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| An Eye for an Eye |
An Eye for an Eye (1905)
Clarence Darrow’s An Eye for an Eye (1905) is a social‑justice novel that critiques poverty, crime, and capital punishment through the tragic story of Hank Clery and his friend Jim Jackson, who faces execution for killing his wife.
It is one of Darrow’s lesser‑known works, but it reflects his lifelong opposition to the death penalty and his belief that crime is rooted in social conditions rather than innate evil.
Overview of the Novel
-Plot: Hank Clery, a Chicago railroad switchman, visits his old friend Jim Jackson in jail. Jim is condemned to hang for murdering his wife. The narrative follows Hank’s conflicted emotions and exposes the harsh realities of poverty, crime, and punishment.
- Themes:
- Poverty and social inequality as root causes of crime.
- Critique of the justice system’s indifference to human suffering.
- The futility and cruelty of capital punishment.
- Style: Written in plain, accessible prose, Darrow blends storytelling with moral argument, making the book both a novel and a social critique.
