contact" could lead to harsh consequences. I think Elwood's being innocent but in the wrong time and place is also an example of suffering at the hands of racism in the judicial process.
Mary
Here's what I recommend. Whitehead has kindly provided, in the acknowledgments (pages 211-213), some further reading you can do of source material. There are newspaper and magazine articles about the Dozier School, which was loosely the basis for the Nickel School in this fictional novel. There are books about the prison system, too. Start reading and educate yourself further. It will answer your question for you. Elwood, a naif, has a touching belief in American justice and the rule of law. He goes to Nickel and gets schooled in harsh reality.
Leslie Pietrzyk
Other kids were at that school for far lesser "offenses." I think we're supposed to see that young, bright Elwood never really had a fair chance, despite his doing everything "the right way." Symbolically he had to be punished because the act of going to college was a step toward "bettering himself. "
Sondra
The novel was based on actual events at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. This website identifies a survivor, Jerry Cooper, who was hitchhiking a picked up by a man driving a stolen car.
https://www.npr.org/2012/10/15/162941...
https://www.npr.org/2012/10/15/162941...
Betsy Decillis
I want to give you the answer to this but it will all make sense in the end why you don't have more of the whys.
Cindi Hennes
Because it doesn't matter.
Lihsa
I think that is kind of the point. There was no reason and no explanation. Full stop.
Carolyn
I agree with Anne's answer. I think that Elwood probably did not have any sort of chance at justice because the system knew what they were going to do and just moved him along, and he didn't have anyone to fight for him. You do wonder why the teacher didn't make an appearance at that point. Honestly, the book was so short, the author could have fleshed some things out more and it would have enhanced the story.
Manda
It seems that Whitehead based part of Elwood's conviction off of Jerry Cooper.
"Cooper is 67 now. He was sent to what at the time was called the Florida School for Boys in 1961. He'd been running away from home and hitchhiking when he was picked up by an AWOL Marine driving a stolen car." https://www.npr.org/2012/10/15/162941...
"Cooper is 67 now. He was sent to what at the time was called the Florida School for Boys in 1961. He'd been running away from home and hitchhiking when he was picked up by an AWOL Marine driving a stolen car." https://www.npr.org/2012/10/15/162941...
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