who is Drummond

Henry Drummond

A famous lawyer, known for his skilled legal defenses, Drummond is hired by the Baltimore Herald to defend Cates. Rev. Brown describes him as a godless man, for his defenses of the guilty, in which he twists the blame onto society and its perceptions. Drummond and Brady were once friends and maintain respect for each other, but each see the other as in the wrong on this case. Drummond believes Brady has moved away from him simply by standing still, by not progressing with the world. Brady says that for forty years, where Brady fights, headlines follow and sees him as a worthy opponent. Physically, he is hunched over, with a head that juts forward, making Melinda mistake him for the devil when he first appears. Drummond's strongest showing in the courtroom stems from desperation, when the court disallows any testimony on evolution and calls Brady as an expert on the Bible. Drummond's belief in the sanctity of ideas and freedom of thought, as well as his knowledge of Brady's weaknesses, allows him to successfully defend Cates' for speaking his thoughts allowed. In the end, he is an atheist who believes in God, as Hornbeck calls him, because of his respect for Brady's convictions and ideals.