A Commentary on Max (And Other Things)

Mr. Max's version of defense for Bigger was unique. There was no trying to prove him innocent, or insane, or just a poor boy who was down on his luck, rather, he searched for the "why" of what had happened. This was brave, very brave. Not only is Mr. Max from a political party that is feared and hated all over America, and is defending one of the most hated criminals in Chicago, he is challenging the, as Buckley put it, "sacred customs" of a very old city. He is challenging the white property owners, store owners, those who charge exorbitant rates for second hand things, old bread and run-dowwn houses. He's challenging people who hate him already, and I respect him for that.

The saddest part about book three is the inevitability. No matter how well-said Mr. Max's speech is, no matter how true it is, Bigger is going to the chair. The entire court, hiding behind their veil of justice, is against him. The judge allows Buckley to twist facts, to emotionally affect the crowd with his account of the night Mary died. The jurors have all read the papers, have all been exposed to the truths and lies and twisted images the press provides. The entire trial is rushed, to sate the roaring crowd outside. Bigger doesn't have a chance, and he knows it. Mr. Max allows himself to believe that he can save Bigger, but it only leads to pain for him. 

Mr. Max gives a beautiful speech, a speech that, given today, may have swayed the hearts of modern Chicago. But Bigger's Chicago is not ready to accept Mr. Max's speech as truth, so they ignore it, fight it, kill the one thing it was trying to save. 

The people of the court, of the crowd outside are like the insane man in the Cook County Jail, both screaming for something that makes no sense to anyone outside of themselves. In the inmates head, screaming for his papers to show the president, at the professor who incarcerated him, makes perfect sense. To the people of Chicago who want Bigger dead, there is no other choice. He must die. Mr. Max is the sane one, the one who cannot understand the reasons in his opponents' heads. But to them, Bigger must die. There is no other truth.

Mr. Max tried so hard. He believed in what he was doing, put his soul into it. In doing so, he killed himself. Bigger was going to die, and the boy knew it, but Mr. Max refused to believe it. He hurt himself in trying to save Bigger, because he was fighting a lost cause, fighting a losing battle against Fate.