NCHS AP English Language

Byron de la Beckwith and Morality

The author of Who Killed Medgar Evans?, Avery Kolers, presents us with an interesting alternate viewpoint on a topic in which closemindedness is common. If a man is simply a "pawn," an arm or extension when dealing with the topic of mortality and murder, can he be held morally responsible for the crime? Consider Byron de la Beckwith, a white Southerner who killed NAACP organizer. Beckwith fired the shot, but consider the men responsible for manipulating Beckwith into believing that black men are evil. In a murder, is the man blamed, or the gun that fires the shot? Metaphorically, and in a sense, literally, Beckwith was no more than a "pawn:" easily disposable, controlled by a higher power, a tool thrust onto the front line and a manipulated into waging a war he in many senses was both mentally and physically unprepared for.

posted by Rebecca @ 4:42 PM