The Voice of the People - Essay Example

The Voice of the People. The book particularly talks of the short life of Nicholas Burr. The describes Burr as a son of a farmer. The farmer was poor and he came from rural parts of Virginia. According to the society in Virginia, the family was considered as a low class family. Burr had to do something about the ‘class’ situation. The only option he had was to be serious with his book. He worked at the store as his family needed the money. However, because his interest was in the law, he made friendship with a local judge who in turn tutors him in law (Glasgow, 25).

The author talks of Burrs’ life as a young boy as he grew up in a society where every family is poor. Burr gets involved with the girl next door, Eugenia. Burr and Eugenia were involved in a love situation but as life went on, the girl came to realize that the love will never go yield anything as they come from different class. Burr got involved in politics as he grew up. In politics, Burr was honest and dynamic. Due to this, Burr became the governor of Virginia. Despite the enmity in politics, Burr was loved by the people who voted for him.

His childhood girlfriend had left him as she ran away and married another person. After a while, she realizes that she made a mistake with her marriage as it was built out of no love. She regrets having the marriage as she loosed a man with integrity. The story goes on and talks of Burrs’ death as he was liked. It was a mob that killed him as he was intervening them to stop the mob from lynching a black man. The author brings out the two themes of the Southern society, clearly as being the role of class and race (Glasgow, 402).

Work citedGlasgow, Ellen Anderson Gholson. The voice of the people. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1900. Print.