A Vision of American Law: Judging Law, Literature, and the Stories We Tell

199 Pages·1997·0.877 MB·English

by  Barry R. Schaller

A Vision
of American Law

A VISION
OF AMERICAN LAW
Judging Law, Literature,
and the Stories We Tell
Barry R. Schaller
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Schaller,BarryR.,1938–
AvisionofAmericanlaw : judginglaw,literature,andthe
storieswetell / BarryR.Schaller.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–275–95111–1(alk.paper)
1. Legalstories,American—Historyandcriticism. 2. American
fiction—Historyandcriticism. 3. Lawyersinliterature. 4. Law
andliterature. I. Title.
PS374.L34S32 1997
810.9'355—DC20 96–44683
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:1)1997byBarryR.Schaller
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:96–44683
ISBN:0–275–95111–1
Firstpublishedin1997
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
TM
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Carol V. C. Schaller

Contents
Abbreviations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
I. The Law in Society: Elemental Forces
1. The Individual in Society: Individual Autonomy and State Power 11
2. Private Codes: Rules of the Community 31
II. Systemic Problems: Violence, Authority, and the American
Dream
3. The Roots of Violence: The Breakdown of Social Structure 55
4. Shaking the Foundations: Problems of Legal Authority 78
5. The State of the American Dream: Optimism, Progress, and the
Word of Law 97
III. The Judicial Role in Cultural Revitalization
6. Taking Responsibility: Societal Change and Judicial Decision
Making 119
7. Synthesis: Justice in Our Time 147
8. Conclusion 158
viii Contents
Notes 161
Selected Bibliography 175
Index 179
Abbreviations
APOE Wendell Berry. A Place on Earth. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World,Inc.,
1967.
AT Theodore Dreiser. An American Tragedy. New York: The New American Li-
brary, Inc., 1981.
BM John Dos Passos. The Big Money. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company,
1936.
CL RichardPrice. Clockers.NewYork: Avon Books, 1993.
DL NathanaelWest.MissLonelyhearts&TheDayoftheLocust.NewYork:New
DirectionsPublishing Corporation,1969.
GG F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,
1953.
GW John Steinbeck.The Grapes of Wrath. NewYork: Bantam Books, Inc., 1966.
H SaulBellow. Herzog. NewYork: The Viking Press, 1964.
HF Mark Twain. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Penguin Group,
1959.
IM RalphEllison. InvisibleMan. NewYork: VintageBooks, 1990.
L DonDeLillo.Libra. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.
MGS StephenCrane.Maggie:AGirloftheStreets,inGreatShortWorksofStephen
Crane. New York: Harper& Row, 1968.
NR RobertPenn Warren.Night Rider. NewYork: Random House, 1939.
O FrankNorris.TheOctopus.NewYork:TheNewAmericanLibrary,Inc.,1964.
OV WilliamFaulkner.‘‘AnOdorofVerbena,’’inMalcolmCowley,ed.,ThePort-
able Faulkner,rev. and exp. ed. NewYork: Penguin Books, 1977.
x Abbreviations
P James Fenimore Cooper. The Pioneers or The Sources of the Susquehanna.
New York: Penguin Books, 1988.
PG William Faulkner. ‘‘Percy Grimm,’’ in Malcolm Cowley, ed., The Portable
Faulkner, rev. and exp. ed. NewYork: Penguin Books, 1977.
ROB RussellBanks. Rule of the Bone. NewYork: HarperCollins,1995.
SL NathanielHawthorne.The Scarlet Letter. NewYork: Penguin Books, 1983.
TES WilliamFaulkner.‘‘ThatEveningSun,’’inMalcolmCowley,ed.,ThePortable
Faulkner, rev. and exp. ed. NewYork: Penguin Books, 1977.
them JoyceCarol Oates. them. NewYork: The VanguardPress, 1969.
TRM CraigNova. Trombone. NewYork: BallantineBooks, 1994.
TSH RussellBanks. The Sweet Hereafter.NewYork: HarperCollins,1991.
TV OwenWister.TheVirginian:AHorsemanofthePlains.NewYork:MacMillan
Publishing Co., 1979.
WOTH JamesFenimoreCooper.TheWaysoftheHour.UpperSaddleRiver,N.J.:The
Gregg Press, 1968.