& # 8220 ; The Burning Man & # 8221 ; By Phillip Margolin Essay, Research Paper
Book Review of & # 8220 ; The Burning Man & # 8221 ; by Phillip Margolin
Peter Hale, the boy of Richard Hale, a four-year associate at Hale,
Greavess, Strobridg, Marquand, and Bartlett, has lived his life under the shadow
of his male parent. Despite holding a high five-figure wage and fire-engine-red
Porsche, Peter was invariably seeking to get the better of the outlooks of his high-
category attorney of a male parent, who was former president of the Oregon State Bar.
Managing merely nickel-and-dime instances did non present Peter with the chance to
outshine his male parent, who was besides a second-team All-American football participant and
National Champion grappler, but when his male parent had a bosom onslaught and could no
longer manage a million dollar instance in which Peter had been assisting him, Peter
could non allow the chance base on balls. As Richard Hale lied helpless in a infirmary
bed, he demanded Peter ask for a mistrial, but it seemed merely to travel in one ear
of Peter & # 8217 ; s and out the other. Peter & # 8217 ; s daring would be dearly-won though, as he
would lose the instance and lose his male parent. Richard did non decease, but when he heard
of his boy & # 8217 ; s mistake he could non forgive him and couldn & # 8217 ; t bare to see him any longer.
Merely a fatherlike inherent aptitude would coerce Richard to happen a meager occupation for
his helpless boy in a little town with an old friend who was looking for person
seeking to recover position as Peter now was. Whitaker was non every bit exciting as
Portland was to Peter, but he began to be accustomed to the town when he began
his managing little condemnable instances and ran into an old friend who graduated with
him from senior high school, Steve Mancini. Steve, like Peter & # 8217 ; s male parent, was a football
star, but at the Division II degree for the Whitaker State football squad. Hale
became close with Mancini and met many other occupants of Whitaker through Steve.
One being Steve & # 8217 ; s beautiful and intelligent groom-to-be, Donna Harmon and her
somewhat retarded brother Gary. Just as things began to go settled for
Peter in Whitaker, he ran into some jobs with Gary Harmon. Peter had to
salvage him one time from the constabulary in a peeping incident and so became Gary & # 8217 ; s lead
lawyer, under some influence from Steve Mancini, as Gary was charged with the
slaying of a local college miss.
The dark of the slaying, Gary had been at a local saloon, the Stallion, and
had gotten into an statement with a miss whom he had asked to purchase a drink for.
Despite the confidence of a local drug-dealer friend of Gary & # 8217 ; s, Kevin Booth and
his friend, Christopher Mammon, the college miss had rejected Gary to a great extent non
cognizing he was somewhat retarded. This disquieted Gary and lead him to travel out of
the Stallion and back to his soon-to-be brother-in-law & # 8217 ; s house and so to his.
That is when the constabulary arrived and asked him to come to the station and aid
them work out a offense.
At this clip Dennis Downes and Bob Patrick, the officers who brought him
at that place, began to oppugn him about his whereabouts the dark before and about
his information on the slaying that occured that dark in Wishing Well park. The
inquiries led to Dennis Downes seting words into Gary & # 8217 ; s oral cavity about the slaying
and Bob Patrick intimidating Gary into believing he had supernatural powers and
could retrieve everything a
bout the offense, or in kernel that he truly did
commit the offense.
This would be the footing of Peter & # 8217 ; s defence instance of Gary Harmon. He
would utilize the full book of this interogation of Gary Harmon to seek to
set up that Gary was coerced into giving the inside informations of the offense that were
fed into his head by the constabulary, but Peter was still non certain that Gary did non
commit this offense. His beliefs were that there was no manner Gary did this, and
his bosom told him that if he didn & # 8217 ; t win this test, his life would be
indefinately over and if he did he would see a new beginning.
The test was non the lone thing go oning to Peter, as Steve and his
now married woman began to hold problems. Steve took out his emotions on his married woman and
hit her many times. Peter was the 1 who was ever at that place for Donna and was
going attached to her and her brother whom he was supporting. This would add
even more force per unit area and confusion to Peter & # 8217 ; s life.
Thingss began to wind off and in the terminal a corrupt Becky O & # 8217 ; Shay and Steve
Mancini aided in the coverup of the liquidator, Kevin Booth, in order to coverup
their drug usage. Booth & # 8217 ; s under-cover FBI agent spouse helped Steve Mancini
uncover the truth, that the gril was killed by Booth over drugs and drug money.
Gary ends up free after being convicted of slaying while Peter ends up on the
same page as his male parent and in love with the beautiful and intelligent Donna
Harmon, whom he will get married and populate with in the beautiful, quiet metropolis of
Whitaker, Oregon.
Gary Harmon, unlike most others, sometimes needs others to believe for him.
Whether or non the right people think for him or non is what makes this narrative.
It began in the Stallion, when Kevin Booth and Christopher Mammon told Gary to
inquire a miss at the saloon whether he could purchase her a drink. They knew that she
didn & # 8217 ; t want him to, but with merely a small persuasion, Gary was led into a
delusional universe, believing that the miss wanted him to purchase her a drink and
possibly take her place after that. When he was so suddenly brought out of his
delusional universe, he became violent. After that, when Gary was brought into the
oppugning room of the constabulary station the following twenty-four hours, two constabulary officers
urgently searcing for some replies besides began to believe for Gary Harmon.
After a series of inquiries to which they supplied the replies, they had Gary
believing that he had supernatural powers and that he could remember the yesteryear,
even that of which he had non experienced. They used this information to set
Gary on test for a slaying which they created in his head. It took Peter Hale,
whom in himself he had no belief, to believe and believe right for Gary Harmon
and salvage his guiltless life from others who thought nil of it.
Margolin used this narrative to typify all of those who live in
delusional universes, some believing they know everything or some non cognizing what
they know, and demo how vulnerable those people can be. It is the people who
battle for the wellbeing of people in delusional universes and seek to convert them
to face world that save them from catastrophe. This creates a great universal
entreaty in this narrative, because everyone knows person who lives in a delusional
universe and can associate to the attempts of Peter Hale.