NCHS AP English Language

Author: Dani Lewis / Chris Fitzer

A pawn is considered a person who has no moral choice, who is a "player" in another person's life. People become pawns when they are forced to do things to get what they want, even if they don't want to. Bob Dylan refers to Beckwith as a pawn because he had the urge to remain in the "in-group." The "in-group" consists of white men who are wealthy and against segregation. The "out-group" are white men who are jobless and black men. Beckwith was on his way to becoming part of the "out-group" so he joined the epitemy of the "in-group," the KKK. As a member of the KKK, Beckwith became a pawn because he had to do things to remain in the "in-group." His assignment was to kill Medgar Evans, a civil rights activist.
Just as Beckwith was a pawn in the KKK, the doctors in charge of Terry Schiavo were pawns in the hand of her husband, Michael. To keep their job, they had to follow the wishes of Michael Schiavo. They might not have agreed with Mr. Schiavo's decisions, but they had to do as he said in order to keep their job. They were pawns in the hands of Michael Schiavo, just as Beckwith was in the hands of the KKK.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 2:57 PM