Jake Brigance is a thirty-two-year-old Mississippi white male; he is the protagonist who is typically self-assured. He is a brilliant, arrogant, ambitious, and courageous lawyer. He is the main character in the movie by Joel Schumacher, “A time to kill,” where he is a justice and an empathic man who is, in my opinion, a good person to be a lawyer.
Jake cares about justice a lot, and it seems to be the main aspect of his job that matters to him. When he talks to his wife about the men who raped Tonya, he says, “I look at her, though, and I cannot help but think about little Tonya” (Schumacher, 1996, 13:55) and “But when you think that it’s possible that those two animals could go free and be walking the streets, I don’t know” (Schumacher, 1996, 14:47), showing his despair about such possibility. This shows that his feeling of justice is deeply frustrated because of the situation. He wanted these people to be punished and therefore, he did not do anything to stop Carl Lee. This resulted in him not interrupting Carl Lee in murdering the rapists. This means that he was interested more in happening what he considered justified rather than doing something right in terms of the law.
Jake takes many risks for justice, including risks for his own life, his bonds with his family, his career, and his reputation. He explains himself for not dropping the case to his wife with “They raped and almost murdered his daughter, Sarah. What if the same thing happened to Hannah?” (Schumacher, 1996, 45:50), even though he was not the only person at risk at that moment already, as KKK burnt a cross in front of his house. It is also important to mention that his feeling of justice is purely his trait that has no connection with the law. Even though Carl Lee’s actions were criminal, Jake “I think I really wanted him to do it” (Schumacher, 1996, 1:24:28). Another statement supporting this is, “Well, I am a liberal, Roark. What I am not is a card-carrying ACLU radical. I do not believe in forgiveness, nor in rehabilitation. I believe in safety, I believe in justice.” (Schumacher, 1996, 1:13:27) This resulted in financial problems for him and his secretary. These events show that Jake is ready to go for risks and sacrifices for justice, as it is his main priority.
Jake’s thirst for justice manifests in another of his traits, which is empathy and there are multiple events where he clearly expresses it and it causes him to act in a certain way – to care about others. “Some stranger, somebody’s husband, somebody’s son put himself in harm’s way for me” (Schumacher, 1996, 1:49:51), he says after a guard saved him and got shot instead of Jake. He is sorry for this man who saved him and feels sad for those who lost him. This means that Jake is empathic toward people who have lost this guard. Jake’s empathy and care for others is apparent when he refuses Roark’s suggestion to help with the case as he says, “I think I’ll drop this brief off in Noose’s nigh slot, go home and see my family. Thank you, Roark, but I can handle the case myself” (Schumacher, 1996, 40:01). He understands the dangers of this case and doesn’t want a young woman to put herself at risk. This means that he does not want her to get hurt, as he feels empathy toward her.
He is also empathic to his mentor and feels sorry for him not being able to work as a lawyer and tries to engage him in every way possible. Jake looks up to his mentor, Lucien Wilbanks since he is bright and provides him advice. Lucien admires Jake and only wants the best for him. He is always eager to give Jake advice since he wants Jake to make good decisions in life. “Now, I know they took your license away, but they can’t take your mind unless you let them” (Schumacher, 1996, 28:34), and “I had a good teacher” (Schumacher, 1996, 28:43) show Jakes’s gratitude, respect and love towards Lucien are shown in his phrases.
His empathy makes him even more motivated to work on the case. He loses many things because of that case, his family gets distant from him, and even when his house get burnt down by KKK, he denies dropping the case, as many people suffered. “No, I can’t. I’m not gonna quit. I quit now and all this for nothing” (Schumacher, 1996, 1:30:27). Jake is empathic not only towards those close to him but all people who are suffering, and it seems to be the reason for him caring so much about people of color.
Jake’s main traits are a will for justice and strong empathy for people around him and others exposed to injustice, and these traits are represented in many of his actions and decisions. He does everything to help people around him and seeks global justice. He faces rejection, misunderstanding, and many other misfortunes in his way. Nevertheless, he stays persistent and does everything possible to obtain his goals.
Reference
Grisham, J., Milchan, A., Lowry, H., Nathanson, M. (Producers), & Schumacher, J. (Director). (1996) A time to kill [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros.