Inherit the Wind
Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee
Leather Bound
(The Easton Press, March 15, 2000)
Inherit the Wind is a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial, which resulted in John T. Scopes's conviction for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to a high school science class, contrary to a Tennessee state law. William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow, Scopes, and H. L. Mencken, respectively. However, Lee and Lawrence state in a note at the opening of the play/book that it is not meant to be a historical account, and many events were substantially altered or invented. For instance, Bryan offered to pay Scopes' fine if he was convicted. Bryan did die shortly after the trial's conclusion. Lawrence explained in a 1996 interview that the play's purpose was to criticize McCarthyism and defend intellectual freedom. According to Lawrence, "we used the teaching of evolution as a parable, a metaphor for any kind of mind control. It's not about science versus religion. It's about the right to think."