In our discussions of justice and law, we’ve seen that actions can be justified under certain circumstances. However, in a social realm, there must be guidelines (both legal and moral) for actions, and we must judge when and how alterative actions should be punished. For example, in the play trifles, the discoveries of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters suggest that Mrs. Wright might have had justification for killing her husband. Even if we could be sure “beyond a reasonable doubt” that she killed him, we recognize that what caused her to act with such force and brutality could be understood, if not excused.

Write an essay in which take a stand on whether or not the characters in beloved are guilty or innocent, and whether actions in the novel are justified. To judge, you will have to establish the charge as well as the basis for your evaluation and articulate the values and morals which allow you judge actions. The most obvious subject for the paper is Seethe and the infanticide of beloved. But this is not the only way to approach the essay. You may choose, for example, to judge the character of beloved or assess Seethe’s actions toward Denver (and vice versa); judge Paul D’s, perhaps his role in stirring up 124, or his treatment of beloved; hale’s disappearance, schoolteacher’s brutality, etc. narrow your focus and then follow the guidelines below.

In any trial, a jury (your readers) needs to consider both sides, and a decision (verdict) should be based on a careful examination of the evidence.

Use an argumentative structure which follows the organization of the legal system (as we’ve seen in “the apology” and in “the hopsack murder”) o in which a charge is brought (you can decide on the charge), o the prosecution lays out the evidence and reasons, o the defense answers the charges with explanations and justifications (as Socrates did in “the apology”). o finally the judgment is rendered.