The Chamber: A Look Into The Novel And Film Essay, Research Paper
The Chamber: A Look Into the Novel and Film
Dan Cano
Mrs. Ficarrota
English 10 Awards
9 December 1996
Narratives about offense prove to be a strong portion of America & # 8217 ; s amusement in
this twenty-four hours. In The Chamber, John Grisham writes about a Klansman who is convicted
of slaying and a grandson who tries to salvage his gramps is on decease row. This
narrative is now a major gesture image. This narrative carries a strong emotional
following to it because it both inquiries and supports the decease punishment in
different ways. Grisham shows this when he writes: & # 8221 ; ? I & # 8217 ; ve ache a batch of people,
Adam, and I haven & # 8217 ; t ever stopped to believe about it. But when you have a day of the month
with the inexorable harvester, you think about the harm you & # 8217 ; ve done. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; The messages
about the decease punishment are brought about in different ways in the movie and in
the novel. Although the novel and movie version of The Chamber have some
important differences, the secret plan and character positions are used to convey
a political message about the decease punishment. ( 378 )
The assorted characters in The Chamber have different traits and
backgrounds that affect their positions on certain issues. Sam Cayhall is
one of the chief characters in the narrative whose background is filled with hatred
because of his connexion with the Klan. & # 8220 ; The 2nd member of the squad was a
Klansman by the name of Sam Cayhall, & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; The FBI knew that Cayhall & # 8217 ; s male parent had
been a Klansman, . . . & # 8221 ; ( Grisham 2-3 ) . Sam, who is brought up under the
influence of the Ku Klux Klan, uses & # 8220 ; politically incorrect & # 8221 ; footings for other
minorities when he talks with Adam Cayhall in decease row. & # 8221 ; ? You Jew male childs ne’er
quit, do you? & # 8217 ; & # 8220 ; , & # 8221 ; ? How many nigger spouses do you hold? & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; & # 8221 ; ? Merely great.
The Jew assholes have sent a cub to salvage me. I & # 8217 ; ve known for a long clip
that they in secret wanted me dead, now this proves it. I killed some Hebrews, now
they want to kill me. I was right all along. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( Grisham 77-78 ) . These
statements reflect Sam Cayhall & # 8217 ; s intense hatred for others which is derived from
his immature upbringing in the Ku Klux Klan. Sam & # 8217 ; s background as a Klansman is told
by Grisham utilizing Sam stating Adam about coevalss of Klan activity:
& # 8221 ; `Why did you go a Klansman? & # 8217 ;
`Because my male parent was in the Klan. & # 8217 ;
`Why did he go a Klansman? & # 8217 ;
`Because his male parent was in the Klan. & # 8217 ;
`Great. Three generations. & # 8217 ;
`Four, I think. Colonel Jacob Cayhall fought with Nathan Bedford
Forrest in the war, and household fable has it that he was one of the early
members of the Klan. He was my great-grandfather. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( 123 ) .
Adam Cayhall is a immature motivated attorney who is driven to salvage his
gramps, Sam, because he wants to happen out about his household history every bit good
as about his gramps. John Grisham shows Adam & # 8217 ; s desire to support his
gramps and acquire him out of being executed:
& # 8221 ; `I & # 8217 ; ve studied his full file. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; & # 8221 ; ? I & # 8217 ; m intrigued by the instance.
I & # 8217 ; ve watched it for old ages, read everything written about the adult male. You asked me
earlier why I chose Kravitz & A ; Bane. Well, the truth is that I wanted to work on
the Cayhall instance, and I think this house has handled it pro bono for, what, eight
old ages now? & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( 28 ) . Adam & # 8217 ; s desire to larn more about his household through
supporting Sam is strong. & # 8221 ; ? I & # 8217 ; m your grandson. Therefore, I & # 8217 ; m allowed to inquire
inquiries about your past. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( Grisham 123 ) . Adam uses his household to associate to
Sam. The writer shows this when he quotes Adam stating,
& # 8221 ; `On behalf of my household, such as it is-my female parent who refuses to
discuss Sam ; my
sister who merely whispers his name ; my aunt in Memphis who has
disowned the name Cayhall-and on behalf of my late male parent, I would wish to state
thanks to you and to this house for what you & # 8217 ; ve done. I admire you greatly. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ;
( 45 ) .
Lee is Sam Cayhall & # 8217 ; s granddaughter ; she has problem acquiring rid of the
painful memory that is her male parent. Lee becomes an alcoholic to cover with her
hurting of being the girl of Sam Cayhall. Her hurting surfaces once more when Adam
comes down to seek to salvage Sam and the instance becomes intelligence once more. Grisham Tells
about Lee & # 8217 ; s job with intoxicant in many ways. & # 8221 ; ? All right, dammit. So I & # 8217 ; m an
alcoholic. Who can fault me? & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( 302 ) . & # 8221 ; ? No you won & # 8217 ; T, Lee. You & # 8217 ; re non
imbibing any more tonight. Tomorrow I & # 8217 ; ll take you to the physician, and we & # 8217 ; ll acquire
some help. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( 304 ) . Lee is Sam & # 8217 ; s girl, and hence she had to populate with
the memory that her male parent was a liquidator.
