Her siblings find Tonya later that day, barely alive, her father, Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) and the black community is outraged. Tonya's missing shoe is found in the back of the yellow pick up truck and both men are arrested for rape and attempted murder. Carl Lee confronts his lawyer, Jake Brigance (Mathew McConaughey) about similar cases where the white criminals were let off or given light sentences for similar charges, which enrages Carl Lee further. Carl Lee asks if Jake will stand by him in a jam, Jake promises he will.

The next morning Carl Lee shoots the two men on the way to their arraignment, both men die and

The movie A Time to Kill has several protagonist and antagonist. However, the most important protagonists are Jake and Carl Lee. Jake and Carl Lee were heroes because Carl Lee risked sacrificing himself by taking the law into his own hands to prove that the legal system was not fair and impartial. Jake stood by his side, opening his eyes to the harsh reality that he was part of the racism problem, but could also do something to solve it. The antagonist is really just white Americans in general, but is represented in several ways, such as the Cobb and Willard families, the Ku-Klux-Klan, the jury, and Buckley the DA. The antagonists are a negative force because they remain blind to racism and the effects of racism in the courts. Even if they do recognize that racism and unfair trials continue to exist and frustrate the blacks, they find a way to justify racism and continue in their racist beliefs and practices. Carl Lee and Jake have to find a way to show the jury the situation that drove Carl Lee to take the law into his own hands. Carl Lee's daughter was raped, beaten, and almost killed by two white men. These two white men might be set free or only serve ten years for their crimes. Carl Lee could not live with the fact that these men would not serve ample time for their brutal crimes. Not to mention black men charged for similar crimes are much more severely sentenced. Jake paints a simple picture for the jury by describing in detail Tonya's attack, then telling the jury to picture her white. This proves to the jury that if the situation had been reversed, if two black men raped, beat, and almost killed a white girl, if there had been a chance that two black men would have gotten off for their crimes, if a white father had shot two criminal black men, there probably would not even be a trial. Most people would have seen a white man who killed to brutal black criminals as a hero, as Dept. Luny saw Carl Lee. As directed by Carl Lee, Jake forces the jury to see that color is the main issue in this case, the jury then deliberates with their hearts where color is not an issue and the problem is solved for this situation.

Joel Schumacher uses many techniques to represent the separation and differences between the blacks and whites in Canton and emphasize certain scenes. The black community of Canton resides in a neighborhood where all the blacks are grouped together and isolated from the whites. Most of the black families live in small, rundown, dark houses. Many of the blacks wore outdated, unstylish, ill fitting hand me down clothes. When Carl Lee speaks to Jake he uses word like "gonna" and "ain't" he and most of the blacks speak a very improper English. All these observation represent that the blacks are clearly a very low class in Canton. Everything from the black communities low salaries and under education is represented by their life style. The black community is held back in the job market and education due to the racism that exists in Canton. In opposition, the white families live in large predominately white houses, wear new, stylish, well-fitted clothes, and speak proper southern English. The director clearly uses setting, scenery, lightening, color, costumes, and language to show the gap between blacks and whites. Schumacher uses a very effective technique to emphasize exactly how brutal Tonya is attacked actually was. Through out the entire scene, the picture is blurred and you can only hear what is happening. Essentially,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Carl Lee, Carl Lee's, Lee Jake, Cobb Willard, carl lee, Joel Schumacher, Lee Klan, Buckley DA, John Grisham's, Tonya Hailey, Ray Cobb, lee jake, carl lee jake, black community, law own hands, own hands, carl lee's, jake carl, law own, cobb willard, jake carl lee, carl lee shoots, lee shoots, joel schumacher, lee law own,
Approximate Word count = 2353
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)