A Time to Kill (1989) (edit title/settings)

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Characters edit see section history

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• Tonya Hailey: A 10-year old black girl who was raped by 2 white men named Cobb and Willard; Carl Lee's daughter.
• Mr. Carl Lee Hailey: The father of Tonya Hailey who was raped.
• Jake Brigance: Defense attorney and local boy who helps out Carl Lee.
• James Louis "Pete" Willard: One of the rapists.
• Billy Ray Cobb: One of the rapists.
• Ozzie Walls: sheriff
• DeWayne Powell Looney: A deputy that was accidentally shot.
• Mr. Rufus Buckley: Add a description of this character.
• Lucien Wilbanks: Jake's most trusted advisor. Used to run the prestigious Wilbanks firm, after the firm deteriorated, he gave it to Jake
• Carla Brigance: Jake's Wife
• Ethel Twitty: Jake's secretary.

Quotes edit see section history

• “"What now?" Willard asked nervously."Don't know," Cobb answered nervously. "But we gotta do something fast before she gets blood all over my truck. Look at her back there, she's bleedin' all over the place."Willard thought for a minute while he finished a beer. "Let's throw her off a bridge," he said proudly."Good idea. Damned good idea." Cobb slammed on the brakes. "Gimme a beer," he ordered Willard, who stumbled out of the truck and fetched two beers from the back."She's even got blood on the cooler," he reported as they raced off again.”

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• Make friends with fear, Lucien always said, because it will not go away, and it will destroy you if left uncontrolled.

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• “The system reflects society. It’s not always fair, but it’s as fair as the system in New York, or Massachusetts, or California. It’s as fair as biased, emotional humans can make it.”

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• I am still fascinated by the law, by those who practice it, those who abuse and manipulate it, those who strive to protect it, those who study and teach it, those who are chosen to interpret it, and especially by those ordinary people who are forced to deal with it, for better or for worse.

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• K.T. Bruster, or Cat Bruster,

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• Ozzie Walls was the only black sheriff in Mississippi.

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• Stump Sisson was the Klan’s Imperial Wizard for Mississippi,

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• “I think children have a right not to be raped, and their parents have the right to protect them. I think little girls are special, and if mine was tied to a tree and gang raped by two dopeheads I’m sure it would make me crazy. I think good and decent fathers should have a constitutional right to execute any pervert who touches their children.

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• Moss Junior Tatum, the chief deputy,

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• Billy Ray Cobb was the younger and smaller of the two rednecks.

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• A TIME TO KILL THE FIRM THE PELICAN BRIEF THE CLIENT THE CHAMBER THE RAINMAKER THE RUNAWAY JURY THE PARTNER THE STREET LAWYER THE TESTAMENT THE BRETHREN A PAINTED HOUSE SKIPPING CHRISTMAS THE SUMMONS THE KING OF TORTS BLEACHERS THE LAST JUROR THE BROKER

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Clanton, Mississippi

Organizations edit see section history

• NAACP: The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. <NAACP website>
• KKK: Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as The Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present right-wing<3><4><5> organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy and nationalism. The current manifestation is splintered into several chapters and is widely considered to be a hate group.<6> The first KKK flourished in the South in the 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. The second KKK flourished nationwide in the early and mid 1920s, and adopted the costumes and paraphernalia of the first Klan. The third Klan emerged after World War II. Their iconic white costumes consisted of robes, masks, and conical hat. The first and third KKK had a well-established record of using terrorism, but historians debate how central that tactic was to the second KKK. <Wikipedia>
• National Guard: The National Guard, the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation's longest-enduring institutions, celebrated its 370th birthday on December 13, 2006. The National Guard traces its history back to the earliest English colonies in North America. Responsible for their own defense, the colonists drew on English military tradition and organized their able-bodied male citizens into militias.The colonial militias protected their fellow citizens from Indian attack, foreign invaders, and later helped to win the Revolutionary War. Following independence, the authors of the Constitution empowered Congress to &quot;provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia.&quot; However, recognizing the militia's state role, the Founding Fathers reserved the appointment of officers and training of the militia to the states. Today's National Guard still remains a dual state-Federal force.Throughout the 19th century the size of the Regular Army was small, and the militia provided the bulk of the troops during the Mexican War, the early months of the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. In 1903, important national defense legislation increased the role of the National Guard (as the militia was now called) as a Reserve force for the U.S. Army. In World War I, which the U.S. entered in 1917, the National Guard made up 40% of the U.S. combat divisions in France; in World War II, National Guard units were among the first to deploy overseas and the first to fight.Following World War II, National Guard aviation units, some of them dating back to World War I, became the Air National Guard, the nation's newest Reserve component. The Guard stood on the frontiers of freedom during the Cold War, sending soldiers and airmen to fight in Korea and to reinforce NATO during the Berlin crisis of 1961-1962. During the Vietnam war, almost 23,000 Army and Air Guardsmen were called up for a year of active duty; some 8,700 were deployed to Vietnam. Over 75,000 Army and Air Guardsmen were called upon to help bring a swift end to Desert Storm in 1991.Since that time, the National Guard has seen the nature of its Federal mission change, with more frequent call ups in response to crises in Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the skies over Iraq. Most recently, following the attacks of September 11, 2001, more than 50,000 Guardmembers were called up by both their States and the Federal government to provide security at home and combat terrorism abroad. In the largest and swiftest response to a domestic disaster in history, the Guard deployed more than 50,000 troops in support of the Gulf States following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Today, tens of thousands of Guardmembers are serving in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan, as the National Guard continues its historic dual mission, providing to the states units trained and equipped to protect life and property, while providing to the nation units trained, equipped and ready to defend the United States and its interests, all over the globe. <National Guard website - www.ng.mil>

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Ford County.

Preceded by The Moving Toyshop, and followed by Last Seen Wearing.

Preceded by A Walk to Remember, and followed by The Pillars of the Earth.

Preceded by Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and followed by Always Running.

Preceded by The Tipping Point, and followed by Middlesex.

Preceded by Middlesex, and followed by The Secret Garden.

Preceded by Angels & Demons, and followed by The Andromeda Strain.

Preceded by Twilight / New Moon / Eclipse / Breaking Dawn, and followed by Anna Karenina.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. John Grisham (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3557.R5355 T56 1989
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

770 Lexile score

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Authors, A-Z › ( G ) › Grisham, John
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Suspense
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Legal
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• John Grisham: Author's website

Movie Connections edit see section history

• A Time to Kill (IMDb): (1996) Starring Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey; Directed by Joel Schumacher

More Books Like This edit see section history