3rd Quarter Synthesis Reading Response "Runaway Jury"

The struggle between the power and resistance in John Grisham's  Runaway Jury is intense, and up until the very end, you are actually unsure who is the power, and who is the resistance! (SPOILERS AHEAD) Runaway Jury is a story about a trial on cigarettes, in which a widow is suing big tobacco for her husband's death with lung cancer. But behind the scenes, a jury consultant named Rankin Fitch, and his team are watching every move, and only juror number 2, Nicholas Easter, and his accomplice Marlee, have any chance of preventing Fitch from single-handedly deciding the verdict. Grotesquely, the power struggle in the shadows is slowly creeping into the light throughout the book, and the hideous faces of the power and resistance are revealed.

Using textual evidence, in the first half of the book it seems pretty clear that Rankin Fitch is the power, and Nicholas and Marlee are the resistance. For example, when Rankin Fitch is first observing everyone in jury selection, he takes account of their every move. Rankin Fitch is in a way asserting his power upon all of the jurors. In fact in my opinion this is a way to make him feel as if he is the one in charge, and that he calls the shots, so he definitely is seeming to be the power. Also, There is a subplot in which the trial is going on, and the Plaintiff seems severely underfunded compared to the defense, and it seems pretty bleak for them so far. Truly, in this case, It is obvious that the Big Tobacco defendant is the power, and the plaintiff is the resistance. And to think, as it says in the book, that this is the most formidable opponent that the Tobacco industry has ever faced. Sadly the resistance's resources are numbered, and because of Fitch, so are their days.

But, farther on in the book, the line between power and resistance blurs. Yes, Nicholas Easter starts quietly asserting more and more power over Judge Harkin, the judge in this specific trial, and starts taking advantage of the judge, unbeknownst to Fitch. In fact, it seems, now that more information is revealed, that Easter and Marlee have some qualities that are similar to the qualities that the power typically has. Indeed Fitch is afraid that he doesn't know anything about Easter and Marlee, and he should be. And even more so, towards the end of the book, Nick and Marlee start becoming the power. And When Fitch realizes at the end that he had been played all along he is furious at defeat, and will not under any circumstance accept even second place. Indeed, Fitch from this point onward, is clearly the resistance, and he is wondering where he went wrong. Truly, Fitch's cockiness killed him.

Yes, the power and resistance struggle is mostly obscured from vision to people both in and out of the book. Indeed, it is a tug-of-war battle between Fitch and Easter, and Easter at first doesn't flex his muscle, and even went along with Fitch for a while, then smacked Fitch hard in the face. Although the power and resistance struggle in this book is at first very subtle, towards the end comes up with a vast wealth of resources, showing the depth of the struggle all along.