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Racism and Justice collide when the life of a ten-year-old black girl, Tonya Hailey, is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young white men , as they brutally beat and rape her. In John Grisham’s novel rape, racism, and justice all prevail throughout the story A Time to Kill. Carl Lee Hailey, the father of the ten-year-old child takes justice into his own hands by murdering his daughters assailants. As his young defense attorney struggles with the law to save his clients life, racism spreads through the streets of Canton. “She watched as he walked around the tree on her right side, and she stared at him as he stared between her legs. When he lowered his pants she turned to the left and closed her eyes. He was hurting her again.” The two men that had raped the black child, Tonya Hailey, had no respect for the black folks. When they selected their victim they did not care if she was a child, but yet the fact that she was black gave them more reason to take away her rights as a human. This is evident throughout the rape when one of the assailants, Cobb explained; “...that she was not dead because niggers generally could not be killed by kicking and beating and raping. It took much more, something like a knife or a rope to dispose of a nigger.” (pg.2) After the two intoxicated and remorseless men were done with her, the mostly white town found out about this most inhuman crime. They reacted with shock and horror. “We picked them up last night for rape.” “Who’d they rape?” “That nigger Hailey-- his daughter.” “You’re kidding!?” (pg.23) The people of the town could not believe that two of their white people could rape a young child.
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