The Murder of Harvey Groves in A Jury Case :: Jury Case Essays

The murder of Harvey Groves in A Jury Case The idea, you understand, is that two men have crept up to the lonely little mountain house in the late afternoon, George Small creeping ahead with the heavily loaded shot-gun in his hands, really being driven forward by Cal Long, creeping at his heels, a man, Luther explains, simply too strong for him, and that, at the fatal moment, when they faced Harvey Groves, and I presume had to shoot or be shot, and George weakened, Cal Long just touched George on the shoulder. The touch, you see, according to Luther's notion, was a command It said, "Shoot!" and George's body stiffened, and he shot. (4) In this passage, the narrator reports--based on Luther's account--what he thinks happened the night George and Cal went to Harvey's house to get revenge on George in Sherwood Anderson's "A Jury Case." At first glance, the reader can easily believe this somewhat interesting, plausible scenario. However, if we analyze the details and "known" facts in the events surrounding the killing of Harvey Groves, we realize that this passage constitutes a "loose" interpretation grounded in a misconception of George. Put simply, there is evidence to suggest that Luther fabricates this scenario to showcase his storytelling abilities. First, let's examine the facts of this "case." But what, you might wonder, qualifies as a provable fact? For this story, we will assume that any claim made by the narrator that could be backed up by an eye-witness is true. Thus, we know that when Cal enters George's house the night of the murder, George's wife, also in the house, observes them as they drink whiskey. She sees George swell into anger and break two chairs. She also views George as he grabs his shotgun and heads off to Harvey's with Cal. Consequently, in the next few days, she, an eyewitness to the events in her home, goes around, "telling every one that her husband and Cal Long were going to kill someone" (5). Moreover, we know that Harvey Groves is in fact murdered--since his body is found by someone--however, we don't know much about the occurrence of his murder since no outside witness observes the murder--unless, of course, the observer is involved in the murder. The Murder of Harvey Groves in A Jury Case :: Jury Case Essays The murder of Harvey Groves in A Jury Case The idea, you understand, is that two men have crept up to the lonely little mountain house in the late afternoon, George Small creeping ahead with the heavily loaded shot-gun in his hands, really being driven forward by Cal Long, creeping at his heels, a man, Luther explains, simply too strong for him, and that, at the fatal moment, when they faced Harvey Groves, and I presume had to shoot or be shot, and George weakened, Cal Long just touched George on the shoulder. The touch, you see, according to Luther's notion, was a command It said, "Shoot!" and George's body stiffened, and he shot. (4) In this passage, the narrator reports--based on Luther's account--what he thinks happened the night George and Cal went to Harvey's house to get revenge on George in Sherwood Anderson's "A Jury Case." At first glance, the reader can easily believe this somewhat interesting, plausible scenario. However, if we analyze the details and "known" facts in the events surrounding the killing of Harvey Groves, we realize that this passage constitutes a "loose" interpretation grounded in a misconception of George. Put simply, there is evidence to suggest that Luther fabricates this scenario to showcase his storytelling abilities. First, let's examine the facts of this "case." But what, you might wonder, qualifies as a provable fact? For this story, we will assume that any claim made by the narrator that could be backed up by an eye-witness is true. Thus, we know that when Cal enters George's house the night of the murder, George's wife, also in the house, observes them as they drink whiskey. She sees George swell into anger and break two chairs. She also views George as he grabs his shotgun and heads off to Harvey's with Cal. Consequently, in the next few days, she, an eyewitness to the events in her home, goes around, "telling every one that her husband and Cal Long were going to kill someone" (5). Moreover, we know that Harvey Groves is in fact murdered--since his body is found by someone--however, we don't know much about the occurrence of his murder since no outside witness observes the murder--unless, of course, the observer is involved in the murder.