Inherit the Wind
1. What is the setting of the play? Hillsboro NC
2. List 3 conflicts that arise in the play. Individual conscience vs authority,
individual vs society, scientific truth vs God’s truth
3. According to Drummond, what is the larger issue in this case? The right to think
4. According to Rachel, what is Bert’s duty as a schoolteacher and public servant?
Do what the law and school board tell him to do.
5. Who is the protagonist? Drummond
6. How does Rachel Brown describe her father? Inspired great fear in her
7. The line, “He basks in the cheers and excitement, like a patriarch surrounded by
his children” is an example of what? Simile
8. By the end of the play, what do we learn about Henry Drummond? He is offended
by Hornbeck’s cynicism
9. Why does Drummond tell Bert the story of the “Golden Dancer”? something that
looks perfect on the surface may be full of problems upon on closer examination
10. Reverend Brown’s description of Drummond as a man “whose head juts out like
an animal’s” is an example of what? Simile
11. To Brady, God and the Bible are holy. What does Drummond say is holy to him?
Individual mind
12. When Drummond tells Hornbeck at the end of the play that Brady “had the same
right as Cates,” to what is he referring? The right to be wrong
13. The line, “Ahhhh, Hillsboro—Heavenly Hillsboro. The buckle on the Bible Belt”
is an example of what? Metaphor
14. What will most readers infer about the judge? Not impartial but inclined toward
the prosecution
15. What treatment does Reverend Brown believe Cates deserves from God? Strike
him down and soul suffer forever
16. What is Hornbeck’s purpose in the play? To reveal the truth through verbal irony
17. When does the case turn in favor of the defense? When Drummond corners Brady
about the length of a day
18. How can Brady and Drummond’s relationship be characterized? Frustrated with
each other but have respect for one another
19. After the verdict, when Hornbeck refers to the Middle Ages and the coronation of
Charlemagne, what is he implying? It’s as if we have not learned anything since
the Middle Ages
20. In what way does the people’s opinion of Brady change by the end of the play?
They ignore him instead of praise him