The secret plan and characters have some differences between themselves in the
novel and the movie. The melodramatic movie takes off from Thursday
vitamin E novel’s
descriptive secret plan. The first major difference I noticed was in the degree of
item. The novel seemed to be much more descriptive than the movie. The movie
fundamentally focused on the relationships between the characters which left out
much of the novel & # 8217 ; s elaborate secret plan. The major portion of the novel & # 8217 ; s item which
was left out of the movie was the characters. There were characters written about
in the novel that were non included in the movie. The first, and most important
was Jeremiah Dogan. Dogan was the Imperial Wizard for the Klan in Mississippi in
the beginning of the book. He is the 1 who set & # 8217 ; s up the full bombardment which
Sam Cayhall is convicted of single-handedly making. & # 8220 ; He was non stupid. In fact,
the FBI subsequently admitted Dogan was rather effectual as a terrorist because he
delegated the dirty work to little, independent groups of hit work forces who worked
wholly independent of one another. & # 8221 ; ( Grisham 2 ) .
The difference between the movie and the novel that disappointed me most
was the minor but extremely important alterations of the secret plan. In the novel, the
foremost three chapters of the book describe the events taking up to the bombardment
in item. The film starts with the existent bomb traveling off itself. The
beginning of the book that was left out was one of the most interesting parts of
the novel and should non hold been left out of the movie. ( Grisham 1-22 ) .
John Grisham, the writer of The Chamber, does non O.K. of Universal & # 8217 ; s
movie version.
& # 8220 ; As his inquiring monetary value has soared, so has his engagement. Grisham
had blessing of the book, manager and dramatis personae during the devising of A Time to
Kill ( while grumping about Universal & # 8217 ; s unapproved version of The Chamber, due
this autumn ) . He is co- composing the screenplay for The Rainmaker with manager
Francis Coppola. & # 8221 ; ( Bellafante 1 )
The writer and movie use character positions to convey a political
message about the decease punishment. Adam & # 8217 ; s profession, and household influence his
position on the decease punishment. Grisham shows this in Adam & # 8217 ; s conversation with
his employer. & # 8221 ; ? I & # 8217 ; m opposed to the decease penalty. & # 8217 ; ? Aren & # 8217 ; t we all, Mr. Hall? & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ;
( Grisham 27 ) . Besides Adam & # 8217 ; s calling in jurisprudence act uponing his position on the
decease punishment, seeing Sam on decease row besides influences Adam & # 8217 ; s positions. & # 8221 ; ? It is
non merely about person being executed, but about a gramps death and his
grandson & # 8217 ; s scaring circumstance of seeking to win both a legal triumph to
salvage him and an emotional triumph to make him. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( Greer 2-3 ) .
Mississippi & # 8217 ; s Governor McAllister uses the Cayhall instance to heighten his
public stature. John Grisham uses many different ways to demo how Governor
McAllister supports the decease punishment by seting Sam on decease row: & # 8220 ; In 1980,
eight short old ages after the test, David McAllister was elected governor of the
State of Mississippi. To no 1 & # 8217 ; s surprise, the widest boards in his platform
had been more gaols, longer sentences, and an firm affinity for the decease
penalty. & # 8221 ; ( 50 ) . Sam expresses his hatred of the governor every bit good. & # 8221 ; ? An hr
before I die, he & # 8217 ; ll keep a imperativeness conference somewhere-probably here, possibly at
the governor & # 8217 ; s mansion-and he & # 8217 ; ll stand at that place in the blaze of a hundred cameras
and deny me mildness. And the asshole will hold cryings in his eyes. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( Grisham
122 ) .
Ruth Kramer and her household are the characters who are besides supportive of
the decease punishment. Their position is brought approximately because her hubby and
two kids were killed by the adult male who awaits the gas chamber. While Sam
Cayhall thinks David McAllister is a monster, Ruth Kramer thinks David
McAllister is a hero for demanding justness. These are the two sides of the coin
which is the decease punishment in The Chamber. As Grisham writes it, Ruth Kramer & # 8217 ; s
state of affairs is good described by Lee in this line:
& # 8221 ; ? Bitter? She lost her full household. She & # 8217 ; s ne’er remarried. Make
you think she cares if my male parent intended to kill her kids? Of class non.
She merely knows they & # 8217 ; re dead, Adam, dead for 23 old ages now. She knows
they were killed by a bomb planted by my male parent, and if he & # 8217 ; d been place with his
household alternatively of siting about at dark with his imbecile brothers, small Josh and
John would non be dead. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( 61 ) .
The Chamber is a narrative about life and decease and how it is treated by
different people. In the movie, The Chamber more about relationships. & # 8221 ; ? The movie
is about a immature adult male, really entirely in the universe, linking with his gramps
and seeking to understand who he is. & # 8217 ; & # 8221 ; ( Greer 4 ) . Despite the differences
between the two, The Chamber proves to demo a political message on the
imposition of the decease punishment in America.
35c
