One of these books - Book Report/Review Example

If a man suffers, he must have the support of a legal provision to redress his grievance. Otherwise the legal system is at fault, not the individual. This is the simple truth as experienced by a common man, in the present case by Clarence Earl Gideon. Anthony Lewis(1989) writes, “ Those who had known him, even the men who had arrested him and those who were now his jailors, considered Gideon, a perfectly harmless human being, rather likeable, but one tossed aside by life.”(6) I like this book for its important contribution to secure individual liberty and how one man successfully challenges the advancing avalanche in the form of legal provisions.

The story is the triumph of human spirit versus flaws in the legal system created and nurtured by human beings. It is the victory of the chair-less powers (the common citizens) in the fight against powerful chairs! (The administrators of justice)The confidence of Gideon is evident when he submits before the Court, “I want to plead my own case. I want to make my own plea. I do not want them to make any plea for me.” (237). This shows the inclination of the man out to challenge the legal provisions when they hold up the freedom of an individual.

The impact of prison life on an individual Some backgrounder information, how circumstances within the prison create men like Gideon is worth being taken into account! When a prisoner is constantly harassed and ill-treated, judged and detested by society and the legal/judicial system is unhelpful, one turns into a despicable and rancorous individual. An intensely devastated personality lies within the four walls of the prison, and his spirit needs constant care. Anthony Lewis writes “He (Gideon) had never been a professional criminal or a man of violence; he just could not seem to settle down to work, and so he had made his way by gambling and occasional thefts.”(5-6). Due to poor economic conditions, one takes up the path of crime.

Upon release, an individual has to start and rebuild life again that too amidst the society that is not likely to assimilate one in the mainstream easily and willingly. Whether guilty or not, the prison-stamp shall remain forever on one’s forehead. At this point, one needs the spiritual strength to obliterate the past bitterness from one’s mind. There is no other solution. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going! Anthony Lewis is well aware of this principle. His book proves the point.

My efforts to find weak links in the book from the point of view of a simple reader, a critic, a student of psychology, sociology, and the one interested in reformation and rehabilitation of the prison inmates have in all sincerity, gone in vain. I need to heap additional praise on the contents of this book. His book proves the great and important point. The improbable battle of Gideon leads the Court to give the ultimate decision in his favor. Lewis comes out of the Court scene and the web of legal entanglement to project the human face of the story.

Those who think that the legal system is the service-tool for the rich and the politically well-connected, need to take appropriate lessons from Gideon. He sets such a legal process in motion that would affect the entire legal system of USA, and the effect of the case is precedent-shattering. Gideon is twice-blessed. He has provided a highly motivating case from the legal as well as the sociological aspects. This case gave scope to