Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Essay

Question 8: Danny Hansford is only one of the many people whose violent deaths we learn about in the course of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Judging by their stories, what does Savannah (or Savannah society) deem grounds for murder? Why are so few of Jim William’s friends disturbed by the charges against him? Given the casualness with which Savannahians greet the Hansford case, why are they so shocked by the news [p. 333] that their city has been declared the murder capital of the United States? *Answer: In the beginning, Jim goes over the deaths that have happened in Savannah; while the others are blinded by their selfishness. For example: One of the stories known in the Savannah’s society is the death of the judge’s son. It all started when the son of the judge had an imitate relationship with the gangster’s girl; sooner or later the alpha finds out about these rendezvous. As a result, the gangster shot the boy and took his â€Å"manhood† with him. The following days, the young fellow recovered swiftly with his testicles by his side but unfortunately the doctors couldn’t repair a broken heart. At last, his misery ended when he collapsed on the front porch, breathing his last breath as Death took his life. The death of this boy was disregarded by the Savannah’s society; showing no empathy/ emotions towards his death. The few friends of Jim were disturbed because rumors have it that Jim was homosexual and had a sexual relationship with Danny Hansford (***Remember, the Savannah’s society was old-fashioned and didn’t believe in these kinds of relations. ) The Savannahians were shocked about their murder rate because in their minds, they thought they had an outlined of 1,000 untroubled suburbanites not sufficient to raise their murder rate. They were positive that the statistics was a mistake. Savannah had 54 murders/ or 22. 6 murders per 100,000 Savannah’s society blamed the deaths on the African Americans because 91% of their population was blacks. Works Cited Berendt, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Random House, 1994